VOA常速英语2016--索马里人民为灾荒贡献己力（在线收听）

索马里人民为灾荒贡献己力

Minnesota is home to the largest Somali population in the United States. As drought andfamine take a devastating toll on their homeland, Somali immigrants feel an obligation to helpvictims back home. And they are taking action. Watching televised images of starving Somalimothers and children, 19-year-old Fatima Abdi remembers her mother's stories of the country's1992 famine. When I was being born, my Mom had to go through all of that. One year afterthe war happened, my family was fleeing when my Mom was pregnant. Abdi's family settled inMinnesota, where she's now a college student. When her friend suggested a fundraiser to helpthe famine victims, they started brainstorming and recruiting other young people in thecommunity. I called people, contacted people on Facebook, e-mails, talked to all of my friends,neighbors and let them know what was going on, give them ideas. There are so many ideas outthere; a picnic, a carwash, knocking on doors, doing a walk. We put these ideas on the table,thinking what we can do for our people who are dying over there. The best idea, Abdi says, wasa bake sale. We baked traditional cookies. We sold drinks, doughnuts, cupcakes. And theymade more money than they expected. Our goal was $600 and we went over it. We raised$627. Abdi and Farah donated the money to the American Refugee Committee (ARC), aninternational humanitarian organization based in Minneapolis. A lot of young people are veryadamant on doing as many things as quick as possible. Shukri Abdinur is a program assistantwith ARC. Our whole community is actually coming together. We had the masjids that areinvolved in fundraising. The younger kids, the students are also involved in fundraising. Wehave carwashes. They are very motivated in doing it. And, she says, there's been a gratifyingresponse from outside the Somali-American community. Our non-Somali neighbors alsodefinitely contributed in bringing their cars to carwashes. And people call in everyday to alsodonate money and gifts and different types of funding. So far, the Minnesotans have raisedmore than $300,000. ARC's program manager for Somalia. He says the organization beganworking with the Somali community in Minnesota and all over the United States two years ago.It just launched a relief campaign in cooperation with Somali-Americans to develop fund-raising efforts and provide a secure way to send humanitarian aid back home. We did fooddistribution. We did distribute non-food items. And it's not all about food. It's about shelter,clear water, it's about the health, it's about providing security for those people who come toMogadishu. Sheik-Abdi says the situation in Somalia today is worse than it was during the 1992famine because the country has not had a functioning government for the last 20 years. Veryfew humanitarian organizations have been able to work inside Somalia. In addition, many of theareas hardest-hit by drought and famine are controlled by al-Shabab, a militant group theU.S. government considers a terrorist organization. That's challenging, admits Sheik-Abdi, buthe says ARC is doing everything possible to make sure the famine relief doesn't fall into thewrong hands. We're working inside Somalia where the African Union troops are. So we're notworking in the area of al-Shabab. We have our staff on the ground who are directly providingthe service to the people who really need assistance. We have Somali-Americans who knowtheir community, who have skills and have connections, helping us to make sure that the foodreaches to the right people. That's ARC's immediate relief plan. Sheik-Abdi says there is also along-term strategy for Somalia. In the month of October, the Somali people, those in thesouth-central area, expect to have rain. If these people who are internally displaced wanted togo back and do some farming, then we'll help them do that. We're working with local agriculturalpartners to make sure that this doesn't happen ever again, and if it happens, how to quicklyrespond. Because in the south-central area, there are two rivers, there's enough water there.So how can we reserve water and use it when there is drought or there is no rain. The goalsof the American Refugee Committee in Somalia are the same as in the other countries where itworks. But Said Skeik-Abdi says the vital involvement of Somali-Americans gives this effort aspecial meaning.

美国明尼苏达州居住着数量最庞大的索马里人。当旱灾和饥荒给这片土地带来沉重灾难时，索马里人感觉让受难者重回家园是他们肩上的责任。而他们确实想到就做到了。电视上播出的索马里受难母亲和孩子们的景象让19岁的法蒂玛想起了1992那场饥荒中自己母亲的故事。我快出生时，母亲也经历了电视上的灾难画面。战争开始一年后，我们一家人开始逃荒。那时候我母亲还怀着我。法蒂玛一家在明尼苏达州落脚，这也是她上大学的地方。

当法蒂玛的一位朋友提议为饥荒难民捐款后，他们就开始头脑风暴，并雇佣了社区里的其他年轻人一同做这件事。我打了很多电话联系人，还通过脸书、邮件跟我的朋友、邻居宣传我们的理念，让他们知道了解捐款行动。大家群策群力提出了很多点子，有野餐、洗车、走访等等。最后我们面对面商讨这些点子的可行性，思考我们能为饥荒难民做些什么。法蒂玛说，其中最好的一个主意就是卖点心。我们烘焙了传统点心。还卖饮料、甜甜圈、纸杯蛋糕。这样做的收入超过了他们一开始的预期。我们本来的目标是600美元，结果超了，赚了627美元。法蒂玛和法拉赫将这笔钱捐给了美国难民委员会（ARC），一家坐落于明尼阿波里斯市的人道主义机构。很多年轻人都很想多做一些事情。舒凯里就是美国难民委员会的项目助理。实际上，我们整个社区都在行动。我们甚至动员了各个清真寺也加入进来。还在上学的孩子们也加入了捐款行动的筹备中。我们给人洗车。孩子们都很愿意通过这样的方式捐款。她还表示，外界对在美国居住的索马里人做出了积极的响应。很多邻居虽然不是索马里人，也积极投身于此，把车开过来让他们洗。此外，每天都有人打进来电话想要捐钱、礼物，或其他形式的捐款。目前为止，明尼苏达各界已募捐超过30多万美元。谢赫是美国难民委员会的项目经理。谢赫表示，美国难民委员会早在两年前，就与明尼苏达州以及美国其他地方的索马里社区开展了合作。最近，在通力合作下刚刚成立了救援捐款行动，为流离失所的饥荒难民提供安全的回家之路。我们分发了食物和生活用品。我们提供的不仅是食物，还有避难所、净水，因为这些与难民的健康有关，还有为想回摩加迪休的人们保驾护航。谢赫称，由于过去的20年中，索马里并没有正式运作的政府，如今索马里的境况比1992年饥荒时还要不堪。索马里境内并没有几个人道主义机构提供援助。而且在旱灾和饥荒最严重的地区，还有被美国称为恐怖组织的青年党把控。谢赫表示，当前情况极具挑战，但美国难民委员会正竭尽全力确保饥荒救援行动不会落入恶人之手。我们在索马里境内非洲联盟军队的驻扎地提供援助。并没有在青年党控制的地区。我们的救援人员可以直接向需要援助的人们提供服务。我们有相关的索马里群众，他们有渠道能确保食物交到难民手中。这是美国难民委员会当前最紧要的救援计划。谢赫称，还有一个长期的计划等待实施。10月份的时候，索马里中南部的地区将有降雨。如果有人想回去耕田，我们会助他们一臂之力。我们还会和当地农务合作伙伴一道，确保类似的饥荒灾难不再出现；即便出现，也要尽快应对。因为中南部有两条河流，所以有足够的水源。所以如果发生旱灾或者没有降雨，我们也就没法存水用水。各地美国难民委员会的目标都是一致的。但索裔人为援救工作所做的贡献具有重要的独特意义。