时代周刊:犹他州纳瓦霍抗疫关照计划负责人的自白（2）

The clinic gave me a brand-new Toyota Tundra¹ like a month ago with only 100 miles on it.

差不多一个月前吧，诊所给我配了一台几乎全新的丰田苔原，当时里程只有100英里（约160公里）。

Now it's at almost 10,000.

现在已经快1万英里（约1.6万公里）了。

People talk about grassroots—I mean, this is pure grassroots.

大家都在说基层——要我说，这才是真正的基层。

We're trying to work with people locally and help each other out.

我们正在努力与当地人互帮互助，与他们共进退。

PART OF WHAT PEOPLE appreciate is that they see me out there.

大家认可我也是因为他们亲眼看到我到他们那儿去了。

They see me deliver firewood myself that I chopped.

看到我自己砍柴又自己给他们送过去。

I'm at their house at 10 o'clock at night when they called their case manager or therapist who works with the clinic

夜里10点，他们给诊所那边负责对接的专案经理或治疗师打电话，跟他们说，“我们实在是需要吃的”的时候，

to say, “We really need some food.”

我就在他们旁边。

It's a tough job.

这就是一份苦差事。

You go to these households where people are sick, and you can't help them, you can't touch them.

去到的那些家庭，要是有人病了，你也爱莫能助，连碰他们一下都不能。

Some of them are old and some of them are little kids, and all you can do is look through the window.

有些已经老了，有些还只是小孩子，你却只能从窗户外面看他们一眼。

You can just see a desperation in their eyes.

只能眼看着绝望锁进他们的双眼。

Sometimes people are just lonely.

有时，他们只是孤单了些。

Especially when they're so far out, they just want someone to sit and talk for a little bit.

尤其因为他们住的太偏远，他们想要的不过就是有个人能坐下来陪他们说说话，仅此而已。

They used to see us as just this clinic.

过去，他们只会拿我们当诊所的工作人员。

Now people know that we're more than that.

他们现在已经知道，我们可不是一般的工作人员。

They know that the clinic is there for them, for their well-being².

他们知道，诊所是去帮他们的，是去给他们送健康送快乐的，

For them to be able to be seen for illness, for mental health, or if they're hungry or cold.

是去让他们在疾病、在心理健康，又或是在饥饿、寒冷面前不再充当透明人的。

That tightness of the community is what's really come through.

这种社区紧密性才是我们真正的成就。

(Now that Utah is reopening) it feels like everything we're trying to preach³ is falling on deaf ears.

（如今，犹他州已经开始重启）我们努力宣扬的这一切似乎都在慢慢变成耳旁风。

You can't stop people from coming onto the reservation.

你也没办法不让大家来保留地。

It's disheartening.

这点还挺让人难过的。

I understand why people want to open businesses.

我理解大家想复工复产的心情。

But this is a time where there's something that's smarter, faster than us: this virus.

问题是这次我们碰到的是比我们更聪明，动作也比我们更快的这个（新冠）病毒。

All we can do is focus on our part of the country and try our best to keep the virus from spreading.

我们能做的就是把工作重点放在我们这个地区，尽我们最大的努力阻止病毒的传播。

Right now's a good time for people to really start working together.

而现在就是大家齐心协力的好时机。

1 tundra   

n.苔原，冻土地带

参考例句：

• The arctic tundra is at the top of the world around the North Pole.北极冻原是指北极点周边的地区，是世界最高的地方。
• There is a large amount of methane gas under the Siberian tundra.西伯利亚的冻土地带之下有大量的甲烷气体。

2 well-being   

n.安康，安乐，幸福

参考例句：

• He always has the well-being of the masses at heart.他总是把群众的疾苦挂在心上。
• My concern for their well-being was misunderstood as interference.我关心他们的幸福，却被误解为多管闲事。

3 preach   

vi.传道，宣扬；vt. 讲道，说教

参考例句：

• Don't preach me a sermon,please.请不要对我讲大道理。
• They continue to preach their gospel of self-reliance.他们继续倡导自立的信条。