2007年VOA标准英语-US Troops in Djibouti Dig Wells, Build Schools

By Malcolm Brown
Djibouti
03 April 2007
 
Watch Army Aid report 

Members of a relatively¹ small U.S. military force based in the Horn of Africa have been called "aid workers with guns."  The American troops are drilling wells, vaccinating² livestock³, building school facilities and performing a variety of other humanitarian⁴ missions in Djibouti.  They have weapons, but their mission is to defeat terrorism without using force.  Local people in the mostly Muslim region welcome the assistance.  Malcolm Brown reports for VOA from the tiny east African state.

U.S. troops drive through the arid⁵ landscape of southwestern Djibouti.  Their mission is to provide clean water for the nomadic⁶ people who survive in this super-hot environment.

 
US Army Staff Sergeant⁷ William Brown
At the wheel of one of the vehicles is Staff Sergeant William Brown, a member of a squad⁸ that specializes in drilling wells.  Their destination is an oasis⁹ close to the border with Ethiopia.  An ancient trail used by humans and animals passes nearby, making this a vital stopping point.

"We are currently looking at this area, to see what we can do to develop this oasis, so that they can better use it,” Sergeant Brown says.  “Right now, the way they are using it, they are actually contaminating their own water.  The water is good for drinking, but because they are allowing their animals all around it, it is getting contaminated with feces.  So we're trying to develop a plan so that we can fix that for them."

Sergeant Brown and the troops know very well that they are right next door to Somalia, torn by civil war between Islamist groups and the weak government in Mogadishu.  The Americans carry weapons for self-defense, but their mission is peaceful – to improve life for those who exist in this harsh environment, a role that falls under the umbrella of what the U.S. military calls civil affairs.

 
US Rear Admiral Timothy Moon
Rear Admiral Timothy Moon is deputy commander of the U.S. task force in the region.

"If you think about it, it's obvious that someone who is constantly hungry, doesn't have a roof over his head, [is] going to be more susceptible¹⁰ to extremist ideology¹¹ and easily succumb¹² to recruiting efforts," he says.

Central to the effort to make sure that does not happen are the American troops of the Combined Joint¹³ Task Force-Horn of Africa, housed at this former French military base in Djibouti.  The original mission was to capture or kill terrorists; action like the U.S. air strikes in Somalia earlier this year, aimed at suspected al-Qaida members.

These days, a typical mission for the task force is very different.  In this video shot by the U.S. military, veterinarians care for Kenyans' livestock.

 
US military veterinarian, Captain Gwynne Kinley
Captain Gwynne Kinley, a military veterinarian, says the response has been very gratifying.

"They are extremely grateful.  I have never had any degree of suspicion or any type of unwelcoming attitudes,” he says.  “Everyone has been very grateful that we have been able to be present and help them to help their animals."

This is the generation the U.S. military really wants to reach.  Better prospects¹⁴ stop young people becoming radicals¹⁵ later in life, the thinking goes.

So the U.S. military, in conjunction with America's civilian¹⁶ overseas assistance agency, USAID, is working to improve education and health care in the region.

On this visit to a school in the Djiboutian town of Tadjoura, local officials like Alwan Daoud, who was school principal for almost three decades, had only good things to say.

Daoud, the president of the Regional Council of Tadjoura, says "The American assistance has done many things to improve education and health.  But there are many other needs, so we want the help to continue."

American personnel are also encouraged to help out in their free time.  There are regular outings to this orphanage¹⁷ close to the base.

 
US Navy Chaplain Assistant, Nathaniel Young
Nathaniel Young is a U.S. Navy military chaplain's assistant and his bodyguard¹⁸.  On the basketball court, he's a cultural ambassador.

"Basically, what we did was, we got together and said, 'OK, how can we help the boys' orphanage?  What can we do?  What's the best way that we can relate to them on a level that crosses cultural boundaries?'  Sports does exactly that," Young says.

That sporting outreach has expanded the horizons of 23-year-old Abdul Dakar.

"I [would] like to go [to] America to practice in English and practice some basketball.  I like basketball very, very much," he says.

For Americans like these Marines at Camp Lemonier, the modern military requires them to be flexible enough to go from hard combat in places like Iraq to this hearts-and-minds operation on the Horn of Africa.

 
Refugees International chief Kenneth Bacon
Kenneth Bacon is a former Pentagon spokesman who now heads the NGO [non-governmental organization] Refugees International.  He welcomes the emphasis on what is often called ‘soft power,’ but worries about routinely using military units to perform humanitarian work.

"In rare and emergency cases it makes sense for the military to do what only it can do very quickly,” Bacon says.  “On a day-to-day basis, I don't think it makes sense for the military to be out distributing aid, vaccinating kids, [and] drilling wells.  These are things that can be done by other groups.  They can be done much more cheaply and much more effectively by operations like Oxfam or Save the Children or International Rescue Committee or CARE."

There is also concern that having American troops in this role might blur¹⁹ the line between soldiers and civilian aid workers, and thus endanger conventional NGOs.

While that debate continues, the U.S. military's projects are having a transformative impact on some lives in this region.

1 relatively   

adv.比较...地，相对地

参考例句：

• The rabbit is a relatively recent introduction in Australia.兔子是相对较新引入澳大利亚的物种。
• The operation was relatively painless.手术相对来说不痛。

2 vaccinating   

给…接种疫苗( vaccinate的现在分词 )； 注射疫苗，接种疫苗

参考例句：

• At first blush, vaccinating the wolves against rabies seems a simple solution. 乍一看来，为狼群注射防狂犬病疫苗是一种简单的办法。
• Also vaccinating children against misers (measles) has saved many lives. 还有，给儿童进行疫苗接种防止麻疹也挽救了许多生命。

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 humanitarian   

n.人道主义者，博爱者，基督凡人论者

参考例句：

• She has many humanitarian interests and contributes a lot to them.她拥有很多慈善事业，并作了很大的贡献。
• The British government has now suspended humanitarian aid to the area.英国政府现已暂停对这一地区的人道主义援助。

5 arid   

adj.干旱的；(土地)贫瘠的

参考例句：

• These trees will shield off arid winds and protect the fields.这些树能挡住旱风,保护农田。
• There are serious problems of land degradation in some arid zones.在一些干旱地带存在严重的土地退化问题。

6 nomadic   

adj.流浪的；游牧的

参考例句：

• This tribe still live a nomadic life.这个民族仍然过着游牧生活。
• The plowing culture and the nomadic culture are two traditional principal cultures in China.农耕文化与游牧文化是我国传统的两大主体文化。

7 sergeant   

n.警官，中士

参考例句：

• His elder brother is a sergeant.他哥哥是个警官。
• How many stripes are there on the sleeve of a sergeant?陆军中士的袖子上有多少条纹？

8 squad   

n.班，小队，小团体；vt.把…编成班或小组

参考例句：

• The squad leader ordered the men to mark time.班长命令战士们原地踏步。
• A squad is the smallest unit in an army.班是军队的最小构成单位。

9 oasis   

n.（沙漠中的）绿洲，宜人的地方

参考例句：

• They stopped for the night at an oasis.他们在沙漠中的绿洲停下来过夜。
• The town was an oasis of prosperity in a desert of poverty.该镇是贫穷荒漠中的一块繁荣的“绿洲”。

10 susceptible   

adj.过敏的，敏感的；易动感情的，易受感动的

参考例句：

• Children are more susceptible than adults.孩子比成人易受感动。
• We are all susceptible to advertising.我们都易受广告的影响。

11 ideology   

n.意识形态，(政治或社会的)思想意识

参考例句：

• The ideology has great influence in the world.这种思想体系在世界上有很大的影响。
• The ideal is to strike a medium between ideology and inspiration.我的理想是在意识思想和灵感鼓动之间找到一个折衷。

12 succumb   

v.屈服，屈从；死

参考例句：

• They will never succumb to the enemies.他们决不向敌人屈服。
• Will business leaders succumb to these ideas?商业领袖们会被这些观点折服吗？

13 joint   

adj.联合的，共同的；n.关节，接合处；v.连接，贴合

参考例句：

• I had a bad fall,which put my shoulder out of joint.我重重地摔了一跤，肩膀脫臼了。
• We wrote a letter in joint names.我们联名写了封信。

14 prospects   

n.希望，前途(恒为复数)

参考例句：

• There is a mood of pessimism in the company about future job prospects. 公司中有一种对工作前景悲观的情绪。
• They are less sanguine about the company's long-term prospects. 他们对公司的远景不那么乐观。

15 radicals   

n.激进分子( radical的名词复数 )；根基；基本原理；[数学]根数

参考例句：

• Some militant leaders want to merge with white radicals. 一些好斗的领导人要和白人中的激进派联合。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The worry is that the radicals will grow more intransigent. 现在人们担忧激进分子会变得更加不妥协。 来自辞典例句

16 civilian   

adj.平民的，民用的，民众的

参考例句：

• There is no reliable information about civilian casualties.关于平民的伤亡还没有确凿的信息。
• He resigned his commission to take up a civilian job.他辞去军职而从事平民工作。

17 orphanage   

n.孤儿院

参考例句：

• They dispensed new clothes to the children in the orphanage.他们把新衣服发给孤儿院的小孩们。
• They gave the proceeds of the sale to the orphanage.他们把销售的收入给了这家孤儿院。

18 bodyguard   

n.护卫，保镖

参考例句：

• She has to have an armed bodyguard wherever she goes.她不管到哪儿都得有带武器的保镖跟从。
• The big guy standing at his side may be his bodyguard.站在他身旁的那个大个子可能是他的保镖。

19 blur   

n.模糊不清的事物；vt.使模糊，使看不清楚

参考例句：

• The houses appeared as a blur in the mist.房子在薄雾中隐隐约约看不清。
• If you move your eyes and your head,the picture will blur.如果你的眼睛或头动了，图像就会变得模糊不清。