2006年VOA标准英语-Darfur's Refugees Struggle to Recover from Trau

By Nico Colombant
Chad
29 May 2006
 
watch Chad Refugees report

Sudan's war in the Darfur region has been devastating¹, marked by attacks in which pro-government militias² have burned villages, killed people in front of their relatives, and raped³ young girls.  A peace deal was signed recently with a major rebel faction⁴, but for many victims the trauma⁵ of war lives on.  Some aid groups are trying to help.

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Gaga camp  
  

The Gaga camp in Chad lies across the border from the Darfurian town of El Geneina.

Many barely survived horrific attacks that left them in a state of shock and despair.

One Kenyan association is trying to help.

It brings together volunteer refugees who go out to every tent in the camp, looking for the traumatized and mentally unstable⁶. .

 
Basilla Ciakuthi 
  
Many of the aid workers do not speak Arabic, so a translator is on hand. It is slow, deliberate work. Coordinator⁷, Basilla Ciakuthi, say" We always start an ethnographic survey, where we collect date to find out what is the impact of the war on the refugees, what is the level of stress that they are having at the moment and who are their primary care givers.  So we are able to empower them with the skills to help the refugees."

Sam, a 30-year-old Kenyan, is one of the project's counselors⁸.  He was a gym teacher, but decided⁹ that with so many wars still wracking the continent, it was time he tried to make a difference.

Along with two refugee volunteers, and the translator, he pays a first visit to Ousmane and his family. 

Chad refugee, Ousmane   
  
Ousmane is 17.  He lives with his mother and sister.  He does not speak anymore. He does not feed himself. He does not move at all, even if he needs to go to the bathroom.

His sister explains he has been like this since he saw militias execute his father. 

Sam's method is to befriend such victims, spend time with them, and try to coax¹⁰ them into talking about their horrors, so they can come to grips with their past and try to be able to function a little better with what life has offered them. 

Sam  
  
He says it is difficult, and that often, these victims have been given too many debilitating¹¹ drugs before he reaches them. "We find that in most cases, they just go to the hospital and they do not know what is supposed to be done and from what type of a case he is suffering from.  We do this and me, as a psychologist, I come, I assess them, we do an interview, and depending on the signs and symptoms of behavior, I can tell what kind of a psychological problem he is suffering from.

Sam is not actually a psychologist by training, but he tries his best.

There is just one psychologist on the team. The worst cases are sent to Doctors Without Borders.

 
Amna
  
Next  Sam visits seven-year old Amna. Little Amna lives at the camp with her eight brothers and sisters. Her older sister explains militias killed their parents. 

She says that is the day Amna stopped speaking, stopped being able to walk and stopped being able to feed herself. She can barely keep any food inside her, without throwing up.

Sam says he would like to take Amna to another camp where they are gathering¹² children whose development has been completely erased¹³ by the war, and try to get them to express themselves through drawing, singing and acting¹⁴.  Many girls like Amna were raped as well, so it is not always easy to reach out to girls, who see all men as evil.

An attack during war can be very brief and deadly, even for the living, Sam says, and now it is his work here to counter the savagery¹⁵ and ugliness of war, and give these children some help to start the grueling climb back toward life and sanity¹⁶.

1 devastating   

adj.毁灭性的，令人震惊的，强有力的

参考例句：

• It is the most devastating storm in 20 years.这是20年来破坏性最大的风暴。
• Affairs do have a devastating effect on marriages.婚外情确实会对婚姻造成毁灭性的影响。

2 militias   

n.民兵组织，民兵( militia的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The troops will not attempt to disarm the warring militias. 部队并不打算解除战斗中的民兵武装。 来自辞典例句
• The neighborhood was a battleground for Shiite and Sunni militias. 那里曾是什叶派和逊尼派武装分子的战场。 来自互联网

3 raped   

v.以暴力夺取，强夺( rape的过去式和过去分词 )；强奸

参考例句：

• A young woman was brutally raped in her own home. 一名年轻女子在自己家中惨遭强暴。 来自辞典例句
• We got stick together, or we will be having our women raped. 我们得团结一致，不然我们的妻女就会遭到蹂躏。 来自辞典例句

4 faction   

n.宗派，小集团；派别；派系斗争

参考例句：

• Faction and self-interest appear to be the norm.派系之争和自私自利看来非常普遍。
• I now understood clearly that I was caught between the king and the Bunam's faction.我现在完全明白自己已陷入困境，在国王与布纳姆集团之间左右为难。

5 trauma   

n.外伤，精神创伤

参考例句：

• Counselling is helping him work through this trauma.心理辅导正帮助他面对痛苦。
• The phobia may have its root in a childhood trauma.恐惧症可能源于童年时期的创伤。

6 unstable   

adj.不稳定的，易变的

参考例句：

• This bookcase is too unstable to hold so many books.这书橱很不结实，装不了这么多书。
• The patient's condition was unstable.那患者的病情不稳定。

7 coordinator   

n.协调人

参考例句：

• The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, headed by the Emergency Relief Coordinator, coordinates all UN emergency relief. 联合国人道主义事务协调厅在紧急救济协调员领导下，负责协调联合国的所有紧急救济工作。
• How am I supposed to find the client-relations coordinator? 我怎么才能找到客户关系协调员的办公室？

8 counselors   

n.顾问( counselor的名词复数 )；律师；（使馆等的）参赞；（协助学生解决问题的）指导老师

参考例句：

• Counselors began an inquiry into industrial needs. 顾问们开始调查工业方面的需要。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》
• We have experienced counselors available day and night. ) 这里有经验的法律顾问全天候值班。） 来自超越目标英语 第4册

9 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。

10 coax   

v.哄诱，劝诱，用诱哄得到，诱取

参考例句：

• I had to coax the information out of him.我得用好话套出他掌握的情况。
• He tried to coax the secret from me.他试图哄骗我说出秘方。

11 debilitating   

a.使衰弱的

参考例句：

• The debilitating disease made him too weak to work. 这个令他衰弱的病，使他弱到没有办法工作。
• You may soon leave one debilitating condition or relationship forever. 你即将永远地和这段霉运说拜拜了。

12 gathering   

n.集会，聚会，聚集

参考例句：

• He called on Mr. White to speak at the gathering.他请怀特先生在集会上讲话。
• He is on the wing gathering material for his novels.他正忙于为他的小说收集资料。

13 erased   

v.擦掉( erase的过去式和过去分词 )；抹去；清除

参考例句：

• He erased the wrong answer and wrote in the right one. 他擦去了错误答案，写上了正确答案。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• He removed the dogmatism from politics; he erased the party line. 他根除了政治中的教条主义，消除了政党界限。 来自《简明英汉词典》

14 acting   

n.演戏，行为，假装；adj.代理的，临时的，演出用的

参考例句：

• Ignore her,she's just acting.别理她，她只是假装的。
• During the seventies,her acting career was in eclipse.在七十年代，她的表演生涯黯然失色。

15 savagery   

n.野性

参考例句：

• The police were shocked by the savagery of the attacks.警察对这些惨无人道的袭击感到震惊。
• They threw away their advantage by their savagery to the black population.他们因为野蛮对待黑人居民而丧失了自己的有利地位。

16 sanity   

n.心智健全，神智正常，判断正确

参考例句：

• I doubt the sanity of such a plan.我怀疑这个计划是否明智。
• She managed to keep her sanity throughout the ordeal.在那场磨难中她始终保持神志正常。