EXPLORATIONS - South Asia Continues to Recover After Decembe

EXPLORATIONS - South Asia Continues to Recover After December Tsunami¹
By Jill Moss²

Broadcast: Wednesday, July 20, 2005

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VOICE ONE:

I'm Steve Ember.

VOICE TWO:

 
Indonesian Navy sailors load aid for tsunami victims
And I'm Faith Lapidus with Explorations in VOA Special English. More than six months ago, huge tsunami waves struck twelve nations in the Indian Ocean. We report on efforts by some affected³ nations to rebuild.

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VOICE ONE:

In the early morning hours of December twenty-sixth, two thousand four, a huge earthquake near the Indonesian island of Sumatra tore apart the sea floor. This created a series of huge ocean waves, called a tsunami. It crashed into coasts across the Indian Ocean without warning. One hundred seventy-six thousand people were killed, most of them in Indonesia. About fifty thousand people are still missing and believed dead.

Indonesia was hit the worst. The huge waves also destroyed coastal⁴ areas in Thailand, Sri Lanka, India, Burma, the Maldives and Malaysia. Several hours later, the waves hit the East African countries of Somalia, Kenya and Tanzania. The tsunami was truly an international disaster with victims from all over the world. At least two thousand of those killed were holiday travelers from Europe and North America.

VOICE TWO:

Governments, aid groups, private individuals and the international business community acted quickly. Thousands of international aid workers arrived in South Asia and eastern Africa. They provided shelter for almost two million people left without homes. They built centers for people to identify and bury their loved ones. They gave out food, water, clothes and medical aid. And, they helped prevent the spread of diseases among survivors⁵.

A huge amount of financial aid was also given for relief efforts. Governments, aid groups and private individuals immediately promised more than six thousand million dollars. Individuals were responsible for about one-sixth of that amount.

VOICE ONE:

Recently, the Voice of America marked the sixth month anniversary of the deadly tsunami with a series of stories. Reporters examined rebuilding efforts by affected nations. VOA also examined the humanitarian⁶ assistance and financial aid that was promised victims. Today, it remains⁷ unclear how much of that aid money will be given for long-term rebuilding or how much of it will reach those who need it most.

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VOICE TWO:

The destruction caused by the tsunami created the world's largest financial and humanitarian reaction to a natural disaster. United Nations Secretary General Kofi Annan said the response set a new level of cooperation for the world community. Yet, only about half of the aid promised has been provided.

The U-N has created an Internet Web site to show where the aid is going. Former

 
Former President Bill Clinton talks about tsunami relief efforts with Former President George H.W. Bush
American President Bill Clinton was appointed a U.N. representative for recovery efforts. Mister Clinton said it will take time for governments to provide the money they have offered. This is because governments and aid donors⁹ can provide help only after they receive a country's rebuilding plan.

VOICE ONE:

Roberta Cohen is an expert on aid financing at the Brookings Institution in Washington, D.C. She told VOA reporter Mike Bowman that donor⁸ groups want to guarantee that communities can grow over time and that no money is wasted. Miz Cohen said that many affected nations, including Indonesia and Sri Lanka, did not have official rebuilding plans until May.

Concerns about offers of international aid are based on past disasters. Miz Cohen noted¹⁰ that much of the money promised after the earthquake in Bam, Iran in December, two thousand three was not given. Countries and aid groups offered hundreds of millions of dollars worth of assistance. The United Nations says it has confirmed only about seventeen million dollars in aid received so far. Donors dispute that, however.

VOICE TWO:

Part of the aid promised after the December tsunami will be used to build disaster-warning systems in the Indian Ocean and the South China Sea. Several countries have agreed to work together to establish the system. It will likely be modeled after an international tsunami warning system for the Pacific Ocean. That system has its headquarters in the American state of Hawaii.

Scientists there listen to sound waves directed at the ocean floor for possible earthquakes and underwater motion. They also watch water levels at more than one hundred water stations across the Pacific Ocean. Warning information is sent to more than one hundred places across the Pacific if destructive waves are discovered.

VOICE ONE:

Paul Whitmore is a scientist at the Tsunami Warning Center in the American state of Alaska. That center provides information to the Hawaii headquarters. Mister Whitmore said the Pacific center can send out tsunami warnings within ten minutes of an underwater earthquake. Such a warning last December would have saved thousands of lives.

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VOICE TWO:

Tsunami aid will also be spent on long-term aid projects, such as rebuilding national agriculture and fishing industries. Villages and homes will also be developed. In Sri Lanka, India, Thailand and the Indonesian province of Aceh, thousands of families still live in temporary shelters and camps.

Kuntoro Mangkusubroto leads the Indonesian government's tsunami relief agency. He told VOA reporter Nancy-Amelia Collins that the government does not want permanent housing built until the needs of all villagers are considered. He said this takes time because so many people are involved.

VOICE ONE:

Michael Elmquist is the spokesman for the U.N. Office for the Coordination¹² of Humanitarian Aid. He said that more than two hundred fifty private agencies are working in Banda Aceh, Indonesia. He said the biggest problem during the next six months will be coordinating¹³ reconstruction¹⁴ efforts among the agencies.

VOICE TWO:

Daily life for many tsunami victims remains difficult for several reasons. One major problem is a lack of jobs. In Phuket, southern Thailand, for example, workers are trying to fix local fishing boats. Yet, many boats are still in need of repair. VOA reporter Scott Bobb spoke¹¹ to villagers in Nam Khem. They said the Thai government and donor groups have provided loans to help get the fishing industry operating again. But many fishermen say they have seen very little money. And without boats, there is no work.

Phuket also had a strong travel industry before the tsunami. Since December, however, much of the local economy has been destroyed. Kitti Patanachinda is the vice¹⁵ president of the local tourism association in Phuket. He said hotels are less than thirty percent full. Eating places are empty, and more than forty percent of local businesses have dismissed workers.

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VOICE ONE:

The tsunami not only destroyed fishing and travel industries, but also farming communities. In southern India, for example, many villages were damaged when seawater spread inland to cover huge areas of farmland. M. Revathi is a farm activist¹⁶ in India. She told VOA reporter Anjana Pasricha that hundreds of coastal villages have no hope of planting a crop in the coming rainy season. She said the soil has been destroyed and there is still too much wreckage¹⁷.

VOICE TWO:

Politics also has slowed relief efforts. In Sri Lanka, some minority parties have withdrawn¹⁸ support for the government of President Chandrika Kumaratunga. This is because she was working toward an agreement with Tamil rebels on sharing tsunami recovery aid.

A political crisis in Somalia has limited recovery as well. The country has been without a central government since leader Siad Barre was ousted¹⁹ in nineteen ninety-one. Armed groups loyal to local leaders have been fighting for control over parts of the country.

VOICE ONE:

Maulid Warfa works for the World Food Program in Somalia. He told VOA reporter Cathy Majtenyi that recovery efforts are much slower there compared to other areas because of the lack of an effective government. He said the U.N. food agency cannot feed Somalia's tsunami victims forever. He said the government will have to help the people get back to work so they can feed themselves.

VOICE TWO:

To mark the six-month anniversary of the tsunami, officials from the United Nations and the European Union met to discuss progress in the aid effort. Jan Egeland is the top U-N official for emergency aid. He estimates it will take five to ten years to rebuild all that was lost in the tsunami. But for many victims, recovery could take a lifetime.

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VOICE ONE:

This program was written by Jill Moss. 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.

1 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。

2 moss   

n.苔，藓，地衣

参考例句：

• Moss grows on a rock.苔藓生在石头上。
• He was found asleep on a pillow of leaves and moss.有人看见他枕着树叶和苔藓睡着了。

3 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。

4 coastal   

adj.海岸的，沿海的，沿岸的

参考例句：

• The ocean waves are slowly eating away the coastal rocks.大海的波浪慢慢地侵蚀着岸边的岩石。
• This country will fortify the coastal areas.该国将加强沿海地区的防御。

5 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

6 humanitarian   

n.人道主义者，博爱者，基督凡人论者

参考例句：

• She has many humanitarian interests and contributes a lot to them.她拥有很多慈善事业，并作了很大的贡献。
• The British government has now suspended humanitarian aid to the area.英国政府现已暂停对这一地区的人道主义援助。

7 remains   

n.剩余物，残留物；遗体，遗迹

参考例句：

• He ate the remains of food hungrily.他狼吞虎咽地吃剩余的食物。
• The remains of the meal were fed to the dog.残羹剩饭喂狗了。

8 donor   

n.捐献者；赠送人；(组织、器官等的)供体

参考例句：

• In these cases,the recipient usually takes care of the donor afterwards.在这类情况下，接受捐献者以后通常会照顾捐赠者。
• The Doctor transplanted the donor's heart to Mike's chest cavity.医生将捐赠者的心脏移植进麦克的胸腔。

9 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》

10 noted   

adj.著名的，知名的

参考例句：

• The local hotel is noted for its good table.当地的那家酒店以餐食精美而著称。
• Jim is noted for arriving late for work.吉姆上班迟到出了名。

11 spoke   

n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说

参考例句：

• They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
• The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。

12 coordination   

n.协调，协作

参考例句：

• Gymnastics is a sport that requires a considerable level of coordination.体操是一项需要高协调性的运动。
• The perfect coordination of the dancers and singers added a rhythmic charm to the performance.舞蹈演员和歌手们配合得很好，使演出更具魅力。

13 coordinating   

v.使协调，使调和( coordinate的现在分词 )；协调；协同；成为同等

参考例句：

• He abolished the Operations Coordinating Board and the Planning Board. 他废除了行动协调委员会和计划委员会。 来自辞典例句
• He's coordinating the wedding, and then we're not going to invite him? 他是来协调婚礼的，难道我们不去请他？ 来自电影对白

14 reconstruction   

n.重建，再现，复原

参考例句：

• The country faces a huge task of national reconstruction following the war.战后，该国面临着重建家园的艰巨任务。
• In the period of reconstruction,technique decides everything.在重建时期，技术决定一切。

15 vice   

n.坏事；恶习；[pl.]台钳，老虎钳；adj.副的

参考例句：

• He guarded himself against vice.他避免染上坏习惯。
• They are sunk in the depth of vice.他们堕入了罪恶的深渊。

16 activist   

n.活动分子，积极分子

参考例句：

• He's been a trade union activist for many years.多年来他一直是工会的积极分子。
• He is a social activist in our factory.他是我厂的社会活动积极分子。

17 wreckage   

n.（失事飞机等的）残骸，破坏，毁坏

参考例句：

• They hauled him clear of the wreckage.他们把他从形骸中拖出来。
• New states were born out of the wreckage of old colonial empires.新生国家从老殖民帝国的废墟中诞生。

18 withdrawn   

vt.收回；使退出；vi.撤退，退出

参考例句：

• Our force has been withdrawn from the danger area.我们的军队已从危险地区撤出。
• All foreign troops should be withdrawn to their own countries.一切外国军队都应撤回本国去。

19 ousted   

驱逐( oust的过去式和过去分词 )； 革职； 罢黜； 剥夺

参考例句：

• He was ousted as chairman. 他的主席职务被革除了。
• He may be ousted by a military takeover. 他可能在一场军事接管中被赶下台。