2007年VOA标准英语-Amputee Soccer Team Brings Hope in Liberia

By Naomi Schwarz
Dakar
04 May 2007

In Liberia, rebuilding after decades of devastating¹ civil war, the country's first national amputee soccer team is now competing on an international level, and bringing new hope to the war torn country. The squad² is one of four African teams in the World Amputee Football Federation³, which also includes Ghana, Nigeria, and Sierra Leone. Though new, the Liberian team is hoping for victory as it prepares for the world championships in Russia. Naomi Schwarz has this story from Dakar, with player interviews from reporter Prince Collins, who attended practice.

The coach rallies the team

On a soccer field not far from the president's residence in Monrovia, Liberia's capital, the team is working hard to sharpen its skills.

Samuel Eastman, twenty-six-years old, is a striker, and the team's secretary-general.

"As you can see the training is very much in place. And from this training, we are sure we are going to be impacting our game in Russia," he said.

Eastman's team will travel to Russia in June, competing in the world championships for amputees. In February they competed in the African

amputee football championships, organized in part by the international football federation, known as FIFA.

Eastman lost a leg over a decade ago, when he was eleven years old.

"One of my cousins was that was working the same day the plane did the bombing, he went to go see what had really happened. And I followed him. Before I could get closer to him, unfortunately this bomb went off. I did not see the terrible bomb, I just heard it blasting there. I was affected," he said.

Every player on the team lost a limb during Liberia's civil war. Indeed, across West Africa, where recent decades saw many brutal⁴ wars, there are thousands of amputees. And in several countries, including Sierra Leone, Ghana, and Nigeria, there are now national teams of amputees, competing on an international level.

Eastman says he has not let his injury, or the war, hold him back.

"At that time I was just in the seventh grade. I managed to go to high school. I went to college. I did my diploma in accounting⁵. Amputation⁶ has not stopped me," he said.

Eastman has two children but no job. More than three-quarters of Liberians are unemployed⁷. But he says he is hopeful. In the meantime, he is training hard with his teammates.

"Some people played football before they became amputated. Some people, they had never. However, as the training goes, I mean you get adjusted and you begin to play. I mean, it is just the own mind, and willingness to help yourself," said Eastman.

Coach Paul Alex Tolbert says he has adapted his coaching techniques to his team's special needs.

"Most of them were actually traumatized. And their response to treatment is to be actually negative. Some of their emotions are very high and their way of understanding is very low. And so in many instances I, as a coach, have to be very moderate," he said.

But he says he does not go easy on the guys.

Navarro M. Saykai, director of the country's Youth and Sports Authority, says soccer teams like this one are an important component⁸ in the effort to rebuild.

"We have a mandate⁹ as a government, and we have a social responsibility to the youth of this country. We have to open the corridor to bring them in, to make sure they fit in the society," he said.

Spectators, including Liberia's president, Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, drop by frequently, to watch the team practice.

Dennis Parker, another striker, says fans better get their fill now, because, he says, sooner or later the team will be traveling far and wide for regional and world tournaments.

1 devastating   

adj.毁灭性的，令人震惊的，强有力的

参考例句：

• It is the most devastating storm in 20 years.这是20年来破坏性最大的风暴。
• Affairs do have a devastating effect on marriages.婚外情确实会对婚姻造成毁灭性的影响。

2 squad   

n.班，小队，小团体；vt.把…编成班或小组

参考例句：

• The squad leader ordered the men to mark time.班长命令战士们原地踏步。
• A squad is the smallest unit in an army.班是军队的最小构成单位。

3 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。

4 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。

5 accounting   

n.会计，会计学，借贷对照表

参考例句：

• A job fell vacant in the accounting department.财会部出现了一个空缺。
• There's an accounting error in this entry.这笔账目里有差错。

6 amputation   

n.截肢

参考例句：

• In ancient India,adultery was punished by amputation of the nose.在古代印度，通奸要受到剖鼻的处罚。
• He lived only hours after the amputation.截肢后，他只活了几个小时。

7 unemployed   

adj.失业的，没有工作的；未动用的，闲置的

参考例句：

• There are now over four million unemployed workers in this country.这个国家现有四百万失业人员。
• The unemployed hunger for jobs.失业者渴望得到工作。

8 component   

n.组成部分，成分，元件；adj.组成的，合成的

参考例句：

• Each component is carefully checked before assembly.每个零件在装配前都经过仔细检查。
• Blade and handle are the component parts of a knife.刀身和刀柄是一把刀的组成部分。

9 mandate   

n.托管地；命令，指示

参考例句：

• The President had a clear mandate to end the war.总统得到明确的授权结束那场战争。
• The General Election gave him no such mandate.大选并未授予他这种权力。