2006年VOA标准英语-Congo's Children Face Bleak Future

By Nico Colombant
Kinshasa
28 September 2006
 
watch Congo Children report

The Democratic Republic of Congo will hold a second round in its post-war presidential election in October, in hopes of ending years of violence, misrule and corruption¹. But for many children, both former child soldiers and homeless city kids, the election seems a far cry from their daily struggles to survive.

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Former Congo child soldiers now receive their lessons in the classroom  
  
This demobilization center -- in Bukavu, on the border with Rwanda -- has a classroom for former child soldiers. More than 30,000 boys and girls under 18 -- some much younger -- were forced to become fighters, porters or sexual slaves by militias³, rebel groups and the army.

Here, they study, play and try to recover from their ordeals⁴. Some had already escaped Rwanda's genocide as infants.

This is Mukeshimana.  She does not want her face to be seen, fearing she will be kidnapped again and punished as a deserter.

She says she ran away from a militia² group to get here.  She says she never wanted to be a fighter.

 
Murhabazi Nawegabe 
  
The center's director, Murhabazi Nawegabe, says more than 3,000 children have come here since 2002, and most never want to leave.  “I hope the future army will exempt⁵ children.  It should not have a single boy or girl under 18.  The new government must rehabilitate⁶ these thousands of children who had their pens and notebooks taken away, and given grenades and guns to go fight.  The government must rehabilitate them so they can become full citizens again."

In big cities, like the capital Kinshasa, the future for many children seems even bleaker⁷.

Spending the day getting high   
  
These are street kids who spend their days getting high on whatever drugs or pills they can find.  Aid workers say there are more than 40,000 homeless children in Kinshasa alone.

A 12-year-old is known to his friends as “four-by-four.”  He says his mother died when he was 10.  He says his father's new wife accused him and his brother of being bad spirits, so they ran away. He says he likes to fight.

His hands bear the marks of his hard life. Other kids show off tattoos⁸ they made themselves with pens. They say these images give them strength to survive.

 
Fatouma is an aid worker 
  
But aid worker Fatouma expresses her dismay. She says one of the kids in the group is already 20 and does not know how to do anything except survive. She says it is not normal, and hopes the new president can do something to improve the situation.

In the meantime, Fatouma says she is trying to teach these children basic hygiene⁹, like the importance of bathing.  But those lessons quickly turn into just passing time and having fun, a temporary respite¹⁰ from the children's grim reality.

1 corruption   

n.腐败，堕落，贪污

参考例句：

• The people asked the government to hit out against corruption and theft.人民要求政府严惩贪污盗窃。
• The old man reviled against corruption.那老人痛斥了贪污舞弊。

2 militia   

n.民兵，民兵组织

参考例句：

• First came the PLA men,then the people's militia.人民解放军走在前面，其次是民兵。
• There's a building guarded by the local militia at the corner of the street.街道拐角处有一幢由当地民兵团守卫的大楼。

3 militias   

n.民兵组织，民兵( militia的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The troops will not attempt to disarm the warring militias. 部队并不打算解除战斗中的民兵武装。 来自辞典例句
• The neighborhood was a battleground for Shiite and Sunni militias. 那里曾是什叶派和逊尼派武装分子的战场。 来自互联网

4 ordeals   

n.严峻的考验，苦难的经历( ordeal的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• London had stood triumphant through all her ordeals. 伦敦在经历考验之后仍巍然屹立。 来自辞典例句
• He's come through some bad personal ordeals. 他个人经历了一些沉痛的考验。 来自辞典例句

5 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。

6 rehabilitate   

vt.改造(罪犯)，修复；vi.复兴，(罪犯)经受改造

参考例句：

• There was no money to rehabilitate the tower.没有资金修复那座塔。
• He used exercise programmes to rehabilitate the patients.他采用体育锻炼疗法使患者恢复健康。

7 bleaker   

阴冷的( bleak的比较级 )； （状况）无望的； 没有希望的； 光秃的

参考例句：

• Horoscopes are merely harmless escapism from an ever-bleaker world. 占星术只不过是让人逃避越发令人沮丧的世界的无害消遣罢了。
• On the ground the mood is bleaker. 具体形势更加严峻。

8 tattoos   

n.文身( tattoo的名词复数 )；归营鼓；军队夜间表演操；连续有节奏的敲击声v.刺青，文身( tattoo的第三人称单数 )；连续有节奏地敲击；作连续有节奏的敲击

参考例句：

• His arms were covered in tattoos. 他的胳膊上刺满了花纹。
• His arms were covered in tattoos. 他的双臂刺满了纹身。 来自《简明英汉词典》

9 hygiene   

n.健康法，卫生学 （a.hygienic）

参考例句：

• Their course of study includes elementary hygiene and medical theory.他们的课程包括基础卫生学和医疗知识。
• He's going to give us a lecture on public hygiene.他要给我们作关于公共卫生方面的报告。

10 respite   

n.休息，中止，暂缓

参考例句：

• She was interrogated without respite for twenty-four hours.她被不间断地审问了二十四小时。
• Devaluation would only give the economy a brief respite.贬值只能让经济得到暂时的缓解。