VOA标准英语2010-Help Falls Short for Haiti's Farmers

Watch: Steve Baragona's video report
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Many who lost tools, seeds wait for help

Steve Baragona | Petit Guauve, Haiti 02 April 2010

Farmers near Petit Guave, Haiti prepare the soil for planting.

"I'm waiting for God's help. We will find other ways to fend¹ for ourselves. We lost our livestock² and everything. We don't have anything to sell. We don't have anyone to help us."

 

High up a mountain near the town of Petit-Goave, farmers are preparing the rocky soil to plant corn, beans, potatoes and other crops before the rains begin.

Sixty percent of the food produced in Haiti is planted at this time of year. It's hard work done with basic tools.

But many farmers lost the tools they need in January's earthquake.

Alix Placid³ and his neighbors were working near the mountaintop when the quake hit.

"While we were working, we realized the ground was shaking," he says. "We didn't know what was happening. The rocks were tumbling down around us. We dropped our tools and ran."

Many farmers in Haiti use rudimentary tools.

A landslide⁴ buried his tools beneath a field of rubble⁵. Above it looms⁶ a fresh white scar of newly exposed rock where the mountainside used to be.

Tools of survival

The UN Food and Agriculture Organization is working to distribute new tools to as many farmers in the affected⁷ area as possible.

"To plant crops, we need a pick axe⁸, machete and other tools," says farmer Jean-Nicole Gressy. "Otherwise, we can't do our work. You can't do it with a wooden stick. You need metal."

FAO says it has delivered tools and seeds to 68,000 families in the earthquake zone so far. Emergency coordinator⁹ Javier Escobedo says the organization plans to distribute 500 metric tons of bean seeds to farmers in the area.

"Everybody will receive that. It is what we [call] a blanket distribution. We have enough seeds for that."

Free tool distribution near Petit Guave, Haiti.

Help is slow to arrive

But so far, supplies are coming through slower than officials had hoped. Fritz had 245 complete sets of tools to give out. But far more people came than that. So he had to resort to giving one farmer a hoe, one a machete, and so on. Many received nothing.

And of the 500 metric tons of bean seed expected, only 27 tons had been delivered so far, according to FAO agronomist¹⁰ Arne Fritz, who is in charge of the emergency response in the Petit-Goave area. "We don't have enough seeds to distribute to everyone. If we don't receive anything this week, well..."

Help may still be on the way. FAO hopes to continue distributing seeds through April. And donors¹¹ pledged $5.3 billion for earthquake recovery at a UN conference in New York Wednesday. But whether that funding comes through and reaches those who need remains¹² to be seen.

"Waiting for God's help"

On the mountaintop outside Petit-Goave, farmers like Alix Placid can do little but wait.

"I'm waiting for God's help," he says. "We will find other ways to fend for ourselves. We lost our livestock and everything. We don't have anything to sell. We don't have anyone to help us."

But his friends are struggling, too, and for now they say they are not sure how much help they can offer.

 

1 fend   

v.照料（自己），（自己）谋生，挡开，避开

参考例句：

• I've had to fend for myself since I was 14.我从十四岁时起就不得不照料自己。
• He raised his arm up to fend branches from his eyes.他举手将树枝从他眼前挡开。

2 livestock   

n.家畜，牲畜

参考例句：

• Both men and livestock are flourishing.人畜两旺。
• The heavy rains and flooding killed scores of livestock.暴雨和大水淹死了许多牲口。

3 placid   

adj.安静的，平和的

参考例句：

• He had been leading a placid life for the past eight years.八年来他一直过着平静的生活。
• You should be in a placid mood and have a heart-to- heart talk with her.你应该心平气和的好好和她谈谈心。

4 landslide   

n.(竞选中)压倒多数的选票；一面倒的胜利

参考例句：

• Our candidate is predicated to win by a landslide.我们的候选人被预言将以绝对优势取胜。
• An electoral landslide put the Labour Party into power in 1945.1945年工党以压倒多数的胜利当选执政。

5 rubble   

n.（一堆）碎石，瓦砾

参考例句：

• After the earthquake,it took months to clean up the rubble.地震后，花了数月才清理完瓦砾。
• After the war many cities were full of rubble.战后许多城市到处可见颓垣残壁。

6 looms   

n.织布机( loom的名词复数 )v.隐约出现，阴森地逼近( loom的第三人称单数 )；隐约出现，阴森地逼近

参考例句：

• All were busily engaged,men at their ploughs,women at their looms. 大家都很忙，男的耕田，女的织布。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The factory has twenty-five looms. 那家工厂有25台织布机。 来自《简明英汉词典》

7 affected   

adj.不自然的，假装的

参考例句：

• She showed an affected interest in our subject.她假装对我们的课题感到兴趣。
• His manners are affected.他的态度不自然。

8 axe   

n.斧子；v.用斧头砍，削减

参考例句：

• Be careful with that sharp axe.那把斧子很锋利，你要当心。
• The edge of this axe has turned.这把斧子卷了刃了。

9 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？

10 agronomist   

n.农学家

参考例句：

• The agronomist suggested growing rice on the dried river bed.那位农学家建议在干涸的河床上种水稻。
• She has elected to become an agronomist.她决心做一个农学家。

11 donors   

n.捐赠者( donor的名词复数 )；献血者；捐血者；器官捐献者

参考例句：

• Please email us to be removed from our active list of blood donors. 假如你想把自己的名字从献血联系人名单中删去，请给我们发电子邮件。
• About half this amount comes from individual donors and bequests. 这笔钱大约有一半来自个人捐赠及遗赠。 来自《简明英汉词典》

12 remains   

n.剩余物，残留物；遗体，遗迹

参考例句：

• He ate the remains of food hungrily.他狼吞虎咽地吃剩余的食物。
• The remains of the meal were fed to the dog.残羹剩饭喂狗了。