VOA标准英语2010年-Haitians in US Send Money to Families

Many families in Haiti are still homeless, living on the streets and not getting enough food.  Haitians in the United States are trying to send money so they can buy food and water.  One business in Washington, D.C. gets money quickly to people in Haiti.  

Haitians come to to this office in Washington, D.C. hoping to help their family and friends by sending money.  Among them is Franckel Constant, who wants to get money to family members in Port-au-Prince whose homes were destroyed by the earthquake.  "They are not getting any help whatsoever¹.  My family is still homeless, hungry," he said.

Edourdo Edouazin lost most of his family in Haiti.   He is sending money to his sister - the only one who survived.  "She says she is on the street but alive," he stated.

 John Boursiquot is a Washington agent for CAM, a Miami-based business. CAM transfers² money for a fee to people in Haiti. For two weeks after the earthquake, the company waved the fee. "I would say 95 percent of the people who come here lost somebody," he said.

When the earthquake struck, he was at a relative's house in Port-au-Prince that collapsed³. No one in the house was seriously hurt but Boursiquot and other family members were hit by cement⁴ blocks.  He brought a seriously injured neighbor to the hospital and helped others who were hurt.

"I watched three people die in my arms," he says, "and there were so many dead people everywhere."

Boursiquot says Haitians in the U.S. routinely⁵ send money to their families in Haiti but now they are sending twice as much.  He says they also help their families by paying CAM to put additional⁶ minutes on their cell phones.

Esther Castor says family members call her from Haiti asking for help.

"They keep calling my phone to say there is nothing else they can do because there's no food, no water," she explained. "So I just have to make the sacrifice and send money to them back home."

Wendy Duliepe is concerned that prices for food on the open market in Haiti are so high that it's hard for her family to buy it. She sends her relatives as much money as she can.

Roldol Louis expresses the feelings of many Haitians in the U.S.  He says if he can't be in Haiti to help his loved ones, he hopes the money he sends will make their lives easier.

 

1 whatsoever   

adv.（用于否定句中以加强语气）任何；pron.无论什么

参考例句：

• There's no reason whatsoever to turn down this suggestion.没有任何理由拒绝这个建议。
• All things whatsoever ye would that men should do to you,do ye even so to them.你想别人对你怎样，你就怎样对人。

2 transfers   

n. 接送服务

参考例句：

• Some proposals to make transfers automatic have been made. 人们已提出了一些自动转让的方案。
• Embryo transfers speed up the process of building a high-quality herd. 胚胎转移加速了培养优质牛群的步伐。

3 collapsed   

adj.倒塌的

参考例句：

• Jack collapsed in agony on the floor. 杰克十分痛苦地瘫倒在地板上。
• The roof collapsed under the weight of snow. 房顶在雪的重压下突然坍塌下来。

4 cement   

n.水泥；胶结材料；vt.粘结；巩固

参考例句：

• We need 100 tons of cement at most for this project.这项工程满打满算有一百吨水泥就足够了。
• Let's cement the parts together.咱们来把这些部件粘接在一起吧。

5 routinely   

adv.例行公事地；常规地，惯常地；老一套地

参考例句：

• Children have been routinely immunized against polio since 1958. 自从1958 年以来，儿童都按照常规接种防治小儿麻痹症的疫苗。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The library routinely handles a wide variety of enquiries. 图书馆日常要处理各种各样的咨询。 来自《简明英汉词典》

6 additional   

adj.添加的，额外的，另外的

参考例句：

• It is necessary to set down these additional rules.有必要制定这些补充规则。
• I think we can fit in an additional room.我想我们可以再加建一间房子。