休斯顿难民庆祝重获新生

Refugees Come Together to Celebrate in Houston 休斯顿难民庆祝重获新生

HOUSTON—

Texas has become a favored place for refugee resettlement in the United States, especially Houston. Ten percent of the refugees in the U.S. live in the Lone¹ Star State.

At a recent World Refugee Day celebration, people who left everything behind to find a new home in Houston enjoyed music, dancing, food and play.

Saniha Lakhpaty, who works with the Catholic Charities refugee program, organized this year's event, held at the University of Saint Thomas.

“They left behind a lot, and now they are here, settling into a new home," Lakhpaty said. "Houston has more refugees than any other city — many Houstonians actually do not know that. This is an opportunity for us to come together once a year and celebrate them.”

Most refugees avoid talking about what compelled them to leave their countries. “Refugees do not want to tell their story," Lakhpaty said. "They don’t want to relive it. It is already difficult for them to resettle because many of them don’t speak English. So, you have engineers and doctors working labor² jobs just to get started and make life for their family.”

One thing that helps is the increasing diversity of Houston’s population. Zain Alattar, who works with the YMCA’s refugee program, speaks Arabic and several other languages.

“I was raised in a pretty multicultural³, multilingual environment, so now I help out with the refugees and I enjoy supporting the cause,” Alattar said.

Refugees from various countries find common ground playing football, called soccer in the United States. So World Refugee Day planners brought teams from various nationalities together in a park for a set of games.

One team, the Texas Tigers, was made up of Sudanese refugees. Another squad⁴, made up mostly of players from Cuba, Algeria and Iraq, included women like Romi from Honduras, who works with Interfaith Ministries⁵.

“I just want to have fun and see some of the people from other agencies," she said, "because we don’t talk that much with them and I would like to meet them.”

The celebration provided this chance for refugees to come together to support each other and embrace their new beginnings in a new homeland.

1 lone   

adj.孤寂的，单独的；唯一的

参考例句：

• A lone sea gull flew across the sky.一只孤独的海鸥在空中飞过。
• She could see a lone figure on the deserted beach.她在空旷的海滩上能看到一个孤独的身影。

2 labor   

n.劳动，努力，工作，劳工；分娩；vi.劳动，努力，苦干；vt.详细分析；麻烦

参考例句：

• We are never late in satisfying him for his labor.我们从不延误付给他劳动报酬。
• He was completely spent after two weeks of hard labor.艰苦劳动两周后，他已经疲惫不堪了。

3 multicultural   

adj.融合多种文化的，多种文化的

参考例句：

• Children growing up in a multicultural society.在多元文化社会中长大的孩子们。
• The school has been attempting to bring a multicultural perspective to its curriculum.这所学校已经在尝试将一种多元文化视角引入其课程。

4 squad   

n.班，小队，小团体；vt.把…编成班或小组

参考例句：

• The squad leader ordered the men to mark time.班长命令战士们原地踏步。
• A squad is the smallest unit in an army.班是军队的最小构成单位。

5 ministries   

（政府的）部( ministry的名词复数 )； 神职； 牧师职位； 神职任期

参考例句：

• Local authorities must refer everything to the central ministries. 地方管理机构应请示中央主管部门。
• The number of Ministries has been pared down by a third. 部委的数量已经减少了1/3。