2007年VOA标准英语-Land Issues Pit Saharan Nomads Against Governme

By Phuong Tran
N'Djamena, Chad
29 August 2007

nomad1 children,Messaouda and Lala Fatma in Marseique village  " hspace="2" src="/upimg/allimg/070901/1403350.jpg" width="210" vspace="2" border="0" />

Mauritanian nomad children, Messaouda and Lala Fatma in Marseique village

Decades of drought in the Sahel desert and its vast mineral reserves, have forced nomads² to defend their pastures from both farmers and foreign investors³. Land disputes have erupted into violent conflicts in parts of the Sahel, stretching from Senegal to Sudan, in recent years. This month, violence has escalated⁴ in Niger and Mali, involving nomad Tuareg fighters. As nomads are drawn⁵ into violence, analysts⁶ say it will become even harder for governments to end nomads' isolation⁷ and marginalization. Phuong Tran files from N'Djamena, Chad.

Chad's roaming communities, like this one in Mani Kossam, do not show up in population counts. Governments have a hard time tracking clusters of families who periodically move their herds⁸ from one rain-fed pasture to the next.

Officials estimate there are about 450,000 nomads and semi-nomads in Chad, roughly five percent of the population.

They say the people of this group are among the country's poorest and least educated, because they typically live in remote areas with little access to health care or schools.

Yousseuf Abdel Kerim, himself a child of Arab nomads, oversees⁹ a renewed government effort to enroll¹⁰ children from nomadic¹¹ families into one of 60 stationary¹² schools recently set up, around the country, for them.

Yousseuf Abdel Kerim, Nomad Education Coordinator13, Chad Ministry14 of Education

Kerim says past efforts to educate nomads have failed. Officials tried setting up mobile schools that followed migrants during their seasonal¹⁵ treks¹⁶, but there were not enough teachers. He says the government then tried to build stationary schools along well-traveled routes, but nomads constantly change their routes, based on where it rains.

Kerim says the new strategy is to ask families to leave half their children behind, during seasonal migrations¹⁷, so the children can attend school.

More than 10,000 children have enrolled¹⁸, about two percent of the estimated nomadic population.

Senegalese sociologist¹⁹ Djiby Diakhate says, despite efforts to integrate nomads with the rest of the population, there is still a long way to go.

He says there is a historical conflict between nomads and non-nomads. The sociologist says many people persecute²⁰ nomads as savage²¹ outsiders.

Diakhate says this tension can erupt when there are land disputes.

Nomad man with a cow

In western Sudan, years of drought have made it harder for Arab camel-herding nomads and non-Arab farmers to share land.

 

In 2003, the tension exploded in Darfur into interethnic violence. The United Nations says fighting has displaced more than two million people, left hundreds of thousands dead and spread into neighboring Chad and Central African Republic.

British anthropologist²² and Saharan expert Jeremy Keenan says a shortage of fertile land is also a problem for Tuareg nomads in Niger and Mali.

In the 1990's, they took up arms against their governments, demanding more autonomy and complaining that foreign companies were taking their land to mine uranium.

Earlier this year, some Niger Tuaregs re-launched attacks, saying their government has failed to honor its promises from a 1995 peace deal, which included sharing more uranium wealth.

Niger government officials say most Tuareg demands from the 1990's have been met.

However, anthropologist Keenan says the Niger government is still overlooking how important land in northeast Niger, home to uranium mines, is to nomads.

"You have got possibly one of the most important pastoral zones in the entire Sahelian belt which traditionally has been an area highly valued by many different nomads, not just Tuaregs," said Kenaan.

Niger Tuareg leaders have vowed²³ continued violence until the government stops dismissing them as "drug smugglers" and "bandits," and starts recognizing their demands as legitimate²⁴.

Defense²⁵ officials in Mali have accused Mali-based Tuareg nomads of kidnapping almost 40 government soldiers this week, a tactic²⁶ also used by Niger's nomad tribes in their seven-month uprising.

No one has claimed responsibility for the kidnappings.

Moulkhere

Far from Tuareg territory disputes is Marseique, a Mauritanian desert village.

In this eastern part of the country, near the Malian border, about 70 percent of the population is made up of non-Arab nomads.

Moulkhere, a mother of four, sits on a stone seat by the fire to prepare her family's evening meal.

She says she used to live in the city, but moved her family back to the desert because she prefers the silence and solitude²⁷ of desert life.

Here, she can raise her girls like she wants.

Moulhkhere says no one bothers them, out here.

1 nomad   

n.游牧部落的人，流浪者，游牧民

参考例句：

• He was indeed a nomad of no nationality.他的确是个无国籍的游民。
• The nomad life is rough and hazardous.游牧生活艰苦又危险。

2 nomads   

n.游牧部落的一员( nomad的名词复数 )；流浪者；游牧生活；流浪生活

参考例句：

• For ten years she dwelled among the nomads of North America. 她在北美游牧民中生活了十年。
• Nomads have inhabited this region for thousands of years. 游牧民族在这地区居住已有数千年了。 来自《简明英汉词典》

3 investors   

n.投资者，出资者( investor的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• a con man who bilked investors out of millions of dollars 诈取投资者几百万元的骗子
• a cash bonanza for investors 投资者的赚钱机会

4 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。

5 drawn   

v.拖，拉，拔出；adj.憔悴的，紧张的

参考例句：

• All the characters in the story are drawn from life.故事中的所有人物都取材于生活。
• Her gaze was drawn irresistibly to the scene outside.她的目光禁不住被外面的风景所吸引。

6 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。

7 isolation   

n.隔离，孤立，分解，分离

参考例句：

• The millionaire lived in complete isolation from the outside world.这位富翁过着与世隔绝的生活。
• He retired and lived in relative isolation.他退休后，生活比较孤寂。

8 herds   

兽群( herd的名词复数 )； 牧群； 人群； 群众

参考例句：

• Regularly at daybreak they drive their herds to the pasture. 每天天一亮他们就把牲畜赶到草场上去。
• There we saw herds of cows grazing on the pasture. 我们在那里看到一群群的牛在草地上吃草。

9 oversees   

v.监督，监视( oversee的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• She oversees both the research and the manufacturing departments. 她既监督研究部门又监督生产部门。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The Department of Education oversees the federal programs dealing with education. 教育部监管处理教育的联邦程序。 来自互联网

10 enroll   

v.招收；登记；入学；参军；成为会员（英)enrol

参考例句：

• I should like to enroll all my children in the swimming class.我愿意让我的孩子们都参加游泳班。
• They enroll him as a member of the club.他们吸收他为俱乐部会员。

11 nomadic   

adj.流浪的；游牧的

参考例句：

• This tribe still live a nomadic life.这个民族仍然过着游牧生活。
• The plowing culture and the nomadic culture are two traditional principal cultures in China.农耕文化与游牧文化是我国传统的两大主体文化。

12 stationary   

adj.固定的，静止不动的

参考例句：

• A stationary object is easy to be aimed at.一个静止不动的物体是容易瞄准的。
• Wait until the bus is stationary before you get off.你要等公共汽车停稳了再下车。

13 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？

14 ministry   

n.(政府的)部；牧师

参考例句：

• They sent a deputation to the ministry to complain.他们派了一个代表团到部里投诉。
• We probed the Air Ministry statements.我们调查了空军部的记录。

15 seasonal   

adj.季节的，季节性的

参考例句：

• The town relies on the seasonal tourist industry for jobs.这个城镇依靠季节性旅游业提供就业机会。
• The hors d'oeuvre is seasonal vegetables.餐前小吃是应时蔬菜。

16 treks   

n.远距离行走 ( trek的名词复数 )；长途跋涉，艰难的旅程（尤指在山区）v.艰苦跋涉，徒步旅行( trek的第三人称单数 )；（尤指在山中）远足，徒步旅行，游山玩水

参考例句：

• And visiting companies and completing job treks are becoming much more important in the job search. 参观公司、进行实地考察在找工作中变得重要得多。 来自互联网
• These range from treks around Mont an ascent of North Africa's highest mountain, Mount Toubkal. 参与者是徒步绕勃朗峰，然后攀登北非最高峰托布卡尔山。 来自互联网

17 migrations   

n.迁移，移居( migration的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• It foundered during the turmoils accompanying the Great Migrations. 它在随着民族大迁徙而出现的混乱中崩溃。 来自辞典例句
• Birds also have built-in timepieces which send them off on fall and spring migrations. 鸟类也有天生的时间感应器指导它们秋春迁移。 来自互联网

18 enrolled   

adj.入学登记了的v.[亦作enrol]( enroll的过去式和过去分词 )；登记，招收，使入伍（或入会、入学等），参加，成为成员；记入名册；卷起，包起

参考例句：

• They have been studying hard from the moment they enrolled. 从入学时起，他们就一直努力学习。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• He enrolled with an employment agency for a teaching position. 他在职业介绍所登了记以谋求一个教师的职位。 来自《简明英汉词典》

19 sociologist   

n.研究社会学的人，社会学家

参考例句：

• His mother was a sociologist,researching socialism.他的母亲是个社会学家，研究社会主义。
• Max Weber is a great and outstanding sociologist.马克斯·韦伯是一位伟大的、杰出的社会学家。

20 persecute   

vt.迫害，虐待；纠缠，骚扰

参考例句：

• They persecute those who do not conform to their ideas.他们迫害那些不信奉他们思想的人。
• Hitler's undisguised effort to persecute the Jews met with worldwide condemnation.希特勒对犹太人的露骨迫害行为遭到世界人民的谴责。

21 savage   

adj.野蛮的；凶恶的，残暴的；n.未开化的人

参考例句：

• The poor man received a savage beating from the thugs.那可怜的人遭到暴徒的痛打。
• He has a savage temper.他脾气粗暴。

22 anthropologist   

n.人类学家，人类学者

参考例句：

• The lecturer is an anthropologist.这位讲师是人类学家。
• The anthropologist unearthed the skull of an ancient human at the site.人类学家在这个遗址挖掘出那块古人类的颅骨。

23 vowed   

起誓，发誓（vow的过去式与过去分词形式）

参考例句：

• He vowed quite solemnly that he would carry out his promise. 他非常庄严地发誓要实现他的诺言。
• I vowed to do more of the cooking myself. 我发誓自己要多动手做饭。

24 legitimate   

adj.合法的，合理的，合乎逻辑的；v.使合法

参考例句：

• Sickness is a legitimate reason for asking for leave.生病是请假的一个正当的理由。
• That's a perfectly legitimate fear.怀有这种恐惧完全在情理之中。

25 defense   

n.防御，保卫；[pl.]防务工事；辩护，答辩

参考例句：

• The accused has the right to defense.被告人有权获得辩护。
• The war has impacted the area with military and defense workers.战争使那个地区挤满了军队和防御工程人员。

26 tactic   

n.战略，策略；adj.战术的，有策略的

参考例句：

• Reducing prices is a common sales tactic.降价是常用的销售策略。
• She had often used the tactic of threatening to resign.她惯用以辞职相威胁的手法。

27 solitude   

n. 孤独; 独居,荒僻之地,幽静的地方

参考例句：

• People need a chance to reflect on spiritual matters in solitude. 人们需要独处的机会来反思精神上的事情。
• They searched for a place where they could live in solitude. 他们寻找一个可以过隐居生活的地方。