美国国家公共电台 NPR At A New Jersey Mosque, People Of Different Faiths Welcome Syrians

At A New Jersey¹ Mosque², People Of Different Faiths Welcome Syrians

SCOTT SIMON, HOST:

We're going to hear now about Americans offering to help resettle Syrian refugees. The U.S. has increased the number of refugees coming here. Some, especially in this charged political season, say that newcomers aren't getting security screening, enough that they - aren't getting enough security screening. That wasn't a concern to a diverse group that met recently to try to lend a hand. NPR's Deborah Amos reports.

DEBORAH AMOS, BYLINE³: Here's the scene at a mosque in Elizabeth, N.J. on a recent Saturday afternoon. It's a party for more than 50 Syrian refugees - recent arrivals, all mothers and children. The volunteers to come to support them are an unlikely alliance that includes Girl Scouts⁴, Jews from a nearby synagogue and Pakistani-born immigrants.

NARGIS CHOUDHRY: OK, Nargis Choudhry.

AMOS: Nargis.

CHOUDHRY: Nargis, yes. I'm a math teacher here.

SAMAN KHAN: Saman, Saman Khan.

AMOS: Choudhry and Khan, born in Pakistan, say they're proud to be Americans. Their kids were born here. They organize gifts for the Syrian children selected by American kids - big watches popular with girls, bows and arrows for the boys from a popular movie.

KHAN: Which one was it? Like, "Hunger Games"? So after that, bows and arrows is so in as a toy.

AMOS: But do you think they'll be surprised by some of these gifts?

KHAN: They will be surprised because, you know, a lot of things, they will be new for them. You know what? They're going to live in America. They need to know what American kids like.

AMOS: How to live in America - that's the biggest challenge after a move from crowded refugee camps and a brutal⁶ war. More are arriving every day as the Obama administration tries to meet a goal of bringing 10,000 Syrians here by the end of the fiscal⁷ year in October. The kids will learn English in school. The mothers need more help, so some 16-year-old Girl Scouts are stepping in.

LEILA ESPOSITO: I'm Leila Esposito. And for my Girl Scout⁵ project, I'm going to be doing - it'll be for the mothers who take their ESL here.

AMOS: That's English class.

L. ESPOSITO: Right.

AMOS: Her friend, Shaden Awad, organized a tutoring program in math for the kids.

SHADEN AWAD: They missed, like, four years of schooling⁸. So we're just, you know, helping⁹ them catch up and stuff and, like, welcoming them to America.

AMOS: A wider welcome that's been strained, she believes, because Syrian refugees are Muslim. So Awad launched a cultural awareness¹⁰ program in her high school.

AWAD: You know, Islamophobia on the rise and stuff like that, so - 'cause I live in a purely¹¹ Caucasian, suburban¹² town.

AMOS: Are you the only Muslim in your high school?

AWAD: One of, like, two. The other one's my brother, so (laughter) yeah.

AMOS: Their scout leader, Wafa Chabbani Esposito, says she's here because she knows what it means to leave everything behind. Born in Lebanon, she fled her country's civil war, eventually became an American citizen.

WAFA CHABBANI ESPOSITO: They have been through hell. I have been through war, and I was a refugee, and I know what it means.

AMOS: And she knows how to make the Jewish group feel welcome in their first ever visit to a mosque.

W. ESPOSITO: Salaam¹³ is like shalom. Salaam. Salaam like shalom.

AMOS: Alissa Berger is here with her daughter and husband. Jenny Tananbaum came, too, all from the same nearby synagogue. They've volunteered to mentor¹⁴ one Syrian family for a year. Berger and then Tananbaum explained why they are here at a time when New Jersey's governor has raised security concerns and halted any cooperation with the federal resettlement program.

ALISSA BERGER: Which is very - oh, we're not happy about that at all. I think that - listen, as us being Jews, this was us how many years ago. You know, as Jews, our great-grandparents came to this country to make a new life for themselves. And that's what these people are going through.

JENNY TANANBAUM: My grandmother actually walked out of Poland across Europe to Amsterdam because she had to flee persecution¹⁵, took a boat illegally to get to Canada and came into - illegally into the United States. So I get it. You know, I heard her story. So this is no different than these people. So how can we not help?

AMOS: Moved by the biggest refugee crisis in a generation, they plan to give practical help - advice on banking¹⁶ and budget, housing and utilities that work. It's a large donation of time more valuable than any handouts¹⁷. Wafa Esposito makes the introductions.

W. ESPOSITO: Um Wael Haloud (foreign language spoken) Madame Jenny.

AMOS: Um Wael Haloud, a Syrian mother of three, quietly takes in the Americans who are offering a lifeline.

TANANBAUM: Tell her from us that we are all people. We are all humans. We just want to help and be friends.

BERGER: Yeah, yeah.

AMOS: Deborah Amos, NPR News, Elizabeth, N.J.

1 jersey   

n.运动衫

参考例句：

• He wears a cotton jersey when he plays football.他穿运动衫踢足球。
• They were dressed alike in blue jersey and knickers.他们穿着一致，都是蓝色的运动衫和灯笼短裤。

2 mosque   

n.清真寺

参考例句：

• The mosque is a activity site and culture center of Muslim religion.清真寺为穆斯林宗教活动场所和文化中心。
• Some years ago the clock in the tower of the mosque got out of order.几年前，清真寺钟楼里的大钟失灵了。

3 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。

4 scouts   

侦察员[机，舰]( scout的名词复数 )； 童子军； 搜索； 童子军成员

参考例句：

• to join the Scouts 参加童子军
• The scouts paired off and began to patrol the area. 巡逻人员两个一组，然后开始巡逻这个地区。

5 scout   

n.童子军，侦察员；v.侦察，搜索

参考例句：

• He was mistaken for an enemy scout and badly wounded.他被误认为是敌人的侦察兵，受了重伤。
• The scout made a stealthy approach to the enemy position.侦察兵偷偷地靠近敌军阵地。

6 brutal   

adj.残忍的，野蛮的，不讲理的

参考例句：

• She has to face the brutal reality.她不得不去面对冷酷的现实。
• They're brutal people behind their civilised veneer.他们表面上温文有礼，骨子里却是野蛮残忍。

7 fiscal   

adj.财政的，会计的，国库的，国库岁入的

参考例句：

• The increase of taxation is an important fiscal policy.增税是一项重要的财政政策。
• The government has two basic strategies of fiscal policy available.政府有两个可行的财政政策基本战略。

8 schooling   

n.教育；正规学校教育

参考例句：

• A child's access to schooling varies greatly from area to area.孩子获得学校教育的机会因地区不同而大相径庭。
• Backward children need a special kind of schooling.天赋差的孩子需要特殊的教育。

9 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。

10 awareness   

n.意识，觉悟，懂事，明智

参考例句：

• There is a general awareness that smoking is harmful.人们普遍认识到吸烟有害健康。
• Environmental awareness has increased over the years.这些年来人们的环境意识增强了。

11 purely   

adv.纯粹地，完全地

参考例句：

• I helped him purely and simply out of friendship.我帮他纯粹是出于友情。
• This disproves the theory that children are purely imitative.这证明认为儿童只会单纯地模仿的理论是站不住脚的。

12 suburban   

adj.城郊的，在郊区的

参考例句：

• Suburban shopping centers were springing up all over America. 效区的商业中心在美国如雨后春笋般地兴起。
• There's a lot of good things about suburban living.郊区生活是有许多优点。

13 salaam   

n.额手之礼，问安，敬礼；v.行额手礼

参考例句：

• And the people were so very friendly:full of huge beaming smiles,calling out "hello" and "salaam".这里的人民都很友好，灿然微笑着和我打招呼，说“哈罗”和“萨拉姆”。
• Salaam is a Muslim form of salutation.额手礼是穆斯林的问候方式。

14 mentor   

n.指导者，良师益友；v.指导

参考例句：

• He fed on the great ideas of his mentor.他以他导师的伟大思想为支撑。
• He had mentored scores of younger doctors.他指导过许多更年轻的医生。

15 persecution   

n. 迫害,烦扰

参考例句：

• He had fled from France at the time of the persecution. 他在大迫害时期逃离了法国。
• Their persecution only serves to arouse the opposition of the people. 他们的迫害只激起人民对他们的反抗。

16 banking   

n.银行业，银行学，金融业

参考例句：

• John is launching his son on a career in banking.约翰打算让儿子在银行界谋一个新职位。
• He possesses an extensive knowledge of banking.他具有广博的银行业务知识。

17 handouts   

救济品( handout的名词复数 )； 施舍物； 印刷品； 讲义

参考例句：

• Soldiers oversee the food handouts. 士兵们看管着救济食品。
• Even after losing his job, he was too proud to accept handouts. 甚至在失去工作后，他仍然很骄傲，不愿接受施舍。