2007年VOA标准英语-Indonesian Earthquake Survivors Struggling Afte

By Chad Bouchard
Yogyakarta, Indonesia
24 May 2007

One year after a massive earthquake struck Indonesia's Java island, thousands of people hit hardest by the disaster still struggle to rebuild their lives. As Chad Bouchard reports from Yogyakarta, aid workers have turned their attention from emergency needs to work programs for the most vulnerable groups.

An elderly woman stands next to her temporary shelter nearly one year after an earthquake shuttered the region, 20 May 2007

The 6.2 magnitude earthquake killed nearly 6,000 people and disrupted hundreds of thousands of lives. The temblor did more than $3 billion in damage and triggered the world's largest international emergency response of 2006.

During the first months of recovery, local and international agencies churned out tens of thousands of shelters to house more than 1.5 million people left homeless.

Government officials say less than 10,000 people in remote areas remain without adequate shelter.

Phil Vine with the International Federation¹ of Red Cross Agencies says the housing operation here is a model for disaster response. The Red Cross set up small teams to build houses out of local material, such as bamboo, that is cheap, easy to use and earthquake resistant².

"What has happened here in the Yogyakarta earthquake has been seen globally as a benchmark for recovery using local materials in a low-cost way, in which the people themselves, based on the Javanese tradition of helping³ each other, just put these things up and rebuilt their lives in three months," Vine said.

But aid workers say as survivors⁴ focused on shelter and other immediate⁵ needs following the disaster, critical long-term sources of income were neglected.

Hadiwiyono, a farmer from the Mutihan Village in the hard-hit Klaten district, stands ankle deep in a rice paddy, tending neat green rows of shoots. The 57-year-old mother of five is one among thousands of farmers who lost their homes in the quake. During last fall's growing season, fields like this one were left fallow and choked with weeds.

Many farmers lost an entire planting cycle, and the fall crop was about 40 percent below normal.

Hadiwiyono says she left the fields behind because she had to work on her collapsed⁶ house. She says the first months after the quake were chaotic⁷, but with some fertilizer and seed donations from the Food and Agriculture Organization she is able to go back to her life as a rice farmer.

FAO officials say 132 farmers have received seed and fertilizer help, but harvests remain below normal. The program will expand to help more people.

Challenges also remain for more than 1,000 people who suffered debilitating⁸ spinal⁹ injuries in the quake. Health care workers say many of those left with limited mobility¹⁰ have suffered severe depression. Dozens have attempted suicide.

Tatur Prianto is a Red Cross volunteer and an amateur radio hobbyist. He decided¹¹ to connect secluded¹² patients over a radio network.

Prianto says two religious programs and one counseling show are broadcast each day, and participants can talk about their lives and connect with other severely¹³ injured survivors. He says they usually share experiences on how to cope with their disabilities, or how to sell flowers and other small business ideas. Sometimes they even talk about sex. He adds that he wants to see the program include more disabled people.

Phil Vine says the Red Cross will likely employ this model during future disasters.

"I can only see it expanding. I mean it is just one of those smart ideas. There is a lot of counseling that goes on, and there is a lot of flirting¹⁴ that goes on," he said. "One of them is a budding romance between this 23-year-old who had a spinal injury, totally lost the use of her legs, and she is hooked up with one of the Indonesian ambulance drivers. And they are engaged to be married."

The International Organization for Migration¹⁵ and other agencies have stepped in to provide handicap-accessible housing and job opportunities for the disabled.

Purniewen is the livelihood¹⁶ assistance coordinator¹⁷ for the U.N. Development Program in Yogyakarta. He says relief agencies learned important lessons from previous disasters in Indonesia, such as the Indian Ocean tsunami¹⁸ in the country's Aceh province, where about 160,000 people died.

He says aid groups have learned to take advantage of community ties - with neighbors volunteering to help rebuild each other's homes. He says that helped get people back to their jobs so they could provide for their families.

"One lesson is actually that social capital is quite important in terms of fostering the recovery," he said. "Yogya has very strong social capital. Eighty percent of people are already working - not recovered, but already work again. That is an indication that social capital played a role important in this case."

The U.N. and other agencies have revived small traditional industries such as pottery¹⁹, weaving, and furniture production for more than 4,000 households.

Aid workers say while thousands more still need assistance, restoring livelihoods²⁰ is the only way to leave behind a self-reliant community.

1 federation   

n.同盟，联邦，联合，联盟，联合会

参考例句：

• It is a federation of 10 regional unions.它是由十个地方工会结合成的联合会。
• Mr.Putin was inaugurated as the President of the Russian Federation.普京正式就任俄罗斯联邦总统。

2 resistant   

adj.(to)抵抗的，有抵抗力的

参考例句：

• Many pests are resistant to the insecticide.许多害虫对这种杀虫剂有抵抗力。
• They imposed their government by force on the resistant population.他们以武力把自己的统治强加在持反抗态度的人民头上。

3 helping   

n.食物的一份&adj.帮助人的，辅助的

参考例句：

• The poor children regularly pony up for a second helping of my hamburger. 那些可怜的孩子们总是要求我把我的汉堡包再给他们一份。
• By doing this, they may at times be helping to restore competition. 这样一来, 他在某些时候,有助于竞争的加强。

4 survivors   

幸存者，残存者，生还者( survivor的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The survivors were adrift in a lifeboat for six days. 幸存者在救生艇上漂流了六天。
• survivors clinging to a raft 紧紧抓住救生筏的幸存者

5 immediate   

adj.立即的；直接的，最接近的；紧靠的

参考例句：

• His immediate neighbours felt it their duty to call.他的近邻认为他们有责任去拜访。
• We declared ourselves for the immediate convocation of the meeting.我们主张立即召开这个会议。

6 collapsed   

adj.倒塌的

参考例句：

• Jack collapsed in agony on the floor. 杰克十分痛苦地瘫倒在地板上。
• The roof collapsed under the weight of snow. 房顶在雪的重压下突然坍塌下来。

7 chaotic   

adj.混沌的，一片混乱的，一团糟的

参考例句：

• Things have been getting chaotic in the office recently.最近办公室的情况越来越乱了。
• The traffic in the city was chaotic.这城市的交通糟透了。

8 debilitating   

a.使衰弱的

参考例句：

• The debilitating disease made him too weak to work. 这个令他衰弱的病，使他弱到没有办法工作。
• You may soon leave one debilitating condition or relationship forever. 你即将永远地和这段霉运说拜拜了。

9 spinal   

adj.针的，尖刺的，尖刺状突起的；adj.脊骨的，脊髓的

参考例句：

• After three days in Japan,the spinal column becomes extraordinarily flexible.在日本三天，就已经使脊椎骨变得富有弹性了。
• Your spinal column is made up of 24 movable vertebrae.你的脊柱由24个活动的脊椎骨构成。

10 mobility   

n.可动性，变动性，情感不定

参考例句：

• The difference in regional house prices acts as an obstacle to mobility of labour.不同地区房价的差异阻碍了劳动力的流动。
• Mobility is very important in guerrilla warfare.机动性在游击战中至关重要。

11 decided   

adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的

参考例句：

• This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
• There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。

12 secluded   

adj.与世隔绝的；隐退的；偏僻的v.使隔开，使隐退( seclude的过去式和过去分词)

参考例句：

• Some people like to strip themselves naked while they have a swim in a secluded place. 一些人当他们在隐蔽的地方游泳时，喜欢把衣服脱光。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• This charming cottage dates back to the 15th century and is as pretty as a picture, with its thatched roof and secluded garden. 这所美丽的村舍是15世纪时的建筑，有茅草房顶和宁静的花园，漂亮极了，简直和画上一样。 来自《简明英汉词典》

13 severely   

adv.严格地；严厉地；非常恶劣地

参考例句：

• He was severely criticized and removed from his post.他受到了严厉的批评并且被撤了职。
• He is severely put down for his careless work.他因工作上的粗心大意而受到了严厉的批评。

14 flirting   

v.调情，打情骂俏( flirt的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• Don't take her too seriously; she's only flirting with you. 别把她太当真，她只不过是在和你调情罢了。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
• 'she's always flirting with that new fellow Tseng!" “她还同新来厂里那个姓曾的吊膀子！ 来自子夜部分

15 migration   

n.迁移，移居，（鸟类等的）迁徙

参考例句：

• Swallows begin their migration south in autumn.燕子在秋季开始向南方迁移。
• He described the vernal migration of birds in detail.他详细地描述了鸟的春季移居。

16 livelihood   

n.生计，谋生之道

参考例句：

• Appropriate arrangements will be made for their work and livelihood.他们的工作和生活会得到妥善安排。
• My father gained a bare livelihood of family by his own hands.父亲靠自己的双手勉强维持家计。

17 coordinator   

n.协调人

参考例句：

• The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, headed by the Emergency Relief Coordinator, coordinates all UN emergency relief. 联合国人道主义事务协调厅在紧急救济协调员领导下，负责协调联合国的所有紧急救济工作。
• How am I supposed to find the client-relations coordinator? 我怎么才能找到客户关系协调员的办公室？

18 tsunami   

n.海啸

参考例句：

• Powerful quake sparks tsunami warning in Japan.大地震触发了日本的海啸预警。
• Coastlines all around the Indian Ocean inundated by a huge tsunami.大海啸把印度洋沿岸地区都淹没了。

19 pottery   

n.陶器，陶器场

参考例句：

• My sister likes to learn art pottery in her spare time.我妹妹喜欢在空余时间学习陶艺。
• The pottery was left to bake in the hot sun.陶器放在外面让炎热的太阳烘晒焙干。

20 livelihoods   

生计，谋生之道( livelihood的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• First came the earliest individualistic pioneers who depended on hunting and fishing for their livelihoods. 走在最前面的是早期的个人主义先驱者，他们靠狩猎捕鱼为生。 来自英汉非文学 - 政府文件
• With little influence over policies, their traditional livelihoods are threatened. 因为马赛族人对政策的影响力太小，他们的传统生计受到了威胁。