索马里着手进行海啸后的清理工作

Somalia Cleans Up after the Tsunami¹

索马里着手进行海啸后的清理工作

 

In Africa, Somalia was hardest hit by the tsunami, killing² as many as 200 people, injuring more than 150, and displacing thousands. Some 30,000 people are in urgent need of food and other aid. Workers are in the northeastern town of Hafun and are faced with big challenges in this once booming fishing village.

 

World Food Program, Somalia's Maulid Warfa, has worked under many difficult circumstances. But nothing could prepare the assistant program officer for what he experienced when he arrived in Hafun shortly after the tsunami hit the once bustling³ town.

 

Maulid Warfa: Honestly speaking, when I first got in here, I couldn't believe - it was emotional. The whole town was stinking⁴ of rotten food, rotten fish, rotten clothes, and rotten stuff. And there were flies all over. Many of the houses have been destroyed, walls collapsed⁵ - it's a scene of devastation⁶. It was scary.

 

The waves that battered⁷ Hafun in late December claimed 19 lives, with more than 100 still missing and virtually all of the town's businesses, houses, and fishing gear wiped out.

 

Most of the town's pre-tsunami population of 4,800 people had fled to the nearby hills when Mr. Warfa, his colleagues at the United Nations' children's agency, and a local group called Shilcon arrived on the scene.

 

Mr. Warfa and the other aid workers realized the combination of rotten food, contamination of Hafun's water supply by the seawater, and cold winds on the surrounding hills where most people fled could lead to massive health problems if not addressed.

 

Already, the health of the people of Hafun, who are slowly filtering back to the town and living in makeshift shelters, has declined because of these and other factors.

 

Fatima Mohamed Ali is head nurse at Hafun's clinic, staffed by her and several volunteers.  She says some 200 people visit the clinic each day, up from about 20 from before the disaster.

 

She describes the most common symptoms and diseases the clinic has encountered since the tsunami.

 

Ms. Ali says she sees many people who have skin abrasions⁹ and infections, glaucoma and other eye infections, diarrhea, dysentery, swollen¹⁰ feet, asthma¹¹, and bronchitis.

 

Periodically, the clinic gets some supplies and visits from doctors and nurses from a medical association in the port city of Bossaso, about a difficult day's drive from Hafun.

 

But, says Ms. Ali, the clinic is still badly in need of medicines, particularly to treat bronchitis, asthma, malnutrition¹², and diarrhea.

 

UNICEF-Somalia's education officer, Abdirisak Mohamed Ali, says there is an even greater problem on the horizon that aid workers are battling to avoid.

 

Abdirisak Mohamed Ali: What we are trying is, actually, to avoid cholera¹³ outbreak. And that's why we are putting 30 toilets. We are trucking water from 92 kilometers every day, and we are putting about 10 tanks. We hope before we put the water system that we can avoid the outbreak of cholera in this area.

 

Mr. Ali said UNICEF is also immunizing women and children against tetanus, diphtheria, and measles¹⁴. He says there is still not enough clean water for the people of Hafun.

 

Hafun's primary school, which has about 90 students and three teachers, was closed for several weeks after the tsunami because some of the townspeople lived there after their homes were destroyed.

 

Mr. Ali said the school has recently re-opens.

 

Abdirisak Mohamed Ali: When I came here, we have started negotiating with the people and telling them, OK, education is psycho-social emotional recovery for the children, so let's restart the education.

 

Teachers told VOA the children are still recovering from the trauma¹⁵ of losing their homes and possessions and, in some cases, family members. UNICEF is providing books and other school supplies swept away by the waves.

 

There are efforts under way to get rid of the evidence of the ocean's fury. Amongst the rubble¹⁶ and debris¹⁷, members of the Somali Red Crescent Society can be seen shoveling, spraying, and carrying material away.

 

But aid workers and towns people are aware that the most difficult rehabilitation¹⁸ will need to take place in the minds and hearts of the people of Hafun as they start rebuilding their lives from ground zero.

 

Cathy Majtenyi, for VOA news, Hafun.

 

注释：

booming [5bu:miN] adj. 急速发展的

scary [5skZEri] adj. 引起惊慌的

wiped out精疲力竭的

contamination [kEn7tAmi5neiFEn] n. 玷污，污染，污染物

makeshift [5meIkFift] n. 将就，凑合，权宜之计

abrasion⁸ [E5breiVEn] n. 磨损

glaucoma [^lC:5kEumE] n. 绿内障，青光眼

diarrhea [7daiE5riE] n. 痢疾，腹泻

dysentery [5disEntri] n. [医] 痢疾

asthma [5AsmE] n. [医]哮喘

bronchitis [brCN5kaitis] n. [医]支气管炎

malnutrition [5mAlnju(:)5triFEn] n. 营养失调，营养不良

cholera [5kClErE] n. [医]霍乱

immunize [5imju:naiz] v.不敏感处理

tetanus [5tetEnEs] n. [医]破伤

diphtheria [dif5WiEriE] n. [医] 白喉

measles [5mi:zlz] n. [医]麻疹，风疹，包虫病，痧子

trauma [5trC:mE] n. [医] 外伤，损伤

get rid of v. 摆脱，除去

1 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。

2 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。

3 bustling   

adj.喧闹的

参考例句：

• The market was bustling with life. 市场上生机勃勃。
• This district is getting more and more prosperous and bustling. 这一带越来越繁华了。

4 stinking   

adj.臭的，烂醉的，讨厌的v.散发出恶臭( stink的现在分词 )；发臭味；名声臭；糟透

参考例句：

• I was pushed into a filthy, stinking room. 我被推进一间又脏又臭的屋子里。
• Those lousy, stinking ships. It was them that destroyed us. 是的！就是那些该死的蠢猪似的臭飞船！是它们毁了我们。 来自英汉非文学 - 科幻

5 collapsed   

adj.倒塌的

参考例句：

• Jack collapsed in agony on the floor. 杰克十分痛苦地瘫倒在地板上。
• The roof collapsed under the weight of snow. 房顶在雪的重压下突然坍塌下来。

6 devastation   

n.毁坏；荒废；极度震惊或悲伤

参考例句：

• The bomb caused widespread devastation. 炸弹造成大面积破坏。
• There was devastation on every side. 到处都是破坏的创伤。 来自《简明英汉词典》

7 battered   

adj.磨损的；v.连续猛击；磨损

参考例句：

• He drove up in a battered old car.他开着一辆又老又破的旧车。
• The world was brutally battered but it survived.这个世界遭受了惨重的创伤,但它还是生存下来了。

8 abrasion   

n.磨（擦）破，表面磨损

参考例句：

• Diamonds have extreme resistance to abrasion.钻石极抗磨损。
• This analysis is helpful to the research of derailment and abrasion machenism.该分析有助于脱轨和磨耗机理的探讨。

9 abrasions   

n.磨损( abrasion的名词复数 )；擦伤处；摩擦；磨蚀（作用）

参考例句：

• He suffered cuts and abrasions to the face. 他的脸上有许多划伤和擦伤。
• The bacteria get into humans through abrasions in the skin. 细菌可以通过擦伤处进入人体。 来自《简明英汉词典》

10 swollen   

adj.肿大的，水涨的；v.使变大，肿胀

参考例句：

• Her legs had got swollen from standing up all day.因为整天站着，她的双腿已经肿了。
• A mosquito had bitten her and her arm had swollen up.蚊子叮了她，她的手臂肿起来了。

11 asthma   

n.气喘病，哮喘病

参考例句：

• I think he's having an asthma attack.我想他现在是哮喘病发作了。
• Its presence in allergic asthma is well known.它在过敏性气喘中的存在是大家很熟悉的。

12 malnutrition   

n.营养不良

参考例句：

• In Africa, there are a lot of children suffering from severe malnutrition.在非洲有大批严重营养不良的孩子。
• It is a classic case of malnutrition. 这是营养不良的典型病例。

13 cholera   

n.霍乱

参考例句：

• The cholera outbreak has been contained.霍乱的发生已被控制住了。
• Cholera spread like wildfire through the camps.霍乱在营地里迅速传播。

14 measles   

n.麻疹，风疹，包虫病，痧子

参考例句：

• The doctor is quite definite about Tom having measles.医生十分肯定汤姆得了麻疹。
• The doctor told her to watch out for symptoms of measles.医生叫她注意麻疹出现的症状。

15 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。

16 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。

17 debris   

n.瓦砾堆，废墟，碎片

参考例句：

• After the bombing there was a lot of debris everywhere.轰炸之后到处瓦砾成堆。
• Bacteria sticks to food debris in the teeth,causing decay.细菌附着在牙缝中的食物残渣上，导致蛀牙。

18 rehabilitation   

n.康复，悔过自新，修复，复兴，复职，复位

参考例句：

• He's booked himself into a rehabilitation clinic.他自己联系了一家康复诊所。
• No one can really make me rehabilitation of injuries.已经没有人可以真正令我的伤康复了。