2006年VOA标准英语-Drought Rages in Ethiopia's Somali Region

By Cathy Majtenyi
Gode
20 March 2006

The Somali region of southeastern Ethiopia is being hit by a drought that is also affecting parts of Kenya and Somalia. Residents and aid workers fear that widespread famine may grip the area, if the rains do not come soon. Cathy Majtenyi recently visited two districts in the region and files this report for VOA.

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A mother cradles her child in nutrition unit of Gode Hospital    
  

There is no space left in the nutrition unit at Gode Hospital. Almost a dozen women sit on the floor cradling their bone-thin babies and toddlers, who wail¹ weakly at intervals².

Adar Mohamud has traveled 90 kilometers to bring her seven-month-old son Faiso in for treatment. She holds tiny, delicate Faiso as she reflects on her predicament. Adar says that there has been no rain for two seasons now and the family's livestock³ is dying.

Meanwhile, district health officer Abdullahi Ali Haji visits the units of the 60-bed hospital, which serves at least 500,000 people in seven districts and coordinates⁴ a number of health posts and centers.

Pastoralists report increasing number of livestock dying due to worsening drought conditions in parts of Somali region  
  
He tells VOA more and more people are coming into Gode town from the rural areas looking for food and other assistance because their livestock are dying and the crops have failed.

"If you see the difference between the malnourished children who were coming to the Gode Hospital nutrition unit two months ago, the average admission of malnourished children was between two and three," he said. "But now, we're talking about five to seven a week, so this is the difference - it's almost double."

Abdullahi says there have been increases in respiratory infections, malaria⁵ cases, and diarrhea diseases, which he says are all related to malnutrition⁶.

The failure of the October to December "deyr" rains, and poor "gu" rains occurring from March to May, have resulted in some 1.5 million people in the Somali region requiring emergency food aid.

More than 500,000 people are also in critical need of water, with more than 56,000 children five years and under facing malnutrition in the Somali and Oromiya regions.

emergency food aid in Ethiopia's Somali region 
 
1.5 million people require 
  
Most of the people who live in the region are pastoralists who depend on livestock for a living. The rains' failure has greatly reduced the availability of pasture for grazing, and most crops on farms without access to water have withered⁷ away.

The United Nations says people in the region are facing what it classifies as "extreme" food insecurity that includes "pre-famine" conditions.

In Kalafo, some 90 kilometers from Gode, Ebla Hajin sits in her stall at the town's market. She is surrounded by bright red tomatoes and packages of spaghetti, rice, sugar, maize⁸, tomato paste and chicken stock, among other things.

Ebla Hajin sits in her stall at Kalafo’s market some 90 kilometers from Gode in Somali region  
  
Ebla gets most of her food and supplies from nearby Somalia. She says business has been rough over the past few months.

Ebla says she has noticed a big change in the market since the beginning of the drought. She says the turnover⁹ of her stock is very slow. People do not have enough money to buy food and other items. She says she spends the whole day at the stall - frequently selling little or nothing. She says the drought has hurt income.

Consequently, prices have shot through the roof in Kalafo. For instance, a tin of tomato paste that cost 1,000 Somali shillings, four months ago, now goes for 2,000 Somali shillings. 
 
 
Camels are one of the few animals that can survive harsh drought conditions
  
The last drought in the Somali region occurred in 2000, which killed an estimated 98,000 people. Aid officials are hoping to avert¹⁰ similar effects in this drought.

The World Food Program has been conducting food distributions since December, while the U.N. children's agency is bringing in water and supporting mobile health teams.

Ahmed Ibrahim Hussein is a field monitor with the World Food Program's Gode sub-office. He says that, although emergency aid is important, a more long-term approach to the problem of drought is needed.

"Already we have to change this system of free food to the people," he said. "That is everybody's feeling actually including the beneficiaries. Along with the relief operation, I think recovery and rehabilitation¹¹ could be incorporated in a way so that things will improve in the future in terms of development. This area is very prone¹² to droughts. It has become recurrent and continuous. Things should go simultaneously¹³ or parallel: emergency and development as well."

Hussein recommends that a safety net-type program, found in other parts of Ethiopia, be implemented¹⁴ in the Somali region. This could include work-for-food initiatives where recipients¹⁵ construct schools, roads or other public works in exchange for food.

He also recommends the construction or rehabilitation of ponds, underground storage tanks and other infrastructure¹⁶ to collect and store rainwater so that it could be used in dry times. Hussein says digging or refurbishing shallow and hand dug wells, complete with hand pumps, could also increase the water supply.

1 wail   

vt./vi.大声哀号，恸哭；呼啸，尖啸

参考例句：

• Somewhere in the audience an old woman's voice began plaintive wail.观众席里，一位老太太伤心地哭起来。
• One of the small children began to wail with terror.小孩中的一个吓得大哭起来。

2 intervals   

n.[军事]间隔( interval的名词复数 )；间隔时间；[数学]区间；（戏剧、电影或音乐会的）幕间休息

参考例句：

• The forecast said there would be sunny intervals and showers. 预报间晴，有阵雨。
• Meetings take place at fortnightly intervals. 每两周开一次会。

3 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。

4 coordinates   

n.相配之衣物；坐标( coordinate的名词复数 )；（颜色协调的）配套服装；[复数]女套服；同等重要的人（或物）v.使协调，使调和( coordinate的第三人称单数 )；协调；协同；成为同等

参考例句：

• The town coordinates on this map are 695037. 该镇在这幅地图上的坐标是695037。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• 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。 来自《简明英汉词典》

5 malaria   

n.疟疾

参考例句：

• He had frequent attacks of malaria.他常患疟疾。
• Malaria is a kind of serious malady.疟疾是一种严重的疾病。

6 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。

7 withered   

adj. 枯萎的，干瘪的，（人身体的部分器官）因病萎缩的或未发育良好的 动词wither的过去式和过去分词形式

参考例句：

• The grass had withered in the warm sun. 这些草在温暖的阳光下枯死了。
• The leaves of this tree have become dry and withered. 这棵树下的叶子干枯了。

8 maize   

n.玉米

参考例句：

• There's a field planted with maize behind the house.房子后面有一块玉米地。
• We can grow sorghum or maize on this plot.这块地可以种高粱或玉米。

9 turnover   

n.人员流动率，人事变动率；营业额，成交量

参考例句：

• The store greatly reduced the prices to make a quick turnover.这家商店实行大减价以迅速周转资金。
• Our turnover actually increased last year.去年我们的营业额竟然增加了。

10 avert   

v.防止，避免；转移(目光、注意力等)

参考例句：

• He managed to avert suspicion.他设法避嫌。
• I would do what I could to avert it.我会尽力去避免发生这种情况。

11 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。

12 prone   

adj.(to)易于…的，很可能…的；俯卧的

参考例句：

• Some people are prone to jump to hasty conclusions.有些人往往作出轻率的结论。
• He is prone to lose his temper when people disagree with him.人家一不同意他的意见,他就发脾气。

13 simultaneously   

adv.同时发生地，同时进行地

参考例句：

• The radar beam can track a number of targets almost simultaneously.雷达波几乎可以同时追着多个目标。
• The Windows allow a computer user to execute multiple programs simultaneously.Windows允许计算机用户同时运行多个程序。

14 implemented   

v.实现( implement的过去式和过去分词 )；执行；贯彻；使生效

参考例句：

• This agreement, if not implemented, is a mere scrap of paper. 这个协定如不执行只不过是一纸空文。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
• The economy is in danger of collapse unless far-reaching reforms are implemented. 如果不实施影响深远的改革，经济就面临崩溃的危险。 来自辞典例句

15 recipients   

adj.接受的；受领的；容纳的；愿意接受的n.收件人；接受者；受领者；接受器

参考例句：

• The recipients of the prizes had their names printed in the paper. 获奖者的姓名登在报上。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The recipients of prizes had their names printed in the paper. 获奖者名单登在报上。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》

16 infrastructure   

n.下部构造，下部组织，基础结构，基础设施

参考例句：

• We should step up the development of infrastructure for research.加强科学基础设施建设。
• We should strengthen cultural infrastructure and boost various types of popular culture.加强文化基础设施建设，发展各类群众文化。