Fifteen years after pulling out because of Sierra Leone’s civil war, Peace Corps volunteers are back in the West African nation. A look at the organization's work as the Peace Corps marks its 50th anniversary this year, March 1st.
3月1号是和平队成立50周年纪念日。15年前，由于塞拉利昂发生内战，美国和平队的志愿者们被迫撤出这个西非国家。现在，和平队又重返塞拉利昂。
Amanda Pease is one of the first Peace Corps volunteers to work in Sierra Leone in over a decade. She has been teaching science now for six months at St. Joseph’s, a high school in the east of the country.
阿曼达·皮斯是10年来在塞拉利昂工作的第一批和平队志愿者之一。过去6个月里，她一直在塞拉利昂东部圣约瑟夫高中教科学课程。
For Pease, living in the roadside village of Blama, a day’s drive from the capital, Freetown, is a far cry from her coastal hometown of San Diego, California. It is also her first time to Africa.
皮斯生活在布兰玛这个偏僻的小镇，距离塞拉利昂首都弗里敦有一天的车程。这里的生活和皮斯的家乡加州圣迭哥的生活完全是两回事。
Pease decided to sign up for a two-year stint as a Peace Corps volunteer after finishing a degree in Chemical Engineering at the University of California Los Angeles.
这是皮斯第一次到非洲去。皮斯在加州洛杉矶分校毕业拿到化学工程师的学位后，跟和平队签了一个两年的合约。
"I was trying to decide between going the academic route and doing a postdoctoral degree and go into industry and then I had been doing some volunteer work and the idea was always kind of floating around," Pease said. "There was kind of an option number three on the side, and as time went on and I thought about it more and more, I was so much more excited about that option. Just the idea of trying to give an opportunity to someone who would not maybe have it."
皮斯说：“我对到底是走学术路线，去做博士后，还是进入业界找一份工作，一直举棋不定。因为我一直在做一些志愿工作，所以参加和平队这个想法就一直缠绕在我心头。这是我的第三个选择。随着时间流逝，我的这个愿望越来越强烈。每次一想到我可以给别人他们从来没有过的机会，我就激动不已。”
There are 37 Peace Corps members serving in rural schools across the country. Joel Wallach, co-director for Peace Corps here, says they have a long history in Sierra Leone.
一共有37名和平队成员在塞拉利昂各地农村学校教书。据塞拉利昂和平队副主任乔·沃勒克介绍，和平队在塞拉利昂的历史很长。
"Sierra Leone has traditionally been a very welcoming country to the Peace Corps," said Wallach. "And there have been about 3400 volunteers in a 32-year history, up until 1994. We had been thinking about coming back for a few years, but a combination of the budget allowing us to and the security situation stabilizing made the timing right last year for us to come back."
沃勒克说：“塞拉利昂一直非常欢迎和平队。在1962到1994年的32年中，我们一共派3400名志愿者到塞拉利昂工作。过去几年，我们一直考虑重返塞拉利昂，但是由于资金和安全问题，一直到去年局势稳定了，我们重返塞拉利昂的时机才成熟。”
In Blama, every day Pease comes home to a gaggle of young friends eager for her time.
在布兰玛，皮斯每天回家，都有一群叽叽喳喳的年轻朋友们在等着她。
But before she plays, she marks her students’ papers. As the school’s only Chemistry and Physics teacher, she has a lot to do.
但是她开始休息前，得先批改学生的作业。作为学校里唯一一名化学和物理教师，她有好多事情要做。
As efforts to get more children through primary school in Sierra Leone are bearing fruit, many high schools are now overloaded with students. Science teachers are particularly scarce.
塞拉利昂过去几年一直在努力让更多的孩子能够接完成小学教育，因此目前中学里人满为患。科学课程方面的教师尤其稀缺。
For Pease, one of the most surprising and challenging things about her experience so far is the lack of motivation among her colleagues and students.
迄今为止，对皮斯来说，来到塞拉利昂后最让她感到惊讶也是最具有挑战性的是，她的同事和学生缺乏主动性。
"I had sort of a romantic idea coming to a developing country where everyone is super motivated but just does not have opportunity, " said Pease. "And that is not exactly how it is. Not that I am saying the opportunities are so great, because of course there are limited opportunities compared to America, but I think one of the biggest things is literally just motivation."
皮斯说：“在来到一个发展中国家之前，我有一个浪漫的想法，认为那里每个人的积极性都非常高，他们缺乏的只是机会。但事实并非如此。我不是说那里有多么好的机会，和美国比起来，他们的机会当然少多了，但是我觉得最重要的是动力问题。”
For St. Joseph’s deputy principal, Walter Sam, Peace Corps’ return to Sierra Leone is a welcome support to the challenges of providing quality education in difficult conditions.
对圣约瑟夫高中的副校长沃特·塞姆来说，和平队重返塞拉利昂对他们在困难状况下提供高质量的教育是一个极大的支持。
"Oh, we have benefited immensely," Sam said. "In these two areas, from the year 2000 up to when Amanda came now, we have been hiring teachers on a part-time basis, paying them. So with the coming of Amanda, the school has really cut down on hiring those ones [people], especially in chemistry and physics."
塞姆说：“我们受益无穷。从2000年到2010年皮斯来之前，我们一直都是花钱请代课老师来上物理和化学两门课。皮斯来了，我们就不用请代课老师了，特别是化学和物理老师。”
What Pease loves best about her Peace Corps experience is the magical moment when a student understands chemical bonding or asks her for more exercises.
对于自己在和平队的经历，皮斯最喜欢的是有学生明白了化学键的概念，或者是有学生要求做更多的练习的那个美妙时刻。
Pease says if she can do anything in her two years here, she hopes to be able to pass on the ‘can-do’ culture of her homeland and to absorb the joys of Sierra Leone’s slower pace of life.
皮斯表示，如果说她在塞拉利昂这两年能做什么的话，她希望把美国人这种“我有能力做到”的文化言传身教给那里的人，同时好好享受塞拉利昂人慢节奏生活的乐趣。 |