VOA常速英语2007-Thousands Along Chad-Sudan Border Still Await Sa

By Phuong Tran
Abeche, Chad
04 October 2007
 
The African Union and United Nations are still trying to send peacekeepers to the troubled border area between Chad and Sudan. Fighting among different rebel¹ groups and government troops from both countries has pushed hundreds of thousands of people into temporary camps. Victims from both sides are impatient² to find a way out. Phuong Tran visited camps in eastern Chad and has this report for VOA.

Tens of thousands of Chadians who fled violence looked for safety in humanitarian³ camps like one near the town of Abeche in Chad.

They left everything behind, expecting to return home as soon as the fighting ended.

Upon arrival, they each received a prayer mat, blanket, and kettle to hold water that became harder to get as more people squeezed⁴ into the camps. And for most, those are their only belongings⁵, after months of living in a place they do not want to call home.

Thirty-seven year old Diouma Abou fled violence earlier this year from the Chad village of Marena. Hundreds died in his village while trying to escape the fighting.

One witness, Diouma Abou, said, "I saw men who had to leave their families, children who were left behind. I lost 20 people in my own family. I still do not know what happened to my father. My wife saw so much violence that she lost her mind and is now in the hospital. I am here with my children, waiting."

A nearby health tent is filled with Sudanese women. They are among hundreds of thousands of Sudanese who escaped an ethnic⁶ war that broke out in 2003.

A 25-year-old mother says she has been at the camp for almost a year. "I was living at the border until Arab military attacked. I came here. My husband goes back and forth⁷ to Sudan because he has sick family there."

Her baby was born that morning.  The girl did not yet have a name because the mother said only the father can name her when he comes back.

Elsewhere⁸ in the camp, a boy attends Koranic school.  He and about 50 other boys meet under a tent every day. Nineteen-year-old Wani Kiir started the classes a few months ago. "I used to go to Koranic school in Sudan until I had to come here with my uncle and father because of all the fighting."

Kiir misses his school in Sudan. But for now, he says the new students keep him busy.

Further south is a camp in Goz Beida. Hundreds from the Chad village Bandala came here after it was burned down by fighters. Fatouma Soumayne came here with her five children. "I will not go back to Bandala because I am still scared of the Janjaweed fighters. When they came, they took everything, even the trees we had planted. My favorite memories are those trees. l planted millet⁹, peppers, mangos. It is all gone."

Village chief Djibril Abarka Kamis had never lived outside of Bandala. But now, he does not want to go back. "The attackers pointed¹⁰ their weapons at us and shot. We could not defend ourselves with only our bare hands. They burned down my village, moving from left to right. It is all gone."

As rebels¹¹ and their governments try to agree on how to make peace, the mother and daughter, teacher and his students, father and children, chief and his villagers, simply wait.

1 rebel   

n.叛徒，起义者；vi.造反，反抗，反感；adj.造反的，反抗的，反叛者的

参考例句：

• The rebel army is attempting to subvert the government.反叛军队企图颠覆政府统治。
• The rebel army has readjusted its strategy.叛军已经重新调整了策略。

2 impatient   

adj.不耐烦的，急躁的；热切的，急切的

参考例句：

• He was so impatient that I could hardly hold him back.他是那样急躁，我简直拉不住他。
• With an impatient gesture he thrust the food away from him.他不耐烦地把吃的东西猛地推开。

3 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。

4 squeezed   

squeeze（挤压）的过去式与过去分词

参考例句：

• freshly squeezed orange juice 鲜榨橙汁
• They squeezed too many people into the small room. 他们把太多的人塞进这间小房间里。

5 belongings   

n.私人物品，私人财物

参考例句：

• I put a few personal belongings in a bag.我把几件私人物品装进包中。
• Your personal belongings are not dutiable.个人物品不用纳税。

6 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。

7 forth   

adv.向前；向外，往外

参考例句：

• The wind moved the trees gently back and forth.风吹得树轻轻地来回摇晃。
• He gave forth a series of works in rapid succession.他很快连续发表了一系列的作品。

8 elsewhere   

adv.在别处，到别处

参考例句：

• Our favourite restaurant was full so we had to go elsewhere.我们最喜欢去的那家饭店客满了，因此不得不改去别处。
• I have half a mind to move elsewhere.我有点想搬到别处去。

9 millet   

n.小米，谷子

参考例句：

• Millet is cultivated in the middle or lower reaches of the Yellow River.在黄河中下游地区，人们种植谷子。
• The high quality millet flour was obtained through wet milling.采用湿磨法获得了高品质的小米粉。

10 pointed   

adj.尖的，直截了当的

参考例句：

• He gave me a very sharp pointed pencil.他给我一支削得非常尖的铅笔。
• She wished to show Mrs.John Dashwood by this pointed invitation to her brother.她想通过对达茨伍德夫人提出直截了当的邀请向她的哥哥表示出来。

11 rebels   

n.反政府的人( rebel的名词复数 )；反叛者；造反者；叛逆者v.反抗政府( rebel的第三人称单数 )；反抗权威

参考例句：

• Most of the rebels were captured and disarmed. 大部分叛乱分子被俘获并解除了武装。
• The rebels went on an orgy of killing. 叛乱者肆意杀人。