英国卫报：肯尼亚的学校有河马和鳄鱼出没(4)

A few local schools had received donations from the national government and from charities, but Okeyo dismissed these as pitiful: a few tents, and some corrugated¹ iron sheets for building classrooms.

一些当地学校收到了来自国家政府和慈善机构的捐赠，但奥凯奥认为这些捐赠很可怜：几顶帐篷和一些用于建造教室的波纹铁板。

When Okeyo went to the Ministry² of Education in Nairobi at the start of 2021, the records showed that each of the secondary schools around Lake Baringo had been allocated³ 10m shillings (67,000 pounds), and the primary schools 4m shillings (27,000 pounds) each.

2021年初，Okeyo去了内罗毕的教育部，记录显示，巴林戈湖周围的每所中学都获得了1000万先令（67,000英镑）的拨款，每所小学获得了400万先令（27,000英镑）。

“The officer I was talking to said the money had been sent,” Okeyo said.

奥凯奥说：“与我交谈的警官说，钱已经寄出去了。”

On the ground, these schools knew nothing about the money.

实际上，这些学校对钱的事情一无所知。

(Some financial assistance arrived months after I visited, more than a year after the schools were flooded.)

（一些经济援助是在我访问几个月后到达的，距离学校被洪水淹没已经一年多了。）

The next day, Okeyo and I set out to visit some of the schools that had relocated.

第二天，奥凯奥和我出发去参观一些搬迁的学校。

At Ng’ambo primary school, whose student population had dropped down to 40 children from a pre-pandemic high of 500, classes were under way beneath the shade of trees and in two white Red Cross tents.

在Ng’ambo小学，学生人数从疫情爆发前的最高水平500人下降到40人，学校在树荫下和两个白色的红十字会帐篷里上课。

Outside one tent was the staffroom: a bench where teachers sat, grading exam papers.

帐篷外面是教员室：老师们坐在那里批改试卷。

In one outdoor class, a teacher took his pupils through some English grammar.

在一堂户外课上，一位老师教他的学生一些英语语法。

Today’s lesson was capital letters.

今天的课程是大写字母。

Around the children, goats walked in the dust.

在孩子们周围，山羊在泥土中走来走去。

Mr Parkolo, the headteacher, told me that what used to be the school’s classrooms were now submerged, nine miles away.

班主任帕科洛告诉我，学校过去的教室在9英里外都被淹没了。

He told the children to put on their face masks.

他叫孩子们戴上口罩。

We were in the middle of a pandemic, after all.

毕竟，我们正处于一场疫情之中。

A few hours later, I visited the old site of another school, Salabani secondary.

几个小时后，我参观了另一所学校萨拉巴尼中学的旧址。

Here, the lake had receded⁴ a bit, so we could explore.

在这里，湖已经退了一点，所以我们可以探索了。

A group of children, who were not students at the school, led me, as well as the principal of the school and his deputy, through the floating water hyacinth that was everywhere in the compound.

一群不是在校学生的孩子带着我和校长和他的副手，穿过院子里随处可见的漂浮的水葫芦。

We walked past hippopotamus⁵ footprints and stepped on to an elevated room that used to be the classroom for form two.

我们穿过河马的脚印，走进一间曾经是二年级教室的高架教室。

Before us was the lake.

在我们前面是一个湖。

Pelicans⁶, wet and hungry, waded⁷ in the water.

鹈鹕，涉水而行，又湿又饿。

The principal, Moses Chelimo, pointed⁸ out what used to be a boys’ dormitory, now barely visible across the water.

校长摩西·奇利莫指出了曾经是男生宿舍的地方，现在隔着水面几乎看不见。

Behind it was the school farm, where two hectares of maize⁹ grown to feed the students was underwater.

在它的后面是学校的农场，那里种植着两公顷的玉米，供学生们食用，不过都被水淹没了。

1 corrugated   

adj.波纹的；缩成皱纹的；波纹面的；波纹状的v.（使某物）起皱褶(corrugate的过去式和过去分词)

参考例句：

• a corrugated iron roof 波纹铁屋顶
• His brow corrugated with the effort of thinking. 他皱着眉头用心地思考。 来自《简明英汉词典》

2 ministry   

n.(政府的)部；牧师

参考例句：

• They sent a deputation to the ministry to complain.他们派了一个代表团到部里投诉。
• We probed the Air Ministry statements.我们调查了空军部的记录。

3 allocated   

adj. 分配的 动词allocate的过去式和过去分词

参考例句：

• The Ford Foundation allocated millions of dollars for cancer research. 福特基金会拨款数百万美元用于癌症研究。
• More funds will now be allocated to charitable organizations. 现在会拨更多的资金给慈善组织。

4 receded   

v.逐渐远离( recede的过去式和过去分词 )；向后倾斜；自原处后退或避开别人的注视；尤指问题

参考例句：

• The floodwaters have now receded. 洪水现已消退。
• The sound of the truck receded into the distance. 卡车的声音渐渐在远处消失了。

5 hippopotamus   

n.河马

参考例句：

• The children enjoyed watching the hippopotamus wallowing in the mud.孩子们真喜观看河马在泥中打滚。
• A hippopotamus surfs the waves off the coast of Gabon.一头河马在加蓬的海岸附近冲浪。

6 pelicans   

n.鹈鹕( pelican的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Kurt watched the Pelicans fire their jets and scorch the grass. 库尔特看着鹈鹕运兵船点火，它们的喷焰把草烧焦。 来自互联网
• The Pelican Feeding Officers present an educational talk while feeding the pelicans. 那个正在喂鹈鹕的工作人员会边喂鹈鹕边给它上一节教育课。 来自互联网

7 waded   

（从水、泥等）蹚，走过，跋( wade的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• She tucked up her skirt and waded into the river. 她撩起裙子蹚水走进河里。
• He waded into the water to push the boat out. 他蹚进水里把船推出来。

8 pointed   

adj.尖的，直截了当的

参考例句：

• He gave me a very sharp pointed pencil.他给我一支削得非常尖的铅笔。
• She wished to show Mrs.John Dashwood by this pointed invitation to her brother.她想通过对达茨伍德夫人提出直截了当的邀请向她的哥哥表示出来。

9 maize   

n.玉米

参考例句：

• There's a field planted with maize behind the house.房子后面有一块玉米地。
• We can grow sorghum or maize on this plot.这块地可以种高粱或玉米。