VOA标准英语2011--Child Soldiers – The Life After

Child Soldiers – The Life After

 

With U.S. forces now helping¹ in the hunt for LRA rebels in Central Africa, closure may be at hand for thousands of former child soldiers. One estimate says the LRA abducted² more than 20,000 children in Northern Uganda over 20 years and made them slaves and killers³.

For Fred Bemak news of U.S. assistance in tracking down the Lord’s Resistance Army is very welcome indeed.

“The reaction is pretty clear and can be summed up in one word – finally!”

Bemak is a professor of education and human development at George Mason University in Virginia. He’s also a professional counselor⁴, who works closely with the NGO Invisible Children.

“It’s so important that we are taking care of these issues of the LRA. This is an organization that has been committing atrocities⁵ for decades and not been stopped. I think it’s phenomenal that we are supporting this,” he said.

In the middle of the night

The leader of the Lord's Resistance Army, Joseph Kony, answers journalists' questions following a meeting with UN officials in southern Sudan, Nov 2006 (file photo)

It’s believed that military offensives against the Lord’s Resistance Army has caused it to break up into about a dozen or so small groups. Northern Uganda is now rebuilding after years of conflict. However, those small groups continue to attack and kill civilians⁶ in the Democratic Republic of Congo, the Central African Republic and South Sudan.

The LRA has repeatedly used children to do its dirty work. Professor Bemak has met many of these kids after they escaped or were rescued. He gives an example of how the horror usually begins for a child.

“One night suddenly at the door of his mud hut are three or four soldiers, who start yelling at people, who may kill one or two people in the hut to create fear and obedience⁷. Who start to pull up the 12 year old or 7 year old or 8 year old, physically⁸ by the arm. Who force them out and they march them off to the bush,” he said.

During that march to the LRA camp, the children usually see someone killed.

“Just slaughtered⁹ or killed or maimed. Left to die. And that’s a very quick lesson very early on – you better shape up (be obedient) or this could be you,” he said.

Being obedient can mean taking part in brutal¹⁰ killings¹¹ - sometimes being forced to remove bodily organs.

“Those rituals begin to desensitize the very impressionable and afraid youth to what it’s like to be in the Lord’s Resistance Army. That’s one piece of it. The second is they begin to build up a culture where the youth say this is what the norm is. This is what everybody does. When they come out they get hit with a tremendous shock, saying, my God, what did I do?”

That’s where Bemak and the counselors¹² he trains come in. It’s their job to help the kids deal with the guilt¹³, shame, confusion and helplessness. Without help, the former child soldiers are unable to re-enter society. They have trouble holding jobs or having relationships.

Recovery tours

He said the counseling concentrates on dealing¹⁴ with what happened to them. Things they’ve refused to talk about for years. Bemak says one very successful method is what he calls “recovery tours.” He and a psycho-services expert from Invisible Children actually take the children back to the site where they were abducted.

“One on each side, we walk them through that site and they talk about every single experience that they had. We ask them what happened here. Where were you lying? Were you facing to the wall? Were you facing to the door when they came in? Where was your grandmother? And they talk us through that whole experience. Then we walk them, side by side, as they’re trembling, as they’re talking about it, walk them through the bush and the pathway that they took,” he said.

Bemak said every child who’s taken the recovery tour found it extremely healing. And he does believe they can be healed, but it may take a long time. Each child is different.

“I think it’s critical that these youth are healed because the long term cost to our society and our community is significant,” he said.

Professor Bemak said if LRA leader Joseph Kony is captured or meets the same fate as Moammar Gadhafi it will help bring closure to the former child soldiers.

The International Rescue Committee estimates there are 300,000 boys and girls around the world currently trained as soldiers or used as porters, spies or sex slaves.

1 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。

2 abducted   

劫持，诱拐( abduct的过去式和过去分词 )； 使（肢体等）外展

参考例句：

• Detectives have not ruled out the possibility that she was abducted. 侦探尚未排除她被绑架的可能性。
• The kid was abducted at the gate of kindergarten. 那小孩在幼儿园大门口被绑架走了。

3 killers   

凶手( killer的名词复数 )； 消灭…者； 致命物； 极难的事

参考例句：

• He remained steadfast in his determination to bring the killers to justice. 他要将杀人凶手绳之以法的决心一直没有动摇。
• They were professional killers who did in John. 杀死约翰的这些人是职业杀手。

4 counselor   

n.顾问，法律顾问

参考例句：

• The counselor gave us some disinterested advice.顾问给了我们一些无私的忠告。
• Chinese commercial counselor's office in foreign countries.中国驻国外商务参赞处。

5 atrocities   

n.邪恶，暴行( atrocity的名词复数 )；滔天大罪

参考例句：

• They were guilty of the most barbarous and inhuman atrocities. 他们犯有最野蛮、最灭绝人性的残暴罪行。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The enemy's atrocities made one boil with anger. 敌人的暴行令人发指。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

6 civilians   

平民，百姓( civilian的名词复数 )； 老百姓

参考例句：

• the bloody massacre of innocent civilians 对无辜平民的血腥屠杀
• At least 300 civilians are unaccounted for after the bombing raids. 遭轰炸袭击之后，至少有300名平民下落不明。

7 obedience   

n.服从，顺从

参考例句：

• Society has a right to expect obedience of the law.社会有权要求人人遵守法律。
• Soldiers act in obedience to the orders of their superior officers.士兵们遵照上级军官的命令行动。

8 physically   

adj.物质上，体格上，身体上，按自然规律

参考例句：

• He was out of sorts physically,as well as disordered mentally.他浑身不舒服，心绪也很乱。
• Every time I think about it I feel physically sick.一想起那件事我就感到极恶心。

9 slaughtered   

v.屠杀，杀戮，屠宰( slaughter的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• The invading army slaughtered a lot of people. 侵略军杀了许多人。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Hundreds of innocent civilians were cruelly slaughtered. 数百名无辜平民遭残杀。 来自《简明英汉词典》

10 brutal   

adj.残忍的，野蛮的，不讲理的

参考例句：

• She has to face the brutal reality.她不得不去面对冷酷的现实。
• They're brutal people behind their civilised veneer.他们表面上温文有礼，骨子里却是野蛮残忍。

11 killings   

谋杀( killing的名词复数 )； 突然发大财，暴发

参考例句：

• His statement was seen as an allusion to the recent drug-related killings. 他的声明被视为暗指最近与毒品有关的多起凶杀案。
• The government issued a statement condemning the killings. 政府发表声明谴责这些凶杀事件。

12 counselors   

n.顾问( counselor的名词复数 )；律师；（使馆等的）参赞；（协助学生解决问题的）指导老师

参考例句：

• Counselors began an inquiry into industrial needs. 顾问们开始调查工业方面的需要。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》
• We have experienced counselors available day and night. ) 这里有经验的法律顾问全天候值班。） 来自超越目标英语 第4册

13 guilt   

n.犯罪；内疚；过失，罪责

参考例句：

• She tried to cover up her guilt by lying.她企图用谎言掩饰自己的罪行。
• Don't lay a guilt trip on your child about schoolwork.别因为功课责备孩子而使他觉得很内疚。

14 dealing   

n.经商方法，待人态度

参考例句：

• This store has an excellent reputation for fair dealing.该商店因买卖公道而享有极高的声誉。
• His fair dealing earned our confidence.他的诚实的行为获得我们的信任。