VOA常速英语2007年-Congo's Child Soldiers Face Tough Road to Recov

By Noel King
Muhazi, Rwanda
10 November 2007

Tens of thousands of children have been abducted² and forced into service by a myriad³ of armed groups in Congo's chaotic⁴ eastern provinces. Many of them are Rwandan boys who were born in Congo following the genocide. On returning to their native Rwanda, the boys face a long road to recovery. Noel King has this report from Muhazi, Rwanda.

Like most children, the boys at the Muhazi center for demobilized child soldiers, just want to have fun.

But after spending years in the service of eastern Congo's armed groups, the biggest struggle for former child soldiers, is behaving like a child.

Habimana, 13, arrived at the center two days ago, after spending a year with a Congolese militia⁵ group known as the Mai Mai.

Habimana says he had the rank of private in the Mai Mai and was the armed guard for a captain. He says the Mai Mai did not abduct¹ him, but that he joined the militia. After his father died one year ago, he had nowhere else to go. He says the Mai Mai was the safest place to be.

Habimana left the Mai Mai after he was shot in a gunfight. The Mai Mai took Habimana to a hospital, where doctors handed him over to the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC).

The ICRC works to find the families of Rwanda's demobilized child soldiers. Until their families are found, the boys stay at Muhazi camp, run by the Rwandan government.

Ally Mugema is a social worker at the Muhazi center. He explains that it is difficult for the boys to re-adjust to civilian⁶ life.

"When they are with the armed groups in the forest, they are brutal⁷, they are aggressive, they steal using arms," he noted⁸.  "When they are looking for food, they have to use force. A long period in that kind of behavior, it tends to be conditioned. They cannot go in the community with such behavior."

Mugema told VOA that when the boys arrive they marvel⁹ at the things that the center provides, like their own shoes and mosquito nets.

The boys are taught how to brush their teeth and the importance of bathing daily. 

The center employs teachers who provide the boys a basic education and counselors¹⁰ who urge them to talk about their experiences as child soldiers.  Ally Mugema explains.

"We teach literacy and numeracy. We try to teach them how to read and write. They also do counseling for those traumatized," he explained.  "We teach them how to do some home activities like sweeping¹¹, like washing clothes, like washing saucepans, so by the time they are in the community with their parents, if they are given such an activity, they don't find it so new and complicated."
 
Still, some habits exhibited by the former child soldiers are hard to break.
 
In the afternoon, the boys are released from school and they have an opportunity to play. Instead, they hang about in small groups. Unlike other boys their age, they seem unsure of what playtime means.

1 abduct   

vt.诱拐，拐带，绑架

参考例句：

• The police caught the man who tried to abduct the boy for ransom.警察抓住了那个企图拐走这男孩以便勒索赎金的家伙。
• The news that we see those use network abduct children sometimes filled with apprehension.我们有时看到那些利用网络诱拐儿童的新闻都心惊肉跳。

2 abducted   

劫持，诱拐( abduct的过去式和过去分词 )； 使（肢体等）外展

参考例句：

• Detectives have not ruled out the possibility that she was abducted. 侦探尚未排除她被绑架的可能性。
• The kid was abducted at the gate of kindergarten. 那小孩在幼儿园大门口被绑架走了。

3 myriad   

adj.无数的；n.无数，极大数量

参考例句：

• They offered no solution for all our myriad problems.对于我们数不清的问题他们束手无策。
• I had three weeks to make a myriad of arrangements.我花了三个星期做大量准备工作。

4 chaotic   

adj.混沌的，一片混乱的，一团糟的

参考例句：

• Things have been getting chaotic in the office recently.最近办公室的情况越来越乱了。
• The traffic in the city was chaotic.这城市的交通糟透了。

5 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。

6 civilian   

adj.平民的，民用的，民众的

参考例句：

• There is no reliable information about civilian casualties.关于平民的伤亡还没有确凿的信息。
• He resigned his commission to take up a civilian job.他辞去军职而从事平民工作。

7 brutal   

adj.残忍的，野蛮的，不讲理的

参考例句：

• She has to face the brutal reality.她不得不去面对冷酷的现实。
• They're brutal people behind their civilised veneer.他们表面上温文有礼，骨子里却是野蛮残忍。

8 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。

9 marvel   

vi.(at)惊叹vt.感到惊异；n.令人惊异的事

参考例句：

• The robot is a marvel of modern engineering.机器人是现代工程技术的奇迹。
• The operation was a marvel of medical skill.这次手术是医术上的一个奇迹。

10 counselors   

n.顾问( counselor的名词复数 )；律师；（使馆等的）参赞；（协助学生解决问题的）指导老师

参考例句：

• Counselors began an inquiry into industrial needs. 顾问们开始调查工业方面的需要。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》
• We have experienced counselors available day and night. ) 这里有经验的法律顾问全天候值班。） 来自超越目标英语 第4册

11 sweeping   

adj.范围广大的，一扫无遗的

参考例句：

• The citizens voted for sweeping reforms.公民投票支持全面的改革。
• Can you hear the wind sweeping through the branches?你能听到风掠过树枝的声音吗？