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(单词翻译:双击或拖选)
By Scott Bobb
Mozambique
19 March 2007
watch Mozambique Food report
In central Mozambique, the waters from the worst floods in six years have crested1 for now but relief workers are scrambling2 to support villagers who have lost their homes and crops. Providing food for more than 140,000 people in nearly 90 camps scattered3 across four provinces is a logistical nightmare. VOA's Scott Bobb visited Mfumo Benguela Camp, in Sofala province, and has this report.
Each family gets a 15 day measure of food
It is food distribution day at Mfumo Benguela -- a camp of several hundred displaced people 30 kilometers north of Caia in central Mozambique.
The people fled here to higher ground after heavy rains along the Zambezi River flooded their villages and destroyed their crops.
Each family gets 15 days of rations4 consisting of maize5 flour -- the local staple6 -- lentil beans, and cooking oil. It is not much, but it allows them to survive.
A Mozambican relief agency is distributing the food. The process is carefully monitored by the government and the World Food Program, which is donating the goods.
The distribution will take most of the morning. At the same time, more displaced people arrive at the camps. The government expects their total number to double before the rains end in a few months. These people have lost everything. They need help until the next harvest six months from now.
The WFP shoulders the task of maintaining the flow of food from its stocks in-country and abroad. The aid goes to thousands of people scattered across the region. Some parts are cut off by the high waters.
Peter Rodrigues
Coordinator7 Peter Rodrigues says his group is doubling the amount of food to be distributed during the next two weeks because of the rising population in the camps.
"The people keep trickling8 in and the number basically increases on almost a daily basis. And they are so widespread. People are there in four different provinces, all affected9 by these floods and there are almost 90 different centers," says the World Food Program coordinator.
Rodrigues plans to distribute 1,000 tons of food over the next two weeks. But to achieve that goal, a dozen loads on trucks must go out each day.
In Mfumo Benguela Camp, the distribution goes well. The government wants to avoid such emergencies and resettle these people permanently10 on higher ground. But some of the displaced say they must return to their ancestral land. Relief officials diplomatically say their goal is just to keep these people fed and alive.
1 crested | |
adj.有顶饰的,有纹章的,有冠毛的v.到达山顶(或浪峰)( crest的过去式和过去分词 );到达洪峰,达到顶点 | |
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2 scrambling | |
v.快速爬行( scramble的现在分词 );攀登;争夺;(军事飞机)紧急起飞 | |
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3 scattered | |
adj.分散的,稀疏的;散步的;疏疏落落的 | |
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4 rations | |
定量( ration的名词复数 ); 配给量; 正常量; 合理的量 | |
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5 maize | |
n.玉米 | |
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6 staple | |
n.主要产物,常用品,主要要素,原料,订书钉,钩环;adj.主要的,重要的;vt.分类 | |
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7 coordinator | |
n.协调人 | |
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8 trickling | |
n.油画底色含油太多而成泡沫状突起v.滴( trickle的现在分词 );淌;使)慢慢走;缓慢移动 | |
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9 affected | |
adj.不自然的,假装的 | |
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10 permanently | |
adv.永恒地,永久地,固定不变地 | |
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