EXPLORATIONS - Around the World, Helping Victims of War and

EXPLORATIONS - Around the World, Helping¹ Victims of War and Natural Disasters
By Jerilyn Watson

Broadcast: Wednesday, April 13, 2005

(MUSIC)

VOICE ONE:

I'm Steve Ember.

VOICE TWO:

And I'm Faith Lapidus with EXPLORATIONS in VOA Special English.

Today we report on the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement around the world. The movement helps victims of wars and terrible natural events.

(MUSIC)

VOICE ONE:

 
A person in Galle, Sri Lanka, left homeless by the tsunami² in December
In late December of last year, a severe earthquake in the Indian Ocean produced huge waves that washed over coastlines and deep onto land. The tsunami killed as many as two hundred eighty thousand people and made millions of people homeless in eleven countries.

As many as forty thousand people in Sri Lanka died in the disaster. The water destroyed or heavily damaged almost everything around Galle, Sri Lanka. Valuable coastline washed away. Hotels and entertainment businesses were wrecked³.

VOICE TWO:

The top official of the American Red Cross took part in aid work in Galle. Marsha Evans also traveled to other cities hit hardest by the tsunami. The Red Cross and Red Crescent movement have been active in the area since soon after the tsunami struck. Representatives of four American and Asian companies traveled with Miz Evans. Money given by their companies helped make aid work possible.

Just outside Galle, schoolchildren at the Gintota School welcomed the visitors with smiles and friendly questions. The visitors gave them backpacks for carrying books and other school supplies. Most of their school buildings had been destroyed. But the American Red Cross had built the children a classroom.

VOICE ONE:

The visitors also observed aid workers feeding tsunami survivors⁴ at a community center in Galle. The American Red Cross and the World Food Program made it possible for the workers to provide food. In the town of Matara, young people welcomed the visitors with traditional dance and instrumental⁵ music. The Sri Lanka Red Crescent Society had filled a storage center in Matara with supplies for thousands of people.

VOICE TWO:

Miz Evans and the other visitors met one hundred twenty families displaced⁶ by the tsunami. The Red Cross president and the donors⁷ gave the families sleeping mats and nets to protect against insects. They also gave out cooking supplies and water containers.

During a single week in March, the American Red Cross provided needed supplies to more than fourteen thousand families in Galle. Fifteen thousand families in Matara also received the goods. So did more than eleven thousand families in Hambantota (HUM-bun-toh-tah), also in southern Sri Lanka.

(MUSIC)

VOICE ONE:

People throughout the world welcome the flags and signs of the Red Cross movement during natural disasters and war. The Red Cross flag shows two red lines crossing against a white background. The Red Crescent serves mainly Muslim countries. Its flag shows a red crescent. These flags on buildings, vehicles and aid workers' clothing mean "Do not attack."

VOICE TWO:

Red Cross and Red Crescent organizations help survivors of natural disasters besides earthquakes and tsunamis⁸. They also serve at floods, fires, landslides⁹, wind and ocean storms and volcanic¹⁰ explosions.

When thousands of people flee their homes, Red Cross and Red Crescent teams go to work. The teams study the situation and conditions. They observe if the people are moving from country to country or inside their homeland. Are the people running from oppression and war? Are they moving because of natural disasters or economic reasons? The answers help decide how the aid effort will be organized.

VOICE ONE:

During fighting, Red Cross and Red Crescent operations react to needs in order of importance. Safe water supply and personal health conditions are most important. So are emergency health care and temporary shelter.

The International Committee of the Red Cross is the lead agency within the Red Cross and Red Crescent movement. In conflict areas, national societies support the movement. The agencies help people rebuild their lives after war.

VOICE TWO:

A coalition¹¹ makes possible the work of the Red Cross movement. It has more than one hundred eighty national aid societies. The societies belong to the International Federation¹² of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies.

The American Red Cross is one such national organization. Money given by American citizens mainly supports this private organization. Most of its work is done by people who offer their services without pay. The American Red Cross trains millions of people in life-saving skills. It provides health care for more than two million people.

VOICE ONE:

The American Red Cross carries out many activities in the United States. It supplies more than half the nation's blood products. The American Red Cross aids people in the armed services. It helps them communicate with their families. Thousands of families each year receive emergency information about service members in faraway places. Many years after World War Two, the Red Cross has re-united survivors of German Nazi¹³ prison camps with family members.

The Red Cross has taught millions of people to swim. They are among many Americans who learned safety and health measures in Red Cross classes last year. Red Cross community programs provide food for poor people. Volunteers take meals to people unable to prepare their own food. Other volunteers visit patients in hospitals and nursing homes.

VOICE TWO:

The American Red Cross sends help to thousands of areas in the United States each year. For example, Red Cross volunteers helped after tragedy recently struck an American Indian reservation. The North Star Red Cross group of Bemidji, Minnesota served food to two hundred fifty people in Red Lake, Minnesota.

The volunteers held the dinner after a young man shot nine people to death in Red Lake. He also wounded fourteen others before killing¹⁴ himself. Mental health workers from a Red Cross group in Duluth, Minnesota provided emotional support for affected¹⁵ families.

(MUSIC)

VOICE ONE:

The national Red Cross organizations cooperate through the headquarters of the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies. Federation headquarters is in Geneva, Switzerland.

The International Committee of the Red Cross also has headquarters in Geneva. This group acts as a neutral negotiator¹⁶ among warring nations to protect human rights. It tries to guarantee that the Geneva Conventions¹⁷ are obeyed. These international rules provide for humane¹⁸ treatment of soldiers and civilians¹⁹. For example, prisoners of war may not be tortured to get military information from them. And, poison gas is banned as a weapon.

VOICE TWO:

The International Red Cross Conference meets every four years to discuss the Geneva Conventions. The meeting in two thousand three centered on the protection of human rights. The Red Cross and Red Crescent movement believes nations must take more responsibility for reducing violence and unfair treatment. The movement urges improved conditions for people suffering from war and disaster.

(MUSIC)

VOICE ONE:

The proposal that led to the Red Cross movement was made more than one hundred forty years ago. A Swiss citizen named Jean Henri Dunant proposed that every country establish permanent aid organizations. Mister Dunant said these groups should be politically neutral. He wanted the organizations to help sick and wounded soldiers.

Mister Dunant had seen the terrible suffering of soldiers injured in war. He established a field hospital in the battle area for the wounded soldiers of both sides after a conflict in Italy. That was in eighteen fifty-nine, during the Austro-Sardinian War.

VOICE TWO:

Mister Dunant wrote about his experiences in a book, "A Memory of Solferino." His book helped many people understand the need for a worldwide aid agency. The influence of Jean Henri Dunant helped create the International Committee of the Red Cross. It was established at a meeting in Geneva in eighteen sixty-three.

Today, the organization that developed from his proposal continues to help people around the world.

(MUSIC)

VOICE ONE:

This program was written by Jerilyn Watson. It was produced by Mario Ritter. I'm Steve Ember.

VOICE TWO:

And I'm Faith Lapidus Join us again next week for EXPLORATIONS in VOA Special English.

(MUSIC)

1 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。

2 tsunami   

n.海啸

参考例句：

• Powerful quake sparks tsunami warning in Japan.大地震触发了日本的海啸预警。
• Coastlines all around the Indian Ocean inundated by a huge tsunami.大海啸把印度洋沿岸地区都淹没了。

3 wrecked   

adj.失事的，遇难的

参考例句：

• the hulk of a wrecked ship 遇难轮船的残骸
• the salvage of the wrecked tanker 对失事油轮的打捞

4 survivors   

幸存者，残存者，生还者( survivor的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The survivors were adrift in a lifeboat for six days. 幸存者在救生艇上漂流了六天。
• survivors clinging to a raft 紧紧抓住救生筏的幸存者

5 instrumental   

adj.仪器的，器械的，乐器的，起作用的，有帮助的

参考例句：

• It is an instrumental work.这是一部可以用乐器演奏的作品。
• He was instrumental in catching the criminal.在捉拿那个罪犯的过程中，他起了作用。

6 displaced   

移动( displace的过去式和过去分词 )； 替换； 移走； 撤职

参考例句：

• Gradually factory workers have been displaced by machines. 工厂的工人已逐渐被机器取代。
• He was displaced by another young man. 他已被另一个年轻人顶替。

7 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》

8 tsunamis   

n.海啸( tsunami的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Our oceans are alive with earthquakes, volcanoes, and more recently, tsunamis. 海中充满着地震、火山，包括最近发生的海啸。 来自常春藤生活英语杂志-2006年2月号
• Please tell me something more about tsunamis! 请您给我讲讲海啸吧！ 来自辞典例句

9 landslides   

山崩( landslide的名词复数 )； （山坡、悬崖等的）崩塌； 滑坡； （竞选中）一方选票占压倒性多数

参考例句：

• Landslides have cut off many villages in remote areas. 滑坡使边远地区的许多村庄与外界隔绝。
• The storm caused landslides and flooding in Savona. 风暴致使萨沃纳发生塌方和洪灾。

10 volcanic   

adj.火山的；象火山的；由火山引起的

参考例句：

• There have been several volcanic eruptions this year.今年火山爆发了好几次。
• Volcanic activity has created thermal springs and boiling mud pools.火山活动产生了温泉和沸腾的泥浆池。

11 coalition   

n.结合体，同盟，结合，联合

参考例句：

• The several parties formed a coalition.这几个政党组成了政治联盟。
• Coalition forces take great care to avoid civilian casualties.联盟军队竭尽全力避免造成平民伤亡。

12 federation   

n.同盟，联邦，联合，联盟，联合会

参考例句：

• It is a federation of 10 regional unions.它是由十个地方工会结合成的联合会。
• Mr.Putin was inaugurated as the President of the Russian Federation.普京正式就任俄罗斯联邦总统。

13 Nazi   

n.纳粹分子，adj.纳粹党的，纳粹的

参考例句：

• They declare the Nazi regime overthrown and sue for peace.他们宣布纳粹政权已被推翻，并出面求和。
• Nazi closes those war criminals inside their concentration camp.纳粹把那些战犯关在他们的集中营里。

14 killing   

n.巨额利润；突然赚大钱，发大财

参考例句：

• Investors are set to make a killing from the sell-off.投资者准备清仓以便大赚一笔。
• Last week my brother made a killing on Wall Street.上个周我兄弟在华尔街赚了一大笔。

15 affected   

adj.不自然的，假装的

参考例句：

• She showed an affected interest in our subject.她假装对我们的课题感到兴趣。
• His manners are affected.他的态度不自然。

16 negotiator   

n.协商者，谈判者；(票据、支票等)背书人

参考例句：

• They have placed great trust in him as a negotiator. 他们完全信赖他进行谈判。
• The negotiator acted as liaison between labour and management. 谈判者充当劳资双方的联络人。

17 conventions   

（某一职业、政党等的人士召开的）大会( convention的名词复数 )； 协议； 习俗； （美国）全国代表大会

参考例句：

• They broke away from conventions. 他们打破了常规。
• They disregard social conventions without being conscious that they are doing anything extraordinary. 他们不顾社会习俗，并未意识到自己在做些与众不同的事。

18 humane   

adj.人道的，富有同情心的

参考例句：

• Is it humane to kill animals for food?宰杀牲畜来吃合乎人道吗？
• Their aim is for a more just and humane society.他们的目标是建立一个更加公正、博爱的社会。

19 civilians   

平民，百姓( civilian的名词复数 )； 老百姓

参考例句：

• the bloody massacre of innocent civilians 对无辜平民的血腥屠杀
• At least 300 civilians are unaccounted for after the bombing raids. 遭轰炸袭击之后，至少有300名平民下落不明。