VOA标准英语2011--Peace Corps Volunteer Returns to Help Si

Peace Corps¹ Volunteer Returns to Help Sierra Leone School

On the 50th anniversary of the creation² of the U.S. Peace Corps, some former volunteers are returning to the countries where they served as teachers, health care workers or agricultural advisors³.
Steve Kruse and Salifu Mansaray first met more than 40 years ago when Kruse was a Peace Corps volunteer and Mansaray was a boy who had just stolen bread from a bakery.
"I learned that he wasn't in school," recalls Kruse. "So I put him in school and he came after school to do some work, to help around the house. One thing led to another. He ended up moving in with me. His mother had passed away."
"I was also sick. I had a wound on my stomach," Mansaray explains. "And, all this I came to Steve to love me. I had no one to take care of me. My family was very poor."
The men lost contact when Kruse returned to the United States. He worried about his friend during Sierra Leone's long civil war.
"I would try and watch the news and the only news out of Sierra Leone then was bad news.," Kruse says. "And, I was worried. We heard about all the amputations and all the killings⁴. I wasn't sure he was able to survive that or avoid that."
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After the war, Kruse found an e-mail address for the legislator who represents the district near the border with Guinea and wrote to him asking about Mansaray, who had become a police sergeant⁵ in the capital, Freetown.
"Imagine when you lose contact with someone for 30 years and you get it again. It is a universal happiness. I had to think that 'I am back with Steve,' even though I couldn't see him," Mansaray says.
Fifty years after the start of Peace Corps and 50 years since Sierra Leone's independence, Kruse returned to Bafodia, where, on evening walks down the same dirt streets, Sergeant Mansaray is still called Salifu "Peace Corps."
The men visited former student Kottor Decker, who started school late because his father kept him home to work the family farm.
"When I went to school, my father drove me out of the house by saying that I would not go to school because I am the only son to work for him on his farm," recalls Decker.
By the time Decker got to Kruse's grammar school class, he was only three years younger than his young American teacher.
"A lot of people don't have the opportunity to go to school," explains Kruse. "They may have to work in the fields and on the farms. So a number of the students may go to school for one year. Be out one year. So they attend school when they can or when they can afford it."
Remembering how hard it was to keep kids in school, Kruse and Mansarary came back to Bafodia, not only to renew old friendships but to help their former school.
"We brought supplies for the school kids, Salifu and I, and I would like to see that anyone who wants to go to school will have the chance to go to school," Kruse says. "So the plan is to try to offer some scholarships for children to start school."
"We have come back to help the people of Bafodia with books," adds Mansaray. "And, Steve is also determined⁶ to have a few scholarships for some of the pupils. And, in fact we are thinking of more assistance for this township."
It is a small-scale, entirely⁷ personal contribution by Kruse, his friends and his family - inspired by a life-changing Peace Corps experience.
"It gave me the opportunity to think of places other than just what your familiar surroundings are," Kruse says. "I grew up in Kansas, lived in Tennessee and all of a sudden you have an exposure to a whole world out there, a huge world and places like this become like your second home."
Kruse wondered how he would feel coming back after so many years, but little has changed. There is still no electricity in Bafodia. People still get their water from a forest spring.
With Peace Corps volunteers now back in Sierra Leone 15 years after pulling out during the civil war, Kruse and Mansaray hope another young American will be sent to this village where their friendship is helping⁸ keep children in school.

1 corps   

n.(通信等兵种的)部队；(同类作的)一组

参考例句：

• The medical corps were cited for bravery in combat.医疗队由于在战场上的英勇表现而受嘉奖。
• When the war broke out,he volunteered for the Marine Corps.战争爆发时，他自愿参加了海军陆战队。

2 creation   

n.创造，创造的作品，产物，宇宙，天地万物

参考例句：

• Language is the most important mental creation of man.语言是人类头脑最重要的产物。
• The creation of new playgrounds will benefit the local children.新游戏场的建立将有益于当地的儿童。

3 advisors   

n.顾问，劝告者( advisor的名词复数 )；（指导大学新生学科问题等的）指导教授

参考例句：

• The governors felt that they were being strung along by their advisors. 地方长官感到他们一直在受顾问们的愚弄。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
• We will consult together with advisors about her education. 我们将一起和专家商议她的教育事宜。 来自互联网

4 killings   

谋杀( killing的名词复数 )； 突然发大财，暴发

参考例句：

• His statement was seen as an allusion to the recent drug-related killings. 他的声明被视为暗指最近与毒品有关的多起凶杀案。
• The government issued a statement condemning the killings. 政府发表声明谴责这些凶杀事件。

5 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？

6 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。

7 entirely   

ad.全部地，完整地；完全地，彻底地

参考例句：

• The fire was entirely caused by their neglect of duty. 那场火灾完全是由于他们失职而引起的。
• His life was entirely given up to the educational work. 他的一生统统献给了教育工作。

8 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。