2006年VOA标准英语-Former Ugandan Abducted Soldier Shares Sto

By Catherine Maddux
Washington
28 April 2006
 
During nearly two decades of civil war in northern Uganda, an estimated 30,000 children have been abducted¹ by rebels and forced to fight or become sex slaves. This week, a congressional subcommittee heard testimony² from one young Ugandan woman who was kidnapped and trained to kill, but, miraculously³, escaped and survived to tell her story.

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Ten years ago, Grace Akallo, then 15, was an ordinary student, attending a girl's boarding school in northern Uganda.

But, one day, all that changed. "In October 1996, the Lord's Resistance Army, LRA, attacked Saint Mary's College, Aboke, in Apac District in northern Uganda. They abducted 139 girls, including myself," she said.

Although, the rebels eventually released 109 of the students, Akallo and 29 other girls were forcibly marched into southern Sudan. There, she said the rebels had bases that were run and protected by forces allied⁴ with the government of Sudan. And it was at one of those bases, Grace Akallo says, that she learned how to be a rebel. "I and the other girls captured with me were trained to assemble and disassemble, clean and use guns. We were used as slave labor⁵ by the LRA and Sudanese government soldiers. We were forcibly given to senior LRA commanders as so-called 'wives'," she said.

She was held against her will for seven months. During that time, she witnessed the brutal⁶ murder of two children who had tried to escape. But Akallo says she prayed to God constantly and looked for any opportunity to regain⁷ her freedom. "One night, we were forced to raid a village. I fainted from thirst. I woke up hours later, buried alive in a shallow grave. The Ugandan soldiers attacked a base of the Lord's Resistance Army, allowing me a chance to escape. I walked for three days, living on soil and leaves before I found another group of children who had also escaped. I persuaded eight of them to join me , and we eventually found a group of villagers who took care of us, before helping⁸ us to connect with the Uganda army to return home," she said.

Ms. Akallo is now 26 years old and studying communications at Gorden College in Boston in the United States. She spoke⁹ of behalf of World Vision at the House Subcommittee on Africa, Global Human Right and International Operations along with officials from other international relief groups and the U.S. State Department.

Subcommittee Chairman Chris Smith, a Republican congressman¹⁰ from New Jersey¹¹, opened the hearing by detailing the horrendous¹² impact of Uganda's civil war, including the displacement¹³ of almost two million people.

The LRA, a cult-like movement which has devastated¹⁴ northern Uganda for 19 years operating from bases in the Sudan, is notorious for killing¹⁵ and maiming children. The International Criminal Court in The Hague has issued arrest warrants for five members of the LRA, including Kony.

Congressman Smith said it was the children of Uganda who are suffering the most, noting that half of the two million displaced persons are children under the age of 15.

Smith told the committee the Ugandan government has clearly been unable to end this war, either through peaceful or military means, and so the atrocities¹⁶ continue. "As in Uganda, children are used by governments or government-supported militias¹⁷ and rebel forces such as the LRA. They desperately¹⁸ need our help. To that end, I and some of my colleagues in the House and Senate are planning to shortly introduce legislation to address the issue of child soldiers. This legislation condemns¹⁹ the conscription, forced recruitment or use of children by governments of paramilitaries in hostilities²⁰ and urges the U.S. government to lead efforts to enforce existing international standards to end this horrendous human rights abuse," he said.

If passed, the legislation would deny United States military assistance to seven of the 26 nations believed to use children in their forces, among them, Burundi, Colombia, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Ivory Coast, Paraguay, Sudan and Uganda.

As for former child soldier Grace Akallo, she says the best way to help traumatized children is making sure they receive an education, something, she says, represents hope for a better future.

1 abducted   

劫持，诱拐( abduct的过去式和过去分词 )； 使（肢体等）外展

参考例句：

• Detectives have not ruled out the possibility that she was abducted. 侦探尚未排除她被绑架的可能性。
• The kid was abducted at the gate of kindergarten. 那小孩在幼儿园大门口被绑架走了。

2 testimony   

n.证词；见证，证明

参考例句：

• The testimony given by him is dubious.他所作的证据是可疑的。
• He was called in to bear testimony to what the police officer said.他被传入为警官所说的话作证。

3 miraculously   

ad.奇迹般地

参考例句：

• He had been miraculously saved from almost certain death. 他奇迹般地从死亡线上获救。
• A schoolboy miraculously survived a 25 000-volt electric shock. 一名男学生在遭受2.5 万伏的电击后奇迹般地活了下来。

4 allied   

adj.协约国的；同盟国的

参考例句：

• Britain was allied with the United States many times in history.历史上英国曾多次与美国结盟。
• Allied forces sustained heavy losses in the first few weeks of the campaign.同盟国在最初几周内遭受了巨大的损失。

5 labor   

n.劳动，努力，工作，劳工；分娩；vi.劳动，努力，苦干；vt.详细分析；麻烦

参考例句：

• We are never late in satisfying him for his labor.我们从不延误付给他劳动报酬。
• He was completely spent after two weeks of hard labor.艰苦劳动两周后，他已经疲惫不堪了。

6 brutal   

adj.残忍的，野蛮的，不讲理的

参考例句：

• She has to face the brutal reality.她不得不去面对冷酷的现实。
• They're brutal people behind their civilised veneer.他们表面上温文有礼，骨子里却是野蛮残忍。

7 regain   

vt.重新获得，收复，恢复

参考例句：

• He is making a bid to regain his World No.1 ranking.他正为重登世界排名第一位而努力。
• The government is desperate to regain credibility with the public.政府急于重新获取公众的信任。

8 helping   

n.食物的一份&adj.帮助人的，辅助的

参考例句：

• The poor children regularly pony up for a second helping of my hamburger. 那些可怜的孩子们总是要求我把我的汉堡包再给他们一份。
• By doing this, they may at times be helping to restore competition. 这样一来, 他在某些时候,有助于竞争的加强。

9 spoke   

n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说

参考例句：

• They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
• The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。

10 Congressman   

n.（美）国会议员

参考例句：

• He related several anecdotes about his first years as a congressman.他讲述自己初任议员那几年的几则轶事。
• The congressman is meditating a reply to his critics.这位国会议员正在考虑给他的批评者一个答复。

11 jersey   

n.运动衫

参考例句：

• He wears a cotton jersey when he plays football.他穿运动衫踢足球。
• They were dressed alike in blue jersey and knickers.他们穿着一致，都是蓝色的运动衫和灯笼短裤。

12 horrendous   

adj.可怕的，令人惊惧的

参考例句：

• He described it as the most horrendous experience of his life.他形容这是自己一生中最可怕的经历。
• The mining industry in China has a horrendous safety record.中国的煤矿工业具有令人不安的安全记录。

13 displacement   

n.移置，取代，位移，排水量

参考例句：

• They said that time is the feeling of spatial displacement.他们说时间是空间位移的感觉。
• The displacement of all my energy into caring for the baby.我所有精力都放在了照顾宝宝上。

14 devastated   

v.彻底破坏( devastate的过去式和过去分词)；摧毁；毁灭；在感情上（精神上、财务上等）压垮adj.毁坏的；极为震惊的

参考例句：

• The bomb devastated much of the old part of the city. 这颗炸弹炸毁了旧城的一大片地方。
• His family is absolutely devastated. 他的一家感到极为震惊。

15 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。

16 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》

17 militias   

n.民兵组织，民兵( militia的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The troops will not attempt to disarm the warring militias. 部队并不打算解除战斗中的民兵武装。 来自辞典例句
• The neighborhood was a battleground for Shiite and Sunni militias. 那里曾是什叶派和逊尼派武装分子的战场。 来自互联网

18 desperately   

adv.极度渴望地，绝望地，孤注一掷地

参考例句：

• He was desperately seeking a way to see her again.他正拼命想办法再见她一面。
• He longed desperately to be back at home.他非常渴望回家。

19 condemns   

v.（通常因道义上的原因而）谴责( condemn的第三人称单数 )；宣判；宣布…不能使用；迫使…陷于不幸的境地

参考例句：

• Her widowhood condemns her to a lonely old age. 守寡使她不得不过着孤独的晚年生活。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The public opinion condemns prostitution. 公众舆论遣责卖淫。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

20 hostilities   

n.战争；敌意(hostility的复数)；敌对状态；战事

参考例句：

• Mexico called for an immediate cessation of hostilities. 墨西哥要求立即停止敌对行动。
• All the old hostilities resurfaced when they met again. 他们再次碰面时，过去的种种敌意又都冒了出来。