【英语语言学习】我们依旧相信希望

LYNN NEARY, HOST:

The Mexican drug wars have left many victims, especially those shattered by violence. Some have found a small measure of refuge outside Juarez, Mexico. A shelter there is the last stop for a group of indigent¹ and mentally ill people who have nowhere else to go. NPR's Mandalit del Barco paid a visit and found that art plays a role in the residents' survival.

MANDALIT DEL BARCO, BYLINE²: Fifteen miles past the city limits of Juarez, Vision en Accion, Vision in Action, sits like a citadel³ in a filthy⁴ desert dotted with dumps and junkyards. It remains⁵ haunted by years of violence.

UNIDENTIFIED MAN: (Yelling in Spanish).

DEL BARCO: A few of the asylum⁶'s 120 residents live behind bars in tiny, solitary⁷, cement cells. But most of the people here spend their time doing chores and relaxing in an open courtyard. They're tended to by the pastor⁸ who built the shelter, Jose Antonio Galvan.

PASTOR JOSE ANTONIO GALVAN: (Singing in Spanish).

DEL BARCO: Galvan plays his guitar and sings with the residents who seem content and clearly adore him. They affectionately calls them los pelos duros, the stiff-haired ones, who arrived here unbathed, thus the dirty hair. Many were dropped off here by local police, hospital workers or desperate families. Pastor Galvan himself scooped⁹ up some of them from the streets.

GALVAN: This is like a junkyard for the humans.

DEL BARCO: A junkyard for humans.

GALVAN: Yes. Un centro de reciclaje humano. We are a recycling center for human beings. We believe in hope.

 

DEL BARCO: Some residents arrived as drug addicts¹⁰, mentally ill, homeless or just destitute¹¹. Galvan says some were victims of violence; others perpetrators, cartel hitmen or narco traffickers. A medical doctor who volunteers here, Arturo Fierro Garcia, says social services are in short supply in Juarez. He knows of only one other small, mental institution and a new hospital that offers medicine, but not a place to live.

DR. ARTURO FIERRO GARCIA: (Speaking Spanish).

DEL BARCO: Fierro says the Mexican government doesn't do much for them. "Who wants to care for a crazy person?" he asks. "No one."

GARCIA: Nadie.

DEL BARCO: No one except for Pastor Galvan, who doesn't have a degree, operates ad hoc, hustles¹² for funding and says the best medicine is love.

GALVAN: We have a lot of miracles in here.

DEL BARCO: The 64-year-old Galvan is a born-again Christian¹³ who once was a construction worker in California. He says he became an alcoholic¹⁴ and was addicted¹⁵ to cocaine¹⁶, PCP and crystal meth. He was deported¹⁷ to Mexico and left behind his family. He says at his lowest point, he was living on the streets in Juarez until he found God. Galvan became a street preacher and even had his own evangelical radio show. A listener donated this piece of land where he began building the asylum in 1995. Without any regular government assistance, Galvan relies on food and medical donations with the residents caring for each other.

ALICE LEORA BRIGGS: It is absolutely incredible that one human being, who is just determined¹⁸, is making this much difference in the mental health vacuum.

DEL BARCO: Artist Alice Leora Briggs has known Galvan since 2008. She sometimes conducts art workshops at the asylum.

BRIGGS: Medication is not always available, so some of these people do have to be isolated¹⁹. And is true that if this asylum was in the United States, it would be closed down yesterday. He doesn't have the sort of facility that would be acceptable. You know, he doesn't have the staffing, the funding. He doesn't have the medication. And so with what resources he does have, it's kind of miraculous²⁰ what he's able to accomplish.

DEL BARCO: That includes art therapy. Galvan encourages residents to paint whatever wanders into their minds. For Josue Rosales, it's landscapes. He's a former gang banger who spent 10 years in California prisons for selling drugs. After he was deported, he arrived at the asylum addicted to heroin²¹ and nearly dead. It took him almost a year to detox. Now, Rosales helps Galvan run the asylum, and he plans to become a nurse.

JOSUE ROSALES: Painting is like keeping our mind busy. That make you think something else you know.

DEL BARCO: Something besides drugs and being on the streets.

ROSALES: Yeah.

DEL BARCO: Another resident who lost his leg after falling out of a second-story window has a sketchbook filled with drawings of two-story houses. Galvan says he's noticed certain patterns with the artwork here.

GALVAN: Let me tell you something about the people, bipolar. The bipolar people, they are artistas (speaking Spanish). They paint landscapes, flowers. They paint the sun. They paint the trees. And the schizophrenic people, no. They paint demons²².

DEL BARCO: Demons.

GALVAN: Skulls²³.

DEL BARCO: Skulls.

GALVAN: Assesinatos.

DEL BARCO: Murderers.

GALVAN: And then the autistas, puras rayas, los autistas.

DEL BARCO: The autistic people just paint stripes.

GALVAN: Just the stripe.

DEL BARCO: Filmmaker Mark Aitken made a documentary about the asylum called "Dead When I Got Here." He says he's seen how making art helps calm so many of the residents.

MARK AITKEN: I did see people painting with utter concentration. And five minutes before that, they had just been walking in circles sort of gibbering. So it just shows the power of this kind of therapy.

DEL BARCO: Five years ago, Galvan taught himself how to paint. His work uses religious and political messages - weapons, cemeteries²⁴, blood.

GALVAN: My paintings are very cruel. They are very, very strong. We are talking about the narco violencia.

DEL BARCO: During the recent years of drug cartel violence, the land around the asylum was a dumping ground for bodies. Galvan says when it rains, skeletons still come to the surface near the shelter. He's put all of this in his artwork.

You have a painting of Jesus arm wrestling with the devil.

GALVAN: It's a fight. The evil and the good, see.

DEL BARCO: This one looks like a Diego Rivera painting, but with skulls instead of flowers.

GALVAN: Yes. That's Mexico. It's full of dead people.

DEL BARCO: Filmmaker Aitken says the artwork is powerful.

AITKEN: I think pastor's paintings are hideous²⁵, and they depict²⁶ the hideousness²⁷ that's all around him - the carnage, the horror, the nightmares from Juarez.

DEL BARCO: Galvan's paintings and those of the residents have been shown in galleries in New Mexico and Texas and may soon travel to New York. The pastor says sales of their artwork will go toward funding Vision en Accion. Mandalit del Barco, NPR News, Ciudad Juarez, Mexico.

1 indigent   

adj.贫穷的，贫困的

参考例句：

• The town government is responsible for assistance to indigent people.镇政府负责给穷人提供帮助。
• A judge normally appoints the attorney for an indigent defendant at the defendant's first court appearence.法官通常会在贫穷被告人第一次出庭时，为其指派一名辩护律师。

2 byline   

n.署名；v.署名

参考例句：

• His byline was absent as well.他的署名也不见了。
• We wish to thank the author of this article which carries no byline.我们要感谢这篇文章的那位没有署名的作者。

3 citadel   

n.城堡；堡垒；避难所

参考例句：

• The citadel was solid.城堡是坚固的。
• This citadel is built on high ground for protecting the city.这座城堡建于高处是为保护城市。

4 filthy   

adj.卑劣的；恶劣的，肮脏的

参考例句：

• The whole river has been fouled up with filthy waste from factories.整条河都被工厂的污秽废物污染了。
• You really should throw out that filthy old sofa and get a new one.你真的应该扔掉那张肮脏的旧沙发，然后再去买张新的。

5 remains   

n.剩余物，残留物；遗体，遗迹

参考例句：

• He ate the remains of food hungrily.他狼吞虎咽地吃剩余的食物。
• The remains of the meal were fed to the dog.残羹剩饭喂狗了。

6 asylum   

n.避难所，庇护所，避难

参考例句：

• The people ask for political asylum.人们请求政治避难。
• Having sought asylum in the West for many years,they were eventually granted it.他们最终获得了在西方寻求多年的避难权。

7 solitary   

adj.孤独的，独立的，荒凉的；n.隐士

参考例句：

• I am rather fond of a solitary stroll in the country.我颇喜欢在乡间独自徜徉。
• The castle rises in solitary splendour on the fringe of the desert.这座城堡巍然耸立在沙漠的边际，显得十分壮美。

8 pastor   

n.牧师，牧人

参考例句：

• He was the son of a poor pastor.他是一个穷牧师的儿子。
• We have no pastor at present:the church is run by five deacons.我们目前没有牧师：教会的事是由五位执事管理的。

9 scooped   

v.抢先报道( scoop的过去式和过去分词 )；（敏捷地）抱起；抢先获得；用铲[勺]等挖（洞等）

参考例句：

• They scooped the other newspapers by revealing the matter. 他们抢先报道了这件事。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The wheels scooped up stones which hammered ominously under the car. 车轮搅起的石块，在车身下发出不吉祥的锤击声。 来自《简明英汉词典》

10 addicts   

有…瘾的人( addict的名词复数 )； 入迷的人

参考例句：

• a unit for rehabilitating drug addicts 帮助吸毒者恢复正常生活的机构
• There is counseling to help Internet addicts?even online. 有咨询机构帮助网络沉迷者。 来自超越目标英语 第3册

11 destitute   

adj.缺乏的；穷困的

参考例句：

• They were destitute of necessaries of life.他们缺少生活必需品。
• They are destitute of common sense.他们缺乏常识。

12 hustles   

忙碌，奔忙( hustle的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• He often hustles on the streets to pay for drugs. 为弄到钱买毒品，他常在街上行骗。
• Ken ves bartender off and hustles Joe out of the bar. 肯恩走开挥舞酒保而且离开酒吧乱挤活动乔。

13 Christian   

adj.基督教徒的；n.基督教徒

参考例句：

• They always addressed each other by their Christian name.他们总是以教名互相称呼。
• His mother is a sincere Christian.他母亲是个虔诚的基督教徒。

14 alcoholic   

adj.（含）酒精的，由酒精引起的；n.酗酒者

参考例句：

• The alcoholic strength of brandy far exceeds that of wine.白兰地的酒精浓度远远超过葡萄酒。
• Alcoholic drinks act as a poison to a child.酒精饮料对小孩犹如毒药。

15 addicted   

adj.沉溺于....的，对...上瘾的

参考例句：

• He was addicted to heroin at the age of 17.他17岁的时候对海洛因上了瘾。
• She's become addicted to love stories.她迷上了爱情小说。

16 cocaine   

n.可卡因，古柯碱（用作局部麻醉剂）

参考例句：

• That young man is a cocaine addict.那个年轻人吸食可卡因成瘾。
• Don't have cocaine abusively.不可滥服古柯碱。

17 deported   

v.将…驱逐出境( deport的过去式和过去分词 )；举止

参考例句：

• They stripped me of my citizenship and deported me. 他们剥夺我的公民资格，将我驱逐出境。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The convicts were deported to a deserted island. 罪犯们被流放到一个荒岛。 来自《简明英汉词典》

18 determined   

adj.坚定的；有决心的

参考例句：

• I have determined on going to Tibet after graduation.我已决定毕业后去西藏。
• He determined to view the rooms behind the office.他决定查看一下办公室后面的房间。

19 isolated   

adj.与世隔绝的

参考例句：

• His bad behaviour was just an isolated incident. 他的不良行为只是个别事件。
• Patients with the disease should be isolated. 这种病的患者应予以隔离。

20 miraculous   

adj.像奇迹一样的，不可思议的

参考例句：

• The wounded man made a miraculous recovery.伤员奇迹般地痊愈了。
• They won a miraculous victory over much stronger enemy.他们战胜了远比自己强大的敌人，赢得了非凡的胜利。

21 heroin   

n.海洛因

参考例句：

• Customs have made their biggest ever seizure of heroin.海关查获了有史以来最大的一批海洛因。
• Heroin has been smuggled out by sea.海洛因已从海上偷运出境。

22 demons   

n.恶人( demon的名词复数 )；恶魔；精力过人的人；邪念

参考例句：

• demons torturing the sinners in Hell 地狱里折磨罪人的魔鬼
• He is plagued by demons which go back to his traumatic childhood. 他为心魔所困扰，那可追溯至他饱受创伤的童年。 来自《简明英汉词典》

23 skulls   

颅骨( skull的名词复数 )； 脑袋； 脑子； 脑瓜

参考例句：

• One of the women's skulls found exceeds in capacity that of the average man of today. 现已发现的女性颅骨中，其中有一个的脑容量超过了今天的普通男子。
• We could make a whole plain white with skulls in the moonlight! 我们便能令月光下的平原变白，遍布白色的骷髅！

24 cemeteries   

n.（非教堂的）墓地，公墓( cemetery的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• It's morbid to dwell on cemeteries and such like. 不厌其烦地谈论墓地以及诸如此类的事是一种病态。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• In other districts the proximity of cemeteries seemed to aggravate the disease. 在其它地区里，邻近墓地的地方，时疫大概都要严重些。 来自辞典例句

25 hideous   

adj.丑陋的，可憎的，可怕的，恐怖的

参考例句：

• The whole experience had been like some hideous nightmare.整个经历就像一场可怕的噩梦。
• They're not like dogs,they're hideous brutes.它们不像狗，是丑陋的畜牲。

26 depict   

vt.描画，描绘；描写，描述

参考例句：

• I don't care to see plays or films that depict murders or violence.我不喜欢看描写谋杀或暴力的戏剧或电影。
• Children's books often depict farmyard animals as gentle,lovable creatures.儿童图书常常把农场的动物描写得温和而可爱。

27 hideousness   

参考例句：

• Hideousness of aspect, deformity of instinct, troubled him not, and did not arouse his indignation. 外形的丑陋和本性的怪异都不能惊动他，触犯他。 来自互联网