VOA慢速英语2013 保护菲律宾台风幸存者免受人贩子侵害

 

AS IT IS 2013-12-06 Protecting Typhoon Survivors¹ From Traffickers 保护菲律宾台风幸存者免受人贩子侵害

From VOA Learning English this is As It Is.

Welcome back. I’m Caty Weaver².  

Thousands of people continue to flee the central Philippines after much of the area was heavily damaged by a powerful storm in early November.

Philippine social services are concerned about the possible mistreatment of people leaving the area -- people who have already lost so much. Today on the program we report on efforts to protect these typhoon survivors from human trafficking and other abuses.

Then, we go to Pakistan to find out why a Christian³-run medical center that has cared for the poor and disabled for 50 years is closing.

Social Service Agencies Work to Protect Typhoon Victims

In Manila, aid agencies are trying to care for the thousands of people displaced by Typhoon Haiyan. The agencies say they are worried that some of the survivors could become victims of another disaster. They say these desperate people are likely targets of the human trafficking trade. Christopher Cruise reports.

A social worker called out directions for food service for people who have recently arrived at Villamor Air Base. After the typhoon victims eat, they give their names to the Social Welfare and Development Department. Foilan Maglaya is a specialist with the department.

“We have to ensure that the children with the families is their real child because we want to prevent human trafficking, child trafficking. We don’t want women to end up with traffickers.”

Social welfare officials say they have not found any trafficking cases so far. But, they say people living near the base ask them every day if they can employ home workers from among those who are displaced. Social Welfare Officer Doan Foronda says they don’t think the refugees should take the jobs being offered.

“We just discouraged them because right now being household help is not the most appropriate employment for the survivors because they need to be debriefed⁴. They need to be attended to psychologically because they went through so much trauma⁵. So they need to be well before they can be employed again.”

The displaced arrive in Villamor on military planes from the city of Tacloban, the city hardest-hit by Typhoon Haiyan. The typhoon also caused a huge flood of ocean water in nearby coastal⁶ towns in Leyte province. It was like a tsunami⁷. Thousands were killed in the flooding. The typhoon’s powerful winds also destroyed towns in nearby Samar province.

The United Nations Children’s Fund -- UNICEF -- is working with local officials in the most-affected⁸ areas to find children who might be alone. Sarah Norton-Stahl is UNICEF’s Manila Child Protection Chief. She says there are some reports of children whose parents died, but officials do not know how many of these children there are.

Ms. Norton-Stahl says in past disasters they have seen a ten percent increase in child trafficking.

“It’s really just because of the destruction of services. The local capacity to handle these cases is diminished and people’s livelihoods⁹ that have been affected put them at greater risk, greater vulnerability for trafficking.”

She says UNICEF is training local government officials and other social workers on ways to reunite families, including using a mobile registration¹⁰ system for children. She says there is clear understanding among the officials and workers of the possibility of trafficking. She says many people attend the training.

Foilan Maglaya of the Social Welfare and Development Department says officials are also talking with typhoon survivors about trafficking. He says warnings about traffickers are repeatedly broadcast at the air base in the local language.

I’m Christopher Cruise.

 A Hospice for the Disabled Poor in Pakistan

Now we return to Caty Weaver, who tells us about the problems of a Christian home for the sick in the crowded Pakistani city of Rawalpindi.

For fifty years, Irish religious workers have operated a small medical center in the northwestern city of Rawalpindi. St. Joseph’s Hospice cares for the poor and the disabled and those who were not accepted by other hospitals. But falling donations and rising costs are forcing the hospice to close.

“When I first came here, I couldn’t do anything, now I can eat by myself and I can write. Everybody here loves me and takes care of me. I wasn’t looked after like this in my own home.”

That is Aisha Gulrehman. When she was 12 she was hit by a bullet in her neighborhood. The Christian hospice has been her home for ten years.

Like Aisha, all forty patients at the hospice are extremely poor. Some of the patients with spinal¹¹ cord injuries had been left alone by their families and communities.

Sister Margaret Walsh and a team of Pakistani and international volunteers have been trying to keep St. Joseph’s in operation. But the hospice is not getting enough donations. And financial manager Naveed Inderyas says fuel, electricity and medical costs are rising.

“According to our bank balances, we can survive only for the five months.”

Many people believe Christians¹² should raise the money for St. Joseph’s. But the hospice cares for people of all religions, and its patients are mostly Muslim.

There are many aid organizations in Pakistan. But, Dr. Munawer Sher Khan says St. Joseph’s is special. She is a Muslim who has been involved with the hospice for 40 years.

“There is no place to the best of my knowledge that helps the disabled, the chronically¹³ ill, they are rejected from other hospitals, they can’t afford to go to hospitals, they can’t afford expensive treatment.”

Mohammad Sohail was a young man when he dove into a lake and hit his head on a rock. The accident left him unable to move from the neck down.

“I have no words to tell you but these people, especially hospice, they know what to do with me, dressings¹⁴, food, a lot of other things, special needs for patients they provide us, and slowly, slowly, starting that day I did move my neck, my hand, my finger and now I am like a big man.”

Sadly, such success stories could soon be all in the past. The hospice will close if it does not get the financial support it needs. Dr. Munawer Sher Khan says she has a difficult time believing it will close.

“Why are we closing? Insufficient¹⁵ funds? People don’t care anymore? I care.”

Sister Margaret Walsh says she will fight to keep the hospice open. She says closing it would be too painful.

And that’s As It Is for today. I’m Caty Weaver. Thanks for joining us.

1 survivors   

幸存者，残存者，生还者( survivor的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The survivors were adrift in a lifeboat for six days. 幸存者在救生艇上漂流了六天。
• survivors clinging to a raft 紧紧抓住救生筏的幸存者

2 weaver   

n.织布工；编织者

参考例句：

• She was a fast weaver and the cloth was very good.她织布织得很快，而且布的质量很好。
• The eager weaver did not notice my confusion.热心的纺织工人没有注意到我的狼狈相。

3 Christian   

adj.基督教徒的；n.基督教徒

参考例句：

• They always addressed each other by their Christian name.他们总是以教名互相称呼。
• His mother is a sincere Christian.他母亲是个虔诚的基督教徒。

4 debriefed   

v.向（外交人员等）询问执行任务的情况( debrief的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• He was taken to a US airbase to be debriefed on the mission. 他被带到美国空军基地汇报执行使命情况。
• We debriefed our pilot after he had flown over the enemy's land. 我方飞行员飞越敌境之后，我们向他询问情况。 来自《简明英汉词典》

5 trauma   

n.外伤，精神创伤

参考例句：

• Counselling is helping him work through this trauma.心理辅导正帮助他面对痛苦。
• The phobia may have its root in a childhood trauma.恐惧症可能源于童年时期的创伤。

6 coastal   

adj.海岸的，沿海的，沿岸的

参考例句：

• The ocean waves are slowly eating away the coastal rocks.大海的波浪慢慢地侵蚀着岸边的岩石。
• This country will fortify the coastal areas.该国将加强沿海地区的防御。

7 tsunami   

n.海啸

参考例句：

• Powerful quake sparks tsunami warning in Japan.大地震触发了日本的海啸预警。
• Coastlines all around the Indian Ocean inundated by a huge tsunami.大海啸把印度洋沿岸地区都淹没了。

8 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。

9 livelihoods   

生计，谋生之道( livelihood的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• First came the earliest individualistic pioneers who depended on hunting and fishing for their livelihoods. 走在最前面的是早期的个人主义先驱者，他们靠狩猎捕鱼为生。 来自英汉非文学 - 政府文件
• With little influence over policies, their traditional livelihoods are threatened. 因为马赛族人对政策的影响力太小，他们的传统生计受到了威胁。

10 registration   

n.登记，注册，挂号

参考例句：

• Marriage without registration is not recognized by law.法律不承认未登记的婚姻。
• What's your registration number?你挂的是几号？

11 spinal   

adj.针的，尖刺的，尖刺状突起的；adj.脊骨的，脊髓的

参考例句：

• After three days in Japan,the spinal column becomes extraordinarily flexible.在日本三天，就已经使脊椎骨变得富有弹性了。
• Your spinal column is made up of 24 movable vertebrae.你的脊柱由24个活动的脊椎骨构成。

12 Christians   

n.基督教徒( Christian的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Christians of all denominations attended the conference. 基督教所有教派的人都出席了这次会议。
• His novel about Jesus caused a furore among Christians. 他关于耶稣的小说激起了基督教徒的公愤。

13 chronically   

ad.长期地

参考例句：

• Similarly, any pigment nevus that is chronically irritated should be excised. 同样，凡是经常受慢性刺激的各种色素痣切勿予以切除。
• People chronically exposed to chlorine develop some degree of tolerance. 人长期接触氯气可以产生某种程度的耐受性。

14 dressings   

n.敷料剂；穿衣( dressing的名词复数 )；穿戴；（拌制色拉的）调料；（保护伤口的）敷料

参考例句：

• He always made sure that any cuts were protected by sterile dressings. 他总是坚持要用无菌纱布包扎伤口。 来自辞典例句
• I waked the orderly and he poured mineral water on the dressings. 我喊醒勤务，他在我的绷带上倒了些矿质水。 来自辞典例句

15 insufficient   

adj.(for，of)不足的，不够的

参考例句：

• There was insufficient evidence to convict him.没有足够证据给他定罪。
• In their day scientific knowledge was insufficient to settle the matter.在他们的时代，科学知识还不能足以解决这些问题。