2007年VOA标准英语-Sierra Leonean Candidate Hopes to Forge Trail f

By Naomi Schwarz
Freetown
09 August 2007

In a densely¹ populated, ramshackle neighborhood of Freetown, in Sierra Leone, Hariatu Turay is battling for a seat in parliament, one of only 64 women running out of more than 500 candidates. Naomi Schwarz visited her on the campaign trail in Freetown and has more for VOA about women and politics in Sierra Leone.

Hariatu Turay

Hariatu Turay's stately two-story house and the bright-white SUV parked outside present a stark² contrast to the rundown homes and gutted³ roads nearby in the neighborhood.

But Turay's door is wide open. A constant stream of visitors pass through and loiter in the courtyard outside.

They are supporters for Turay's political campaign, and they are excited to stand by her. Turay is running for parliament in elections to be held along-side the presidential election on Saturday.

Agnes Kamara, 26, and a mother of two, says it is very important to have women in politics to combat problems women face.

"We will encounter violence with our husbands, because we are married now, encounter many, many things, difficulties in our country with women. So we are sure if we have women in parliament we will feel free," said Kamara.

Candidate Turay agrees.

"We, the women, we know each others' problems. Whatever you are feeling, the pinch you are feeling, is affecting the other women," she said. "We need to help ourselves."

But observers have been disappointed by the number of women candidates in this election. Only about 10 percent of the candidates for parliamentary seats are women. This is far lower than the 30 percent minimum women's rights activists⁴ were pressing for.

Turay says the low number is a result of women being marginalized in the past and having not received enough education or encouragement.

 

But Harriet Turay, president of The 50/50 Group, a Sierra Leonean organization dedicated⁵ to gender⁶ equality, says despite the low number of female candidates, a push is being made to bring women into the political fold.

"We now know the women must be in those constituencies nurturing⁷ them for the elections," she said.

But, she says, a change in the way parliamentary seats are divided in districts is working against women in this election.

"We had a change of the mode of elections also. For the past two elections, because it was just after the war, we had a new type of election process here that was called the PR-system, which was woman friendly and that gave us more women in both the parliament and the local government," she added.

Hariatu Turay advertises her campaign

PR-system stands for proportional representation. In that system, the percentage of votes that groups of candidates obtain in elections is matched with the percentage of parliamentary seats they receive. Even if the party comes in second or third, they are still guaranteed some representation.

But in the new system Sierra Leone has adopted, candidates from each party battle for a single seat in each constituency, and the winner takes all. It means political parties aim to present a candidate they feel confident can win. Women, who have only recently begun having a significant role in politics, can be riskier⁸ candidates.

Candidate Turay says she has experienced resistance to her campaign because she is a woman.

"They are calling me all sort of names. They say I am a prostitute. They say all sorts of bad things," she said.

But Turay, well-known for her successful restaurant and club at a nearby beach, is battling on.

"I did not grow up in a home when there is money, so I suffered a lot. And I know what it meant during those hard days," she added. "So I thought it fit to say, there are more women out there that are suffering the same I was suffering. If I have got a small chance, it is better for me to help them out."

Five years ago, she began offering scholarships to young girls. She has paid for more than 30 girls to leave the streets and put them in school as well. And two years ago, she began offering microcredit loans to women. She has made more than 500 such loans.

Her civic⁹ activities have brought her a lot of recognition in the community and she says she is confident of her victory.

"I am going to win, get 90 percent. Then I will leave the 10 percent for the many contestants¹⁰ to go and fight for the 10 percent. But my 90 percent is sure," she said.

Salamatu Turay is running for an opposing party

But Turay is running with the ruling Sierra Leone People's Party. Her constituency has tended to vote for the opposition¹¹ party, the All People's Congress, and the scores of supporters rallying through the neighborhood show that party is still strong here.

Analysts¹² say many women candidates face this problem. They are fighting for seats against entrenched¹³ candidates.

But come election day, in Turay's constituency, it is almost a lock a women will win, and her name will be Turay. She and her opponent from APC, Salamatu Turay, are family.

1 densely   

ad.密集地；浓厚地

参考例句：

• A grove of trees shadowed the house densely. 树丛把这幢房子遮蔽得很密实。
• We passed through miles of densely wooded country. 我们穿过好几英里茂密的林地。

2 stark   

adj.荒凉的；严酷的；完全的；adv.完全地

参考例句：

• The young man is faced with a stark choice.这位年轻人面临严峻的抉择。
• He gave a stark denial to the rumor.他对谣言加以完全的否认。

3 gutted   

adj.容易消化的v.毁坏（建筑物等）的内部( gut的过去式和过去分词 )；取出…的内脏

参考例句：

• Disappointed? I was gutted! 失望？我是伤心透了！
• The invaders gutted the historic building. 侵略者们将那幢历史上有名的建筑洗劫一空。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

4 activists   

n.（政治活动的）积极分子，活动家( activist的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• His research work was attacked by animal rights activists . 他的研究受到了动物权益维护者的抨击。
• Party activists with lower middle class pedigrees are numerous. 党的激进分子中有很多出身于中产阶级下层。 来自《简明英汉词典》

5 dedicated   

adj.一心一意的；献身的；热诚的

参考例句：

• He dedicated his life to the cause of education.他献身于教育事业。
• His whole energies are dedicated to improve the design.他的全部精力都放在改进这项设计上了。

6 gender   

n.（生理上的）性，（名词、代词等的）性

参考例句：

• French differs from English in having gender for all nouns.法语不同于英语，所有的名词都有性。
• Women are sometimes denied opportunities solely because of their gender.妇女有时仅仅因为性别而无法获得种种机会。

7 nurturing   

养育( nurture的现在分词 )； 培育； 滋长； 助长

参考例句：

• These delicate plants need careful nurturing. 这些幼嫩的植物需要精心培育。
• The modern conservatory is not an environment for nurturing plants. 这个现代化温室的环境不适合培育植物。

8 riskier   

冒险的，危险的( risky的比较级 )

参考例句：

• Now they are starting to demand higher returns on riskier assets. 而今他们开始在风险更高的资产上要求更高的回报。
• The problem with that: RIM's business is getting riskier every quarter. 不过问题也随之而来：RIM面临的业务风险正逐季增大。

9 civic   

adj.城市的，都市的，市民的，公民的

参考例句：

• I feel it is my civic duty to vote.我认为投票选举是我作为公民的义务。
• The civic leaders helped to forward the project.市政府领导者协助促进工程的进展。

10 contestants   

n.竞争者，参赛者( contestant的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The competition attracted over 500 contestants representing 8 different countries. 这次比赛吸引了代表8个不同国家的500多名参赛者。
• Two candidates are emerging as contestants for the presidency. 两位候选人最终成为总统职位竞争者。 来自《简明英汉词典》

11 opposition   

n.反对，敌对

参考例句：

• The party leader is facing opposition in his own backyard.该党领袖在自己的党內遇到了反对。
• The police tried to break down the prisoner's opposition.警察设法制住了那个囚犯的反抗。

12 analysts   

分析家，化验员( analyst的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• City analysts forecast huge profits this year. 伦敦金融分析家预测今年的利润非常丰厚。
• I was impressed by the high calibre of the researchers and analysts. 研究人员和分析人员的高素质给我留下了深刻印象。

13 entrenched   

adj.确立的，不容易改的(风俗习惯)

参考例句：

• Television seems to be firmly entrenched as the number one medium for national advertising.电视看来要在全国广告媒介中牢固地占据头等位置。
• If the enemy dares to attack us in these entrenched positions,we will make short work of them.如果敌人胆敢进攻我们固守的阵地，我们就消灭他们。