VOA标准英语2010-Haitian Couple Reunited With Their Baby i

Roxana Romero | Miami 09 April 2010

After almost three months of legal wrangling¹, a Haitian couple was finally able to fly to Miami to reunite with their baby daughter. The couple feared their daughter, Jenny, had died in Haiti's devastating² earthquake in January.  But Baby Jenny had been found alive under rubble³ five days after the quake and had been airlifted to a hospital in Miami. The family will be able to stay in the United States for at least a year while Baby Jenny gets the medical treatment she needs. 

The Haitian couple was able to overcome legal obstacles and reunite with their baby, almost three months after she was nearly crushed during the January earthquake. 

Junior Alexis, Baby Jenny's father, says his faith in God gave him the strength to continue searching for Jenny, even though he feared she was dead.  "I would pray every day that I would find her because the baby was all I had," he said.

What they needed was a miracle. Nadine Devilme, the baby's mother, was on the top floor of their home in Port au Prince with Jenny when the quake struck. The house collapsed⁴, killing⁵ Jenny's babysitter and two relatives.

Afterwards, Devilme was unable  to find Jenny.  "I always had hope that the baby had survived and in fact the first few days I would tell Jr. to go look for the baby and he would go look and come back and I would tell him to look for the baby," she said.

As luck would have it, a US television crew had videotaped a baby being pulled from the rubble five days after the earthquake. The couple learned that the baby was theirs.  

But reuniting with Jenny has been a challenge.

Both adults had to have DNA⁶ testing to prove they are the biological parents. They had to get Haitian passports and US visas.  

Mark Lapointe, Baby Jenny's attorney, is helping⁷ the family with the legal issues "Once the (DNA) test was done and it was determined⁸ that they were in fact the parents, needless to say, everyone was very happy cause you could say you averted⁹ two tragedies: because now you know you have a child with parents and two people in Haiti who did not lose their child," he said.

Jenny technically¹⁰ is in the custody¹¹ of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.  Child welfare administrators¹² are unable to release her to her parents until the US government gives permission.

In the meantime, the couple is living in a cottage close to the agency providing Jenny with medical care and physical therapy.

The International Rescue Committee will help the couple move into an apartment and find jobs during their one-year stay in the US.

 

1 wrangling   

v.争吵，争论，口角( wrangle的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• The two sides have spent most of their time wrangling over procedural problems. 双方大部分时间都在围绕程序问题争论不休。 来自辞典例句
• The children were wrangling (with each other) over the new toy. 孩子为新玩具（互相）争吵。 来自辞典例句

2 devastating   

adj.毁灭性的，令人震惊的，强有力的

参考例句：

• It is the most devastating storm in 20 years.这是20年来破坏性最大的风暴。
• Affairs do have a devastating effect on marriages.婚外情确实会对婚姻造成毁灭性的影响。

3 rubble   

n.（一堆）碎石，瓦砾

参考例句：

• After the earthquake,it took months to clean up the rubble.地震后，花了数月才清理完瓦砾。
• After the war many cities were full of rubble.战后许多城市到处可见颓垣残壁。

4 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。

5 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。

6 DNA   

(缩)deoxyribonucleic acid 脱氧核糖核酸

参考例句：

• DNA is stored in the nucleus of a cell.脱氧核糖核酸储存于细胞的细胞核里。
• Gene mutations are alterations in the DNA code.基因突变是指DNA密码的改变。

7 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。

8 determined   

adj.坚定的；有决心的

参考例句：

• I have determined on going to Tibet after graduation.我已决定毕业后去西藏。
• He determined to view the rooms behind the office.他决定查看一下办公室后面的房间。

9 averted   

防止，避免( avert的过去式和过去分词 )； 转移

参考例句：

• A disaster was narrowly averted. 及时防止了一场灾难。
• Thanks to her skilful handling of the affair, the problem was averted. 多亏她对事情处理得巧妙，才避免了麻烦。

10 technically   

adv.专门地，技术上地

参考例句：

• Technically it is the most advanced equipment ever.从技术上说，这是最先进的设备。
• The tomato is technically a fruit,although it is eaten as a vegetable.严格地说，西红柿是一种水果，尽管它是当作蔬菜吃的。

11 custody   

n.监护，照看，羁押，拘留

参考例句：

• He spent a week in custody on remand awaiting sentence.等候判决期间他被还押候审一个星期。
• He was taken into custody immediately after the robbery.抢劫案发生后，他立即被押了起来。

12 administrators   

n.管理者( administrator的名词复数 )；有管理（或行政）才能的人；（由遗嘱检验法庭指定的）遗产管理人；奉派暂管主教教区的牧师

参考例句：

• He had administrators under him but took the crucial decisions himself. 他手下有管理人员，但重要的决策仍由他自己来做。 来自辞典例句
• Administrators have their own methods of social intercourse. 办行政的人有他们的社交方式。 来自汉英文学 - 围城