VOA常速英语2008年-Somaliland Expatriates Return Home to Help Nati

By Cathy Majtenyi
Hargeisa, Somaliland
25 February 2008
 

Somaliland lies on the Gulf¹ of Aden, a self-declared independent republic since breaking with Somalia 17 years ago. It has its own government, army, police and other institutions, but it is still not recognized by the international community. Despite this, the capital Hargeisa and other places are expanding rapidly. This is largely due to Somalilanders returning from the United States and other countries and bringing their skills and money with them. Cathy Majtenyi has more.

It is lunchtime at Hadhwanaag Hotel and Restaurant in Hargeisa and business is booming.

Managing director Hassan Ahmed Hussein makes sure that things are running smoothly².

Hussein lived in the United States for almost 20 years, working mostly as an accountant. He returned to his homeland in 2001. He proudly manages a resturant. He says, "It took me three months to clean the place. We even found a human skeleton from the civil war. There were times that I was really having a doubt if I could accomplish this."

On the other side of town, .

Ahmed was once a stock market trader and owned several businesses in the United States before returning to Hargeisa in 1999. "It is a virgin³ country. In America, everything you do, you become a franchisee⁴ rather than a franchisor," he said. 

Ahmed and Hussein are part of a growing number of professionals who received their education and career development primarily in the United States, Canada, and Britain.

And they are returning Somaliland to set up a wide range of businesses.

"We are now working with the diaspora Somalilanders to really come to the country and help technically⁵, because there is a hell of a knowledge gap in the country," said Ali Ibrahim, who is Somaliland's Minister of National Planning and Coordination⁶.

Ibrahim says investment opportunities abound⁷, particularly in the areas of real estate,telecommunications, transport, trading, the hospitality industry and, just on the horizon, gemstones and oil, "Indications are that this country has got a lot of mining potentialities and even petroleum⁸. This is being further explored. If those are discovered, the whole life of the Somalilanders will change very soon."

Ibrahim says that direct investment by returning Somalilanders amounts to millions of dollars per year.

But the big income-earner is remittances⁹ -- as much as $450 million a year -- that Somaliland professionals in the diaspora send to their relatives and friends.

Ibrahim says remittances, plus direct investments, make up approximately half of Somaliland's economy.

Somalilanders who have come back to the area are trying to help the wider community as well as set up business ventures.

Media boss Ahmed says he plans to air programs that promote good governance, democracy, ethnic¹⁰ and clan¹¹ tolerance¹², and a greater understanding of Islam, "I want to teach people that either bombing or blowing up or killing¹³ in the name of God is not the right way."

Restaurant owner Hussein says his big priority is to urge youth to use their time wisely and not to chew khat, a mildly narcotic¹⁴ plant, "The youth, when they are unemployed¹⁵ or underemployed, they are very volatile¹⁶, and if they do not get the proper guidance, they can contribute to a lot of unwanted things and de-stabilize the country."

Many of the returning professionals say they want to influence Somaliland society and integrate the values and concepts they encountered in their second country.

1 gulf   

n.海湾；深渊，鸿沟；分歧，隔阂

参考例句：

• The gulf between the two leaders cannot be bridged.两位领导人之间的鸿沟难以跨越。
• There is a gulf between the two cities.这两座城市间有个海湾。

2 smoothly   

adv.平滑地，顺利地，流利地，流畅地

参考例句：

• The workmen are very cooperative,so the work goes on smoothly.工人们十分合作，所以工作进展顺利。
• Just change one or two words and the sentence will read smoothly.这句话只要动一两个字就顺了。

3 virgin   

n.处女，未婚女子；adj.未经使用的；未经开发的

参考例句：

• Have you ever been to a virgin forest?你去过原始森林吗？
• There are vast expanses of virgin land in the remote regions.在边远地区有大片大片未开垦的土地。

4 franchisee   

n.特许经营人

参考例句：

• Two groups discussing what qualities a Franchisee should have.两个小组在讨论被特许人需要具备什麽品质。
• Information on prices and conditions of the products,services and equipment provide for the franchisee.向被特许人提供产品、服务、设备的价格条件等情况。

5 technically   

adv.专门地，技术上地

参考例句：

• Technically it is the most advanced equipment ever.从技术上说，这是最先进的设备。
• The tomato is technically a fruit,although it is eaten as a vegetable.严格地说，西红柿是一种水果，尽管它是当作蔬菜吃的。

6 coordination   

n.协调，协作

参考例句：

• Gymnastics is a sport that requires a considerable level of coordination.体操是一项需要高协调性的运动。
• The perfect coordination of the dancers and singers added a rhythmic charm to the performance.舞蹈演员和歌手们配合得很好，使演出更具魅力。

7 abound   

vi.大量存在；(in，with)充满，富于

参考例句：

• Oranges abound here all the year round.这里一年到头都有很多橙子。
• But problems abound in the management of State-owned companies.但是在国有企业的管理中仍然存在不少问题。

8 petroleum   

n.原油，石油

参考例句：

• The Government of Iran advanced the price of petroleum last week.上星期伊朗政府提高了石油价格。
• The purpose of oil refinery is to refine crude petroleum.炼油厂的主要工作是提炼原油。

9 remittances   

n.汇寄( remittance的名词复数 )；汇款，汇款额

参考例句：

• He sends regular remittances to his parents. 他定期汇款给他父母。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Remittances sometimes account for as much as 20% of GDP. 在这些国家中，此类汇款有时会占到GDP的20%之多。 来自互联网

10 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。

11 clan   

n.氏族，部落，宗族，家族，宗派

参考例句：

• She ranks as my junior in the clan.她的辈分比我小。
• The Chinese Christians,therefore,practically excommunicate themselves from their own clan.所以，中国的基督徒简直是被逐出了自己的家族了。

12 tolerance   

n.宽容；容忍，忍受；耐药力；公差

参考例句：

• Tolerance is one of his strengths.宽容是他的一个优点。
• Human beings have limited tolerance of noise.人类对噪音的忍耐力有限。

13 killing   

n.巨额利润；突然赚大钱，发大财

参考例句：

• Investors are set to make a killing from the sell-off.投资者准备清仓以便大赚一笔。
• Last week my brother made a killing on Wall Street.上个周我兄弟在华尔街赚了一大笔。

14 narcotic   

n.麻醉药，镇静剂；adj.麻醉的，催眠的

参考例句：

• Opium is classed under the head of narcotic.鸦片是归入麻醉剂一类的东西。
• No medical worker is allowed to prescribe any narcotic drug for herself.医务人员不得为自己开处方使用麻醉药品。

15 unemployed   

adj.失业的，没有工作的；未动用的，闲置的

参考例句：

• There are now over four million unemployed workers in this country.这个国家现有四百万失业人员。
• The unemployed hunger for jobs.失业者渴望得到工作。

16 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。