VOA标准英语2010年-'Family Talk' Heals Old Civil War Woun

In the remote village of Dugba-yeima, hundreds of people gather around a bonfire for "fambul tok" a special reconciliation¹ ceremony where victims and offenders² alike speak openly about the atrocities³ committed in their community during eleven years of civil war.

Eight years after Sierra Leone's civil war ended, some communities have yet to come to terms with the destruction, murder and rape⁴ committed on them by their own people. Many have never spoken of what happened to them during the war and most have never confessed to the crimes they committed.  Until now. A unique community healing process is reuniting villages that suffered some of the worst violence of the conflict.

LIsten to Fid Tompson's report

The masked "devils" of the local women's secret society dance to traditional drums in the tiny village of Dugba-yeima, hidden in the remote hills along Sierra Leone's eastern border.

As the sun sets, hundreds of people from nearby villages gather around a crackling bonfire to celebrate a unique event. Eight years after the end of a decade-long civil war, people will talk publicly for the first time of atrocities committed in their communities. Most of these people never witnessed the work of the nation's Truth and Reconciliation Commission. Many have never spoken of the atrocities they committed or witnessed during the war.

Massah Jusu, from nearby Baiima village, has come to tell the story of her daughter's death. He says everyone fled when the rebels came to their village. She and her pregnant daughter were running through the bush when they came upon a group of rebels. They killed her daughter in front of her, she says. Then they slit⁵ open her stomach and took out the baby. One rebel called "Devil" chopped the baby in half with a machete. It was then, she said, that she started crying.

Jusu does not know the rebels who killed her daughter, but she is not afraid to speak out in front of her community.

The ceremony is part of a community reconciliation process led by the Sierra Leonean peace-building organization, Fambul Tok.

Fambul Tok, or Family Talk in the local Krio language, draws from traditional mediation⁶ and conflict resolution methods. Before the war, many rural communities gathered around a bonfire to tell stories, discuss the day's events and resolve problems.

Now village committees organize a special bonfire ceremony where witnesses, victims and offenders can attest⁷ publicly to atrocities committed. The aim is neither to judge nor to force forgiveness, but rather to foster understanding.

Sierra Leone's Truth and Reconciliation Commission was set up in 2002 to document the human rights abuses committed during the war and foster healing. The commission held public hearings in Sierra Leone's major cities and regional towns, but did not reach remote villages like Dugba-yeima.

Fambul Tok director, John Caulker⁸, believes that Sierra Leone needs a reconciliation model that relies on community dialogue and collective reckoning. "The aim of Fambul Tok is to provide space for dialogue between victims and offenders in the safe environment which is mostly in the communities. It is different from the Truth and Reconciliation Commission where they bring people to the big towns. But Fambul Tok is organized at the community level, which is the safest space for victims and offenders to tell their stories," he said.

Fambul Tok has helped thousands of people in the war-battered south and east of Sierra Leone come to terms with what happened there over a decade of violent conflict. They recently expanded their interventions⁹ to the country's northern zone.

At the end of ten years of violent civil war, the Lome Peace Accord gave a blanket amnesty to all fighters except a handful of leaders  "who bore the greatest responsibility" for the war crimes committed.

Many of those fighters were children, drugged and forced into murdering and mutilating their own people and sometimes their own families. The United Nations estimates 10,000 children were abducted¹⁰ and forced to fight.

At the bonfire ceremony in Dugba-yeima, Massah Jusu tells the gathering¹¹ about her daughter's death. While she is speaking, a young man runs into the middle of the ceremony.

The young man is Jusu's next door neighbor, Foday Allieu. He confesses to her daughter's murder and begs her to forgive him.

Like many former rebels, Foday Allieu is both victim and perpetrator of war crimes. He was twelve when the rebel group, the Revolutionary United Front, attacked his village and abducted him and four other boys. He fought with them until the end of the war.

For him, the reconciliation process has only just begun. He did many bad things, he says, but he is asking for forgiveness.

Allieu says he was afraid of speaking to Jusu ever since he returned to the village after the war. But now, he says, if he gets anything, like money, he will give it her to help her forget what happened in the past.

Allieu would like to build a new house for Jusu, but he does not have the means right now.

Jusu says she was tormented¹² when she heard Allieu confess to the killing¹³ of her daughter and grandchild. But she has decided¹⁴ to forgive him. No good, she says, can come from holding on to that bitterness.

 

1 reconciliation   

n.和解，和谐，一致

参考例句：

• He was taken up with the reconciliation of husband and wife.他忙于做夫妻间的调解工作。
• Their handshake appeared to be a gesture of reconciliation.他们的握手似乎是和解的表示。

2 offenders   

n.冒犯者( offender的名词复数 )；犯规者；罪犯；妨害…的人（或事物）

参考例句：

• Long prison sentences can be a very effective deterrent for offenders. 判处长期徒刑可对违法者起到强有力的威慑作用。
• Purposeful work is an important part of the regime for young offenders. 使从事有意义的劳动是管理少年犯的重要方法。

3 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》

4 rape   

n.抢夺，掠夺，强奸；vt.掠夺，抢夺，强奸

参考例句：

• The rape of the countryside had a profound ravage on them.对乡村的掠夺给他们造成严重创伤。
• He was brought to court and charged with rape.他被带到法庭并被指控犯有强奸罪。

5 slit   

n.狭长的切口；裂缝；vt.切开，撕裂

参考例句：

• The coat has been slit in two places.这件外衣有两处裂开了。
• He began to slit open each envelope.他开始裁开每个信封。

6 mediation   

n.调解

参考例句：

• The dispute was settled by mediation of the third country. 这场争端通过第三国的斡旋而得以解决。
• The dispute was settled by mediation. 经调解使争端得以解决。

7 attest   

vt.证明，证实；表明

参考例句：

• I can attest to the absolute truth of his statement. 我可以证实他的话是千真万确的。
• These ruins sufficiently attest the former grandeur of the place. 这些遗迹充分证明此处昔日的宏伟。

8 caulker   

n.填塞船缝的人或器具

参考例句：

9 interventions   

n.介入，干涉，干预( intervention的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Economic analysis of government interventions deserves detailed discussion. 政府对经济的干预应该给予充分的论述。 来自辞典例句
• The judge's frequent interventions made a mockery of justice. 法官的屡屡干预是对正义的践踏。 来自互联网

10 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。

11 gathering   

n.集会，聚会，聚集

参考例句：

• He called on Mr. White to speak at the gathering.他请怀特先生在集会上讲话。
• He is on the wing gathering material for his novels.他正忙于为他的小说收集资料。

12 tormented   

饱受折磨的

参考例句：

• The knowledge of his guilt tormented him. 知道了自己的罪责使他非常痛苦。
• He had lain awake all night, tormented by jealousy. 他彻夜未眠，深受嫉妒的折磨。

13 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。

14 decided   

adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的

参考例句：

• This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
• There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。