美国国家公共电台 NPR Time's Running Out For Many Frail, Older People In Puerto Rico

 

NOEL KING, HOST:

Hurricane Maria hit Puerto Rico more than six months ago, and for people living on tight budgets, the storm's economic aftermath has been an enormous challenge. Reporter Sarah Varney went to the suburb of San Juan and she met a retired¹ man who's living day-to-day.

SARAH VARNEY: Straddled across Ausberto Maldonado's backyard in Bayamon, Puerto Rico, is a nagging² reminder³ of Hurricane Maria's destructive power.

AUSBERTO MALDONADO: See that tree broke off that branch, but the branch is as thick as the tree. So now I got the tree in my yard.

VARNEY: Rats scurry⁴ from under the downed tree, preventing Maldonado from hanging his laundry. To get the tree removed, he has to show up in person at a local government office, but the diabetic ulcers⁵ on his feet make it painful to walk.

MALDONADO: That's why I have to walk thinking about where I'm going to step.

VARNEY: Six months after the storm, the daily indignities⁶ are piling up. After a lifetime of work in the States picking corn and asparagus and processing chickens in poultry⁷ plants, Maldonado receives $280 a month in Social Security. He gets $89 a month in food stamps or about $3 a day.

MALDONADO: And over here, I have some corned beef, a can of spaghettis.

VARNEY: Maldonado opens the cupboards in his tidy kitchen. When I ask him what he usually makes for himself, he looks wistful.

MALDONADO: When I have enough food, when I do my groceries, I have eggs and bread and coffee and juice for breakfast. I would make spaghettis or some sort of salad and maybe a little dessert.

VARNEY: But in truth, the oven is unplugged. There is no juice or eggs or lettuce⁸. It's been months since he's had fresh vegetables in the house.

MALDONADO: When there's very little, then I kind of go on a diet, my homemade diet.

VARNEY: It was hard enough for the 65-year-old retiree to fill his cupboards before the storm, but now, aid groups are winding⁹ down their donations and he has to find money for bottled water and replace his refrigerator that was ruined during the hurricane. He'll wait for his next Social Security check to buy groceries.

MALDONADO: And I'm waiting until the 10 so I can go do my grocery shopping again and see if I find a way to get there. And that's when I would have food again, enough to make three meals - lunch, breakfast and dinner.

VARNEY: Keeping up his diet isn't simply about staving off hunger. Diabetes¹⁰ is consuming his foot, and unless he eats healthy and takes his insulin, he'll have to get his foot amputated. He stores his insulin in the broken fridge.

MALDONADO: The pharmacist said that it could be stored at a dark place for a couple of weeks.

VARNEY: Ideally, insulin should be kept cool, but broken refrigerators and lack of power in many homes in Puerto Rico pose grim hazards for the island's soaring population of diabetics.

MALDONADO: (Speaking Spanish).

VARNEY: A visiting nurse, Leslie Robles, shows up for her monthly visit to Maldonado's home. She examines the 3-inch long gaping¹¹ wound on his foot. They sit at the kitchen table under a painting of "The Last Supper" and sift¹² through piles of paperwork for an upcoming cataract¹³ surgery.

LESLIE ROBLES: (Speaking Spanish).

VARNEY: Robles tells him that the free medical transportation service that the government made available to large numbers of people after the storm is expiring soon, and he'll no longer qualify for free rides. What Robles doesn't say is that the visiting nurse program that was paid for by the government is shutting down too, and it's unclear how much longer she can help him. I'm Sarah Varney in Bayamon, Puerto Rico.

KING: Sarah Varney reports for our partner, Kaiser Health News.

1 retired   

adj.隐退的，退休的，退役的

参考例句：

• The old man retired to the country for rest.这位老人下乡休息去了。
• Many retired people take up gardening as a hobby.许多退休的人都以从事园艺为嗜好。

2 nagging   

adj.唠叨的，挑剔的；使人不得安宁的v.不断地挑剔或批评（某人）( nag的现在分词 )；不断地烦扰或伤害（某人）；无休止地抱怨；不断指责

参考例句：

• Stop nagging—I'll do it as soon as I can. 别唠叨了—我会尽快做的。
• I've got a nagging pain in my lower back. 我后背下方老是疼。 来自《简明英汉词典》

3 reminder   

n.提醒物，纪念品；暗示，提示

参考例句：

• I have had another reminder from the library.我又收到图书馆的催还单。
• It always took a final reminder to get her to pay her share of the rent.总是得发给她一份最后催缴通知，她才付应该交的房租。

4 scurry   

vi.急匆匆地走；使急赶；催促；n.快步急跑，疾走；仓皇奔跑声；骤雨，骤雪；短距离赛马

参考例句：

• I jumped on the sofa after I saw a mouse scurry by.看到一只老鼠匆匆路过,我从沙发上跳了起来。
• There was a great scurry for bargains.大家急忙着去抢购特价品。

5 ulcers   

n.溃疡( ulcer的名词复数 )；腐烂物；道德败坏；腐败

参考例句：

• Detachment of the dead cells produces erosions and ulcers. 死亡细胞的脱落，产生糜烂和溃疡。 来自辞典例句
• 75% of postbulbar ulcers occur proximal to the duodenal papilla. 75％的球后溃疡发生在十二指肠乳头近侧。 来自辞典例句

6 indignities   

n.侮辱，轻蔑( indignity的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The soldiers who were captured suffered many indignities at the hands of the enemy. 被俘的士兵在敌人手中受尽侮辱。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• What sort of indignities would he be forced to endure? 他会被迫忍受什么样的侮辱呢？ 来自辞典例句

7 poultry   

n.家禽，禽肉

参考例句：

• There is not much poultry in the shops. 商店里禽肉不太多。
• What do you feed the poultry on? 你们用什么饲料喂养家禽?

8 lettuce   

n.莴苣；生菜

参考例句：

• Get some lettuce and tomatoes so I can make a salad.买些莴苣和西红柿，我好做色拉。
• The lettuce is crisp and cold.莴苣松脆爽口。

9 winding   

n.绕，缠，绕组，线圈

参考例句：

• A winding lane led down towards the river.一条弯弯曲曲的小路通向河边。
• The winding trail caused us to lose our orientation.迂回曲折的小道使我们迷失了方向。

10 diabetes   

n.糖尿病

参考例句：

• In case of diabetes, physicians advise against the use of sugar.对于糖尿病患者，医生告诫他们不要吃糖。
• Diabetes is caused by a fault in the insulin production of the body.糖尿病是由体內胰岛素分泌失调引起的。

11 gaping   

adj.口的；张口的；敞口的；多洞穴的v.目瞪口呆地凝视( gape的现在分词 )；张开，张大

参考例句：

• Ahead of them was a gaping abyss. 他们前面是一个巨大的深渊。
• The antelope could not escape the crocodile's gaping jaws. 那只羚羊无法从鱷鱼张开的大口中逃脱。 来自《简明英汉词典》

12 sift   

v.筛撒，纷落，详察

参考例句：

• Sift out the wheat from the chaff.把小麦的壳筛出来。
• Sift sugar on top of the cake.在蛋糕上面撒上糖。

13 cataract   

n.大瀑布，奔流，洪水，白内障

参考例句：

• He is an elderly gentleman who had had a cataract operation.他是一位曾经动过白内障手术的老人。
• The way is blocked by the tall cataract.高悬的大瀑布挡住了去路。