VOA标准英语2013--Gao Residents Rebuild, after Islamist Occupation

 

Gao Residents Rebuild, after Islamist Occupation

An everyday scene that would have been unthinkable just four months ago under the Islamist militant¹ sect² MUJAO. And certainly not in Gao. MUJAO anointed the "Sharia Square;" it's where they whipped people and cut off hands.

Rebuilding Gao

It's in the heart of downtown that bears the scars of a year of conflict, occupation and resistance.

Youth leader Ibrahim Maiga says it is where protesters marched against a Tuareg separatist group, the MNLA, on June 26 -- after the group's fighters killed a local teacher. He says the MNLA, which co-ruled Gao at the time, fired on the march and killed three youths. "Never. Never will I be able to walk through here without thinking of that day, those six hours, and what we did here," he said.

Looted administrative³ buildings sit eerily⁴ empty. The courthouse was destroyed. Offices are closed. The market is quiet. Banks are still bricked up.

The state governor, General Mamadou Adama Diallo, works out of an empty private home on a couch donated by local residents. "We had to come back for our country. Our personal safety and comfort don't matter," he explained. "The administration is returning to posts throughout the region and we will work in whatever conditions we find. It's difficult, but it is what must be done."

Citizens hopeful, but cautious

Patriotism⁵ may be at an all-time high in Gao, but daily life is far from normal.

Jihadists could attack. A citizen's medical committee continues to run the hospital as it did under occupation. Residents get about 30 hours of electricity a week, thanks to the Red Cross. Food prices have climbed since the Algerian border closed in January at the start of the French-led military intervention⁶.

"We want Gao to go back to how it was before the problems," said Gao resident, Khadi Diatta. " We want it to develop. We are hungry and tired."

Khadi Diatta is part of a street-cleaning group created under occupation by a regional advisory⁷ committee of imams and civil society leaders that mediated⁸ between residents and the armed groups.

Teacher Kata Diatta Hosseini Maiga, a member of that committee, says the state was gone -- so residents had to pull together. And they got results. "What the population did on a voluntary basis, we've never seen that before," Maiga noted⁹.

That solidarity¹⁰ remains¹¹, he says, and they will need it and the state administration to put the city back together again. 

1 militant   

adj.激进的，好斗的；n.激进分子，斗士

参考例句：

• Some militant leaders want to merge with white radicals.一些好斗的领导人要和白人中的激进派联合。
• He is a militant in the movement.他在那次运动中是个激进人物。

2 sect   

n.派别，宗教，学派，派系

参考例句：

• When he was sixteen he joined a religious sect.他16岁的时候加入了一个宗教教派。
• Each religious sect in the town had its own church.该城每一个宗教教派都有自己的教堂。

3 administrative   

adj.行政的，管理的

参考例句：

• The administrative burden must be lifted from local government.必须解除地方政府的行政负担。
• He regarded all these administrative details as beneath his notice.他认为行政管理上的这些琐事都不值一顾。

4 eerily   

adv.引起神秘感或害怕地

参考例句：

• It was nearly mid-night and eerily dark all around her. 夜深了，到处是一片黑黝黝的怪影。 来自汉英文学 - 散文英译
• The vast volcanic slope was eerily reminiscent of a lunar landscape. 开阔的火山坡让人心生怪异地联想起月球的地貌。 来自辞典例句

5 patriotism   

n.爱国精神，爱国心，爱国主义

参考例句：

• His new book is a demonstration of his patriotism.他写的新书是他的爱国精神的证明。
• They obtained money under the false pretenses of patriotism.他们以虚伪的爱国主义为借口获得金钱。

6 intervention   

n.介入，干涉，干预

参考例句：

• The government's intervention in this dispute will not help.政府对这场争论的干预不会起作用。
• Many people felt he would be hostile to the idea of foreign intervention.许多人觉得他会反对外来干预。

7 advisory   

adj.劝告的，忠告的，顾问的，提供咨询

参考例句：

• I have worked in an advisory capacity with many hospitals.我曾在多家医院做过顾问工作。
• He was appointed to the advisory committee last month.他上个月获任命为顾问委员会委员。

8 mediated   

调停，调解，斡旋( mediate的过去式和过去分词 )； 居间促成； 影响…的发生； 使…可能发生

参考例句：

• He mediated in the quarrel between the two boys. 他调解两个孩子之间的争吵。
• The government mediated between the workers and the employers. 政府在工人与雇主间搞调和。

9 noted   

adj.著名的，知名的

参考例句：

• The local hotel is noted for its good table.当地的那家酒店以餐食精美而著称。
• Jim is noted for arriving late for work.吉姆上班迟到出了名。

10 solidarity   

n.团结；休戚相关

参考例句：

• They must preserve their solidarity.他们必须维护他们的团结。
• The solidarity among China's various nationalities is as firm as a rock.中国各族人民之间的团结坚如磐石。

11 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。