美国国家公共电台 NPR In Disputed Iraqi Territory, Rebuilding A City Means Doing It Yourself

 

RACHEL MARTIN, HOST: 

Fighting between ISIS and Iraqi forces has devastated¹ cities in northern Iraq. Jalawla is a small city in that part of the country, and it's in the middle of land claimed by both the Iraqi government in Baghdad and the Kurdish regional government. Both sides want to control the oil-rich territory, but neither has stepped up to rebuild it. NPR's Jane Arraf walked the streets with one man who has taken on the job himself.

JANE ARRAF, BYLINE²: Yacoub Youssef is probably the most popular man in town right now. His official title is subdistrict director. He's essentially³ the mayor. We're taking a walk through Jalawla, a town held by ISIS in 2014. By the time Kurdish forces and Shia militias⁴ drove them out, bridges were destroyed, schools were damaged, electrical lines were down and there were explosives everywhere. Now city officials say most of the town's 80,000 residents are back.

YACOUB YOUSSEF: (Speaking Arabic).

ARRAF: Youssef points out two bridges blown up by ISIS. We're walking across one of them repaired with concrete. When Youssef couldn't get either the Iraqi or the Kurdish government to pay for repairs, he persuaded 35 local residents to come up with $180,000 dollars to pay for it. Local contractors⁵ donated some of the labor⁶.

YOUSSEF: (Through interpreter) If we waited for the government to do this, it would've cost millions. But our people did this work.

ARRAF: What are they going to call the bridge? I ask him.

YOUSSEF: (Speaking Arabic).

ARRAF: (Laughter).

The challenge bridge, he tells me. Youssef is an exuberant⁷ man, the son of a local train conductor. As townspeople walk across the bridge, he shakes hands, jokes and kisses babies.

YOUSSEF: (Speaking Arabic).

ARRAF: But he says Jalawla is complicated, and here's why. The city is ethnically⁹ mixed and disputed territory. It's part of central government-controlled Iraq, but Kurdish forces hold it now, and they've made clear they're not leaving. Neither side is able or willing to provide it with services. Youssef reflects the town's ethnic⁸ mix. His father was Arab and his mother Kurdish. His wife is Turkmen, the third biggest ethnic group here. We talk in his temporary office in the post office directorate. His own office was blown up and his house leveled.

YOUSSEF: (Through interpreter) When we returned to Jalawla, we saw that it was in ruins. It was horrible. It wasn't even like you were entering a city.

ARRAF: This is a country where most people expect the government to provide them with everything from health care to jobs to electricity and water, even land and houses. So Youssef was asking for a lot.

YOUSSEF: (Through interpreter) People have suffered a catastrophe¹⁰. They see their house destroyed, there's no work and they've been in a camp for two years, and you say give me? It's difficult.

ARRAF: But he says people pitched in. Over the course of a year, they cleaned up and repaired buildings. They pooled money to buy generators¹¹. They even held a book fair to make sure that every child had something to read. And the international organizations came to help.

YOUSSEF: (Through interpreter) An organization came to us and said, our funds are from Israel. I said, it doesn't matter where you're from. I'm grateful that you're coming to support Jalawla.

ARRAF: That's a potentially dangerous statement in Iraq. But Youssef goes around with no bodyguards¹². We walk to the public school his wife helped to repair. He says she sold her gold jewelry¹³ to do it. The teachers tell him there's no heat, but they're proud that they managed to bring the school back. And the girls, coughing and sniffling, are still in high spirits as they race around an ornamental¹⁴ fountain. The fountain works, and it's painted the colors of the Iraqi and the Kurdish flags. Jane Arraf, NPR News in Jalawla, Iraq.

1 devastated   

v.彻底破坏( devastate的过去式和过去分词)；摧毁；毁灭；在感情上（精神上、财务上等）压垮adj.毁坏的；极为震惊的

参考例句：

• The bomb devastated much of the old part of the city. 这颗炸弹炸毁了旧城的一大片地方。
• His family is absolutely devastated. 他的一家感到极为震惊。

2 byline   

n.署名；v.署名

参考例句：

• His byline was absent as well.他的署名也不见了。
• We wish to thank the author of this article which carries no byline.我们要感谢这篇文章的那位没有署名的作者。

3 essentially   

adv.本质上，实质上，基本上

参考例句：

• Really great men are essentially modest.真正的伟人大都很谦虚。
• She is an essentially selfish person.她本质上是个自私自利的人。

4 militias   

n.民兵组织，民兵( militia的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The troops will not attempt to disarm the warring militias. 部队并不打算解除战斗中的民兵武装。 来自辞典例句
• The neighborhood was a battleground for Shiite and Sunni militias. 那里曾是什叶派和逊尼派武装分子的战场。 来自互联网

5 contractors   

n.（建筑、监造中的）承包人( contractor的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• We got estimates from three different contractors before accepting the lowest. 我们得到3个承包商的报价后，接受了最低的报价。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Contractors winning construction jobs had to kick back 2 per cent of the contract price to the mafia. 赢得建筑工作的承包商得抽出合同价格的百分之二的回扣给黑手党。 来自《简明英汉词典》

6 labor   

n.劳动，努力，工作，劳工；分娩；vi.劳动，努力，苦干；vt.详细分析；麻烦

参考例句：

• We are never late in satisfying him for his labor.我们从不延误付给他劳动报酬。
• He was completely spent after two weeks of hard labor.艰苦劳动两周后，他已经疲惫不堪了。

7 exuberant   

adj.充满活力的；（植物）繁茂的

参考例句：

• Hothouse plants do not possess exuberant vitality.在温室里培养出来的东西，不会有强大的生命力。
• All those mother trees in the garden are exuberant.果园里的那些母树都长得十分茂盛。

8 ethnic   

adj.人种的，种族的，异教徒的

参考例句：

• This music would sound more ethnic if you played it in steel drums.如果你用钢鼓演奏，这首乐曲将更具民族特色。
• The plan is likely only to aggravate ethnic frictions.这一方案很有可能只会加剧种族冲突。

9 ethnically   

adv.人种上，民族上

参考例句：

• Ethnically, the Yuan Empire comprised most of modern China's ethnic groups. 元朝的民族成分包括现今中国绝大多数民族。 来自汉英非文学 - 白皮书
• Russia is ethnically relatively homogeneous. 俄罗斯是个民族成分相对单一的国家。 来自辞典例句

10 catastrophe   

n.大灾难，大祸

参考例句：

• I owe it to you that I survived the catastrophe.亏得你我才大难不死。
• This is a catastrophe beyond human control.这是一场人类无法控制的灾难。

11 generators   

n.发电机，发生器( generator的名词复数 )；电力公司

参考例句：

• The factory's emergency generators were used during the power cut. 工厂应急发电机在停电期间用上了。
• Power can be fed from wind generators into the electricity grid system. 电力可以从风力发电机流入输电网。 来自《简明英汉词典》

12 bodyguards   

n.保镖，卫士，警卫员( bodyguard的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Brooks came to Jim's office accompanied—like always—by his two bodyguards. 和往常一样，在两名保镖的陪同下，布鲁克斯去吉姆的办公室。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Three of his bodyguards were injured in the attack. 在这次袭击事件中，他有3名保镖受了伤。 来自辞典例句

13 jewelry   

n.（jewllery）（总称）珠宝

参考例句：

• The burglars walked off with all my jewelry.夜盗偷走了我的全部珠宝。
• Jewelry and lace are mostly feminine belongings.珠宝和花边多数是女性用品。

14 ornamental   

adj.装饰的；作装饰用的；n.装饰品；观赏植物

参考例句：

• The stream was dammed up to form ornamental lakes.溪流用水坝拦挡起来,形成了装饰性的湖泊。
• The ornamental ironwork lends a touch of elegance to the house.铁艺饰件为房子略添雅致。