VOA慢速英语2021--黎巴嫩组织帮助卫生工作者

Recently in Beirut, a small group of people cleaned oxygen machines to send to those in need. The move was the latest in a series of activities by a Lebanese group trying to serve the public during the country's health and economic crises¹.

Melissa Fathallah is one of the founders² of Baytna Baytak, which in Arabic means Our Home is Your Home.

"No one is exempt³ from COVID. Nobody. Nobody has super-power immunity⁴," she told the Associated Press.

Immunity means the power to keep yourself from being infected by a disease.

Raising more than $27,000, the group has placed 48 oxygen machines with those in need across the country.

Baytna Baytak began at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic with a very different project. The group found homes for medical workers who were worried about bringing the virus to their families. During Lebanon's first lockdown in March, the group housed 750 workers in different places.

Chloe Ghosh works at a government hospital in Beirut. She has been living in housing provided by the group since the start of the pandemic. She was worried about putting her family at risk. "If I got COVID or anyone my age got COVID, we could survive," Ghosh said. "But our families, no."

The first place Ghosh stayed was damaged when another disaster hit Beirut, the August 4 explosion at the city's port. The blast⁵ killed more than 200 people, injured 6,000 others and destroyed thousands of homes.

Ghosh was not harmed. She moved to another place provided by Baytna Baytak. She now shares a four-bedroom apartment with three other medical workers who work in different hospitals around the city.

The apartment was donated to Baytna Baytak by a wealthy individual who wanted to help those risking their lives to fight the virus. The same person donated several other properties around Beirut for the same purpose.

After the port explosion, Baytna Baytak moved to increase its efforts to help those whose homes had been damaged. It placed them in temporary housing while it helped raise money to fix their homes. Within 24 hours of the call for housing, six apartments were donated.

Baytna Baytak grew out of a need for services for front-line workers in Lebanon, Fathallah said. "As far as the government is concerned, we don't have a government. Let's just get that out of the way," she said.

Lebanon's health sector⁶ has faced difficulties in the past and the problems got worse after the explosion.

Doctors are working many long days in place of health workers infected with the virus. More than 2,300 Lebanese health care workers have been infected since February, the country's Order of Physicians reports.

Lebanon has more than 14,000 medical doctors and 17,000 nurses, but many doctors have left the country, partly because of an economic crisis⁷ that began before the pandemic.

After the explosion, Lebanon saw a large increase in COVID-19 infections that only worsened by the end of 2020. This forced Baytna Baytak to put some of its work on hold. The number of donors⁸ also decreased.

Still, the group has continued to work through new virus-related restrictions⁹ that started in mid-January. Even while giving out oxygen machines, the team was getting fined for breaking curfew.

Fathallah has no plans to stop her work. "We took it upon ourselves because of the greater good, because of the bigger picture because of the country and the citizens. We took it upon ourselves," she said.

Words in This Story

exempt – adj. not required to do something that others are required to do — usually + from

1 crises   

n. 危机；危险期

参考例句：

• Economic crises recur periodically. 经济危机周期性地发生。
• Great crises often call forth gifted leaders. 危急存亡之际常能产生天才的领袖。

2 founders   

n.创始人( founder的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• He was one of the founders of the university's medical faculty. 他是该大学医学院的创建人之一。 来自辞典例句
• The founders of our religion made this a cornerstone of morality. 我们宗教的创始人把这看作是道德的基石。 来自辞典例句

3 exempt   

adj.免除的；v.使免除；n.免税者，被免除义务者

参考例句：

• These goods are exempt from customs duties.这些货物免征关税。
• He is exempt from punishment about this thing.关于此事对他已免于处分。

4 immunity   

n.优惠；免除；豁免，豁免权

参考例句：

• The law gives public schools immunity from taxation.法律免除公立学校的纳税义务。
• He claims diplomatic immunity to avoid being arrested.他要求外交豁免以便避免被捕。

5 blast   

v.炸毁，摧毁；n.爆炸，爆破，一阵，汽笛声

参考例句：

• A huge bomb blast rocked central London last night.昨晚一次剧烈的炸弹爆炸震动了伦敦市中心。
• Not until last week was the project in full blast.工程直到上星期才全部开工。

6 sector   

n.部门，部分；防御地段，防区；扇形

参考例句：

• The export sector will aid the economic recovery. 出口产业将促进经济复苏。
• The enemy have attacked the British sector.敌人已进攻英国防区。

7 crisis   

n.危机，危急关头，决定性时刻，关键阶段

参考例句：

• He had proved that he could be relied on in a crisis.他已表明，在紧要关头他是可以信赖的。
• The topic today centers about the crisis in the Middle East.今天课题的中心是中东危机。

8 donors   

n.捐赠者( donor的名词复数 )；献血者；捐血者；器官捐献者

参考例句：

• Please email us to be removed from our active list of blood donors. 假如你想把自己的名字从献血联系人名单中删去，请给我们发电子邮件。
• About half this amount comes from individual donors and bequests. 这笔钱大约有一半来自个人捐赠及遗赠。 来自《简明英汉词典》

9 restrictions   

约束( restriction的名词复数 )； 管制； 制约因素； 带限制性的条件（或规则）

参考例句：

• I found the restrictions irksome. 我对那些限制感到很烦。
• a snaggle of restrictions 杂乱无章的种种限制