US Actress Mia Farrow Visits Sudan's Darfur Region

 

By Raymond Thibodeaux

American film actress Mia Farrow is touring war-ravaged areas of Sudan's Darfur region this week, hoping to draw more international focus to the plight¹ of the nearly two million people made homeless by this country's 20-month conflict.

Hundreds of children in tattered² clothes and dusty faces crowd into a straw-roofed school to sing for Mia Farrow, the goodwill³ ambassador for UNICEF, the United Nations Children's Fund, and her 16-year-old son Seamus.

This is Kalma camp, a shelter for more than 70,000 people - roughly a fourth of them children - displaced by the conflict in western Sudan. One Sudanese official described this as a "five-star" camp, but the conditions here are less than stellar.

Many of the children show signs of malnutrition⁴. Hunger is more rampant⁵ still in Darfur's other government-run camps, where the spike⁶ in violence has led the United Nations and many nongovernmental aid groups to evacuate⁷ their workers, stranding⁸ some 300,000 people in need of emergency food aid.

Rape⁹ also is still a serious problem at the camps. Less than two days before Ms. Farrow's arrival at Abu Shouk camp in El Fasher, about a hundred miles north of here, two women and a 12-year-old girl were raped¹⁰ while collecting firewood outside the relative safety of the camps. Between August and September, the French aid agency Doctors Without Borders treated 123 cases of rape, which also carries a double burden since most victims are ostracized¹¹ by their husbands and families.

Ms. Farrow, speaking to VOA in Nyala, in southern Darfur, said women at camps like Kalma collect firewood for cooking and for selling to people in nearby towns, using what little money they make to buy food for their often emaciated¹² children.

"Leaving the camps is so dangerous and the rapes¹³ are so consistent, and they've even escalated¹⁴ in the last six days for some reason. And so they are faced with this terrible decision every day - they said the men can't go because they'll be killed, they'll be arrested immediately. So, the women must choose amongst themselves who will go out. Awful choices. And choices no one should have to make. And this has gone on for so many months. It's hard to believe that it's still going on. There's no protection. Tomorrow, when they wake up, they're going to be faced with this again. And that's the reality there."

Ms. Farrow met with local Sudanese officials, asking them to step up their efforts to protect the camps' women and girls, usually the most vulnerable of the camp populations. So far, the police force sent in to protect them has turned out to be part of the problem. Many of the officers, the women say, are recruited from the ranks of pro-government Arab militias¹⁵, known as the janjaweed, that have killed up to 70,000 people, mostly Darfur's black Africans, to help put down a rebel uprising in February of last year.

Despite strong words like genocide and ethnic¹⁶ cleansing¹⁷ to describe the atrocities¹⁸ in Darfur, analysts¹⁹ and observers say that so far there has been no meaningful response to the crisis. The AU is stepping in with a peacekeeping force of 3,300 troops, mainly from Nigeria and Rwanda. But many say the AU force is too small to cover Darfur, an area roughly the size of France, and their mandate²⁰ is too limited to halt the fighting.

In Khartoum, Sudan's capital, Ms. Farrow met with several top-ranking government ministers and officials from aid groups working in the increasingly volatile²¹ Darfur region. The spike in violence was spurred in part by break down of the peace talks in Abuja, Nigeria, over Sudan's reluctance²² to create a no-fly zone in Darfur.

Asked about whether she thought the Khartoum government was sincere in its effort to end the suffering in Darfur, Ms. Farrow had this to say:

"I feel there's a lot more that they need to be doing, and just how to go about it, I don't know honestly how they can accomplish a lot right now until there's some sort of peace accord. But what seems to be clear moving toward that, if they would agree to the no-fly zone except for humanitarian²³ passage and if they wanted monitoring in that zone, the AU could do that function. If that's in fact what's rumored²⁴ to be the big issue that's stopping the ceasefire and the peace accord, then they [Sudan's government] should give up on that one, and that would be a huge step toward beginning to create the stability that's necessary."

For now, the children enjoy their day with Ms. Farrow, which most of them will remember not as a movie star, but a woman from the United States who came to visit them and a woman who spoke²⁵ up for them to a Sudanese government that so far seems deaf to their plight.

Raymond Thibodeaux for VOA news in Nyala, Sudan.
注释：
plight 状况，困境
tattered 破烂的
goodwill ambassador 亲善大使
UNICEF 联合国儿童基金会
malnutrition 营养不良
rampant 猖獗的
ostracize 驱逐，排斥
emaciated 瘦弱的
vulnerable 易受攻击的
janjaweed 阿拉伯民兵组织，贾贾威德
Nigeria 尼日利亚
Rwanda 卢旺达
no-fly zone 禁飞区
ceasefire 停火，停战

 

1 plight   

n.困境，境况，誓约，艰难；vt.宣誓，保证，约定

参考例句：

• The leader was much concerned over the plight of the refugees.那位领袖对难民的困境很担忧。
• She was in a most helpless plight.她真不知如何是好。

2 tattered   

adj.破旧的，衣衫破的

参考例句：

• Her tattered clothes in no way detracted from her beauty.她的破衣烂衫丝毫没有影响她的美貌。
• Their tattered clothing and broken furniture indicated their poverty.他们褴褛的衣服和破烂的家具显出他们的贫穷。

3 goodwill   

n.善意，亲善，信誉，声誉

参考例句：

• His heart is full of goodwill to all men.他心里对所有人都充满着爱心。
• We paid ￡10,000 for the shop,and ￡2000 for its goodwill.我们用一万英镑买下了这家商店，两千英镑买下了它的信誉。

4 malnutrition   

n.营养不良

参考例句：

• In Africa, there are a lot of children suffering from severe malnutrition.在非洲有大批严重营养不良的孩子。
• It is a classic case of malnutrition. 这是营养不良的典型病例。

5 rampant   

adj.(植物)蔓生的；狂暴的，无约束的

参考例句：

• Sickness was rampant in the area.该地区疾病蔓延。
• You cannot allow children to rampant through the museum.你不能任由小孩子在博物馆里乱跑。

6 spike   

n.长钉，钉鞋；v.以大钉钉牢，使...失效

参考例句：

• The spike pierced the receipts and held them in order.那个钉子穿过那些收据并使之按顺序排列。
• They'll do anything to spike the guns of the opposition.他们会使出各种手段来挫败对手。

7 evacuate   

v.遣送；搬空；抽出；排泄；大(小)便

参考例句：

• We must evacuate those soldiers at once!我们必须立即撤出这些士兵！
• They were planning to evacuate the seventy American officials still in the country.他们正计划转移仍滞留在该国的70名美国官员。

8 stranding   

n.（船只）搁浅v.使滞留，使搁浅( strand的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• The airport had to be closed, stranding tourists. 机场被迫关闭，造成游客滞留。 来自辞典例句
• The stream of history had changed course away from him, stranding him in failure. 历史潮流已经改变方向，与他背道而驰，使他陷于失败之中。 来自辞典例句

9 rape   

n.抢夺，掠夺，强奸；vt.掠夺，抢夺，强奸

参考例句：

• The rape of the countryside had a profound ravage on them.对乡村的掠夺给他们造成严重创伤。
• He was brought to court and charged with rape.他被带到法庭并被指控犯有强奸罪。

10 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

11 ostracized   

v.放逐( ostracize的过去式和过去分词 )；流放；摈弃；排斥

参考例句：

• He was ostracized by his colleagues for refusing to support the strike. 他因拒绝支持罢工而受到同事的排斥。
• The family were ostracized by the neighborhood. 邻居们都不理睬那一家人。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》

12 emaciated   

adj.衰弱的，消瘦的

参考例句：

• A long time illness made him sallow and emaciated.长期患病使他面黄肌瘦。
• In the light of a single candle,she can see his emaciated face.借着烛光，她能看到他的被憔悴的面孔。

13 rapes   

n.芸苔( rape的名词复数 )；强奸罪；强奸案；肆意损坏v.以暴力夺取，强夺( rape的第三人称单数 )；强奸

参考例句：

• The man who had committed several rapes was arrested. 那个犯了多起强奸案的男人被抓起来了。 来自辞典例句
• The incidence of reported rapes rose 0.8 percent. 美国联邦调查局还发布了两份特别报告。 来自互联网

14 escalated   

v.（使）逐步升级( escalate的过去式和过去分词 )；（使）逐步扩大；（使）更高；（使）更大

参考例句：

• The fighting escalated into a full-scale war. 这场交战逐步扩大为全面战争。
• The demonstration escalated into a pitched battle with the police. 示威逐步升级，演变成了一场同警察的混战。

15 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

16 ethnic   

adj.人种的，种族的，异教徒的

参考例句：

• This music would sound more ethnic if you played it in steel drums.如果你用钢鼓演奏，这首乐曲将更具民族特色。
• The plan is likely only to aggravate ethnic frictions.这一方案很有可能只会加剧种族冲突。

17 cleansing   

n. 净化(垃圾) adj. 清洁用的 动词cleanse的现在分词

参考例句：

• medicated cleansing pads for sensitive skin 敏感皮肤药物清洗棉
• Soap is not the only cleansing agent. 肥皂并不是唯一的清洁剂。

18 atrocities   

n.邪恶，暴行( atrocity的名词复数 )；滔天大罪

参考例句：

• They were guilty of the most barbarous and inhuman atrocities. 他们犯有最野蛮、最灭绝人性的残暴罪行。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The enemy's atrocities made one boil with anger. 敌人的暴行令人发指。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

19 analysts   

分析家，化验员( analyst的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• City analysts forecast huge profits this year. 伦敦金融分析家预测今年的利润非常丰厚。
• I was impressed by the high calibre of the researchers and analysts. 研究人员和分析人员的高素质给我留下了深刻印象。

20 mandate   

n.托管地；命令，指示

参考例句：

• The President had a clear mandate to end the war.总统得到明确的授权结束那场战争。
• The General Election gave him no such mandate.大选并未授予他这种权力。

21 volatile   

adj.反复无常的，挥发性的，稍纵即逝的，脾气火爆的；n.挥发性物质

参考例句：

• With the markets being so volatile,investments are at great risk.由于市场那么变化不定，投资冒着很大的风险。
• His character was weak and volatile.他这个人意志薄弱，喜怒无常。

22 reluctance   

n.厌恶，讨厌，勉强，不情愿

参考例句：

• The police released Andrew with reluctance.警方勉强把安德鲁放走了。
• He showed the greatest reluctance to make a reply.他表示很不愿意答复。

23 humanitarian   

n.人道主义者，博爱者，基督凡人论者

参考例句：

• She has many humanitarian interests and contributes a lot to them.她拥有很多慈善事业，并作了很大的贡献。
• The British government has now suspended humanitarian aid to the area.英国政府现已暂停对这一地区的人道主义援助。

24 rumored   

adj.传说的，谣传的v.传闻( rumor的过去式和过去分词 )；[古]名誉；咕哝；[古]喧嚷

参考例句：

• It is rumored that he cheats on his wife. 据传他对他老婆不忠。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• It was rumored that the white officer had been a Swede. 传说那个白人军官是个瑞典人。 来自辞典例句

25 spoke   

n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说

参考例句：

• They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
• The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。