2006年VOA标准英语-Thousands of Liberians Remain in Refugee C

By Nico Colombant
Buduburam Refugee Camp, Ghana
27 March 2006
 
watch Refugee report

Three years after peace was restored in the West African nation of Liberia, tens of thousands of refugees remain in camps in neighboring countries.  VOA's Nico Colombant went to one of these, the Buduburam Camp, in southern Ghana.

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Pineapples, lined up on a wall in the Buduburam Camp, await buyers   
  

Here, up to 60,000 Liberians are crammed¹ along these dirt streets.  Many adults have been here since 1990. It looks like a little Liberia. One difference, though, there is electricity.

Most children go to schools right outside the camp. They seem to be the only ones enjoying themselves. 

There is a languid and heavy atmosphere almost everywhere.  Usually, refugees make pleas for help, but at Buduburam, they ignore outsiders. They also seem embarrassed by their condition. 

 
Varney Sambola, a refugee, acts as the mayor of the camp 
  
The informal mayor of the camp is Varney Sambola, a refugee himself.  He helps a young man who is trying to enter a school in Ghana's capital, Accra. It seems most refugees have no intent of going back to Liberia.  Sambola says despite recent elections, refugees are waiting to be sure the government will be able to help them start a new life.

"A nation where everyone is going to be equal, a nation that will be able to govern in a unique way, a nation that is going to be free from all sorts of atrocities², that caused us to come here,” says the camp’s mayor.  “[A government that will ensure] a better future, that would make Liberia to be sustainable, a better future that would make Liberia to be self-sufficient. That is the better future that I am talking about."

 
Enoch wants to get an education so he can have a better life
  
Enoch is 21. He has been here for five years. To make a little money, he has become a freelance barber. He says his clients, other refugees, pay him whatever they feel like paying him.  He says his life here is desolate³.

"The camp is just so hard because you know we find some difficulties in the camp, like (finding) water, food, and things like education. I suffer on my own to pay my own school. Since three years now, I have been out of school, because of money," says Enoch.

He lives in a house with his two little brothers. They get a bit of food from the United Nations. 

But conditions at the camp are difficult, trash lies everywhere, open sewers⁴ run through passageways.  Most people complain of recurrent bouts⁵ of malaria⁶, typhoid, and yellow fever.

The children in Buduburam Camp do not know a better life. Many of their parents have lived here for as much as 15 years.   
  
Enoch would like to go school, to give him some sort of future, better than this, but he says he doesn't have money.  Among his odd jobs, he also works at the camp's shoe factory.  The hand-made shoes are sold outside the camp, where some refugees try their luck, but usually they do not last very long.

For now Ghana's government has not decided⁷ anything, and they will stay here, at least in the short-term.  Like many others, Enoch is hoping to get a visa through special programs to go to the United States or elsewhere, but he does not feel like going back to Liberia.

"Going to Liberia is not a dream,” Enoch told us. “[Because] what is there? Because I do not have anything in Liberia, a house, nothing at all. There is nothing I have in Liberia now."

For these children, who have known little else, it seems their parents will let them languish⁸ here, until they are forcefully removed.

1 crammed   

adj.塞满的，挤满的；大口地吃；快速贪婪地吃v.把…塞满；填入；临时抱佛脚( cram的过去式)

参考例句：

• He crammed eight people into his car. 他往他的车里硬塞进八个人。
• All the shelves were crammed with books. 所有的架子上都堆满了书。

2 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》

3 desolate   

adj.荒凉的，荒芜的；孤独的，凄凉的；v.使荒芜，使孤寂

参考例句：

• The city was burned into a desolate waste.那座城市被烧成一片废墟。
• We all felt absolutely desolate when she left.她走后，我们都觉得万分孤寂。

4 sewers   

n.阴沟，污水管，下水道( sewer的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The sewers discharge out at sea. 下水道的污水排入海里。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
• Another municipal waste problem is street runoff into storm sewers. 有关都市废水的另外一个问题是进入雨水沟的街道雨水。 来自英汉非文学 - 环境法 - 环境法

5 bouts   

n.拳击（或摔跤）比赛( bout的名词复数 )；一段（工作）；（尤指坏事的）一通；（疾病的）发作

参考例句：

• For much of his life he suffered from recurrent bouts of depression. 他的大半辈子反复发作抑郁症。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• It was one of fistiana's most famous championship bouts. 这是拳击界最有名的冠军赛之一。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》

6 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。

7 decided   

adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的

参考例句：

• This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
• There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。

8 languish   

vi.变得衰弱无力，失去活力，（植物等）凋萎

参考例句：

• Without the founder's drive and direction,the company gradually languished.没有了创始人的斗志与指引，公司逐渐走向没落。
• New products languish on the drawing board.新产品在计划阶段即告失败。