利比里亚截肢足球队滞留美国

AS IT IS 2015-09-16 Liberia Amputee Soccer Team Struggling in US 利比里亚截肢足球队滞留美国

The Liberia amputee soccer team is one of the top teams in the sport. They have won the African nation tournament for amputees three times.

They are so good that the American Amputee Soccer Federation¹ asked the Liberian team to play an international friendly soccer match. The event was scheduled for early August in Maryland. But then it was canceled.

The team came to the U.S. anyway. And after a month, the players are stranded² – either unable or unwilling³ to return home.

Now it appears the 15 players are having a difficult time with basic, daily needs. Some of the players lost arms or legs because of violence in their country.

Amputees claim difficult conditions for the disabled in Liberia

Cooper Melvin Goteh is president of the Liberia Amputee Soccer Association. He says the team knew before leaving for the United States that the international competition was cancelled.

But, he says, the players wanted to come to the U.S. to talk about the deplorable conditions in Liberia. Amputees lack decent housing, education, and food in Liberia. The team decided⁴ to make the U.S. trip to appeal for assistance.

“We knew that actually on the 23rd of June the tournament was canceled, but we had other appointments. So that’s why we use the opportunity to come to America, and we came.” 

Some Liberians say the team was looking for a way out of Liberia. But Mr. Goteh denies that the players planned to stay in the United States. He says the team would like to return home.

But, he says the Liberian government plans to take legal action against them. The government reportedly is seeking to recover money spent on the trip.

Liberia rejects description of ‘harsh’ conditions for amputee athletes

Eugene Nagbe is Liberia’s Minister of Youth and Sports. He told VOA there has been a lot of goodwill⁵ towards the amputees in Liberia. He denies claims by Mr. Goteh that the government plans to prosecute⁶ the team for making the trip.

“Prosecution for what,” asked Mr. Nagbe? “He (Mr. Goteh) has committed no crime here or in America. They got their visas to travel, they entered America legally. Our worry is that they don’t overstay their visas and then their stay in America would be illegal. So we are encouraging them to come back home,” he said.

Liberian diaspora response

A number of Liberian-Americans have been helping⁷ the soccer team. One of them is Saymendy Lloyd and the Women’s Wing Organization, a group in Washington, DC.

She and her group have found temporary housing for 11 of the players. They found a six-bedroom house, and set up a cable television connection so that the players could watch their favorite sport -- soccer. She asked DC area hotels to donate mattresses⁸ for beds. She also asked local restaurants to donate their unsold food.

Pocket change

Over the weekend the players asked Mrs. Lloyd for “pocket change” money. They also wanted at least $50 for each of them to send to their families back in Liberia. The players said they have jobs, and that their families need the money.

Mrs. Lloyd told VOA she is worried about feeding the amputees, or how to pay for the gas, water, electricity and cable TV. In addition, she owes $2,700 for use of the house.

Liberian embassy response

A Liberian Embassy official described the situation as a “nightmare.” He said a hotel in Baltimore had evicted⁹ the amputees.

The official said the Liberian government agreed to provide about $300 per person for the embassy to rewrite the amputees’ tickets to enable them to return to Liberia.

Words in This Story

soccer – n. the American term for European football

amputee(s) – n. someone who lost an arm or leg

stranded – v. left without a way to leave some place

match – n. a soccer or football game

basic – adj. relating to the most important part of something

decent – adj. moral or honest; showing kindness

opportunity – n. a chance to do something

committed – adj. feeling loyalty¹⁰ to a cause or activity

encouraging – adj. supportive; promising¹¹

nightmare – n. an unpleasant dream

1 federation   

n.同盟，联邦，联合，联盟，联合会

参考例句：

• It is a federation of 10 regional unions.它是由十个地方工会结合成的联合会。
• Mr.Putin was inaugurated as the President of the Russian Federation.普京正式就任俄罗斯联邦总统。

2 stranded   

a.搁浅的，进退两难的

参考例句：

• He was stranded in a strange city without money. 他流落在一个陌生的城市里， 身无分文，一筹莫展。
• I was stranded in the strange town without money or friends. 我困在那陌生的城市，既没有钱，又没有朋友。

3 unwilling   

adj.不情愿的

参考例句：

• The natives were unwilling to be bent by colonial power.土著居民不愿受殖民势力的摆布。
• His tightfisted employer was unwilling to give him a raise.他那吝啬的雇主不肯给他加薪。

4 decided   

adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的

参考例句：

• This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
• There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。

5 goodwill   

n.善意，亲善，信誉，声誉

参考例句：

• His heart is full of goodwill to all men.他心里对所有人都充满着爱心。
• We paid ￡10,000 for the shop,and ￡2000 for its goodwill.我们用一万英镑买下了这家商店，两千英镑买下了它的信誉。

6 prosecute   

vt.告发；进行；vi.告发，起诉，作检察官

参考例句：

• I am trying my best to prosecute my duties.我正在尽力履行我的职责。
• Is there enough evidence to prosecute?有没有起诉的足够证据？

7 helping   

n.食物的一份&adj.帮助人的，辅助的

参考例句：

• The poor children regularly pony up for a second helping of my hamburger. 那些可怜的孩子们总是要求我把我的汉堡包再给他们一份。
• By doing this, they may at times be helping to restore competition. 这样一来, 他在某些时候,有助于竞争的加强。

8 mattresses   

褥垫，床垫( mattress的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The straw mattresses are airing there. 草垫子正在那里晾着。
• The researchers tested more than 20 mattresses of various materials. 研究人员试验了二十多个不同材料的床垫。

9 evicted   

v.（依法从房屋里或土地上）驱逐，赶出( evict的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• A number of tenants have been evicted for not paying the rent. 许多房客因不付房租被赶了出来。
• They had evicted their tenants for non-payment of rent. 他们赶走了未交房租的房客。

10 loyalty   

n.忠诚，忠心

参考例句：

• She told him the truth from a sense of loyalty.她告诉他真相是出于忠诚。
• His loyalty to his friends was never in doubt.他对朋友的一片忠心从来没受到怀疑。

11 promising   

adj.有希望的，有前途的

参考例句：

• The results of the experiments are very promising.实验的结果充满了希望。
• We're trying to bring along one or two promising young swimmers.我们正设法培养出一两名有前途的年轻游泳选手。