2007年VOA标准英语-Humanitarian Workers Face Extreme Challenges in

By Phuong Tran
Goz Beida, Chad
16 May 2007

In Chad, people are still arriving at camps to escape ethnic¹ violence and bandit attacks along the Sudanese border. Humanitarian² workers are often the first to reach out to people escaping from burning villages, rape³ and looting. Because this remote border area in east Chad is considered a high-danger post, most humanitarian organizations do not allow staff to bring their families. Phuong Tran talked to a Rwandan relief worker in Goz Beida, and has this report for VOA.

Women and children at the Koubigou refugee camp in eastern Chad, 28 March 2007

The only way to get to Goz Beida is by foot or by a plane that lands on a dusty strip of worn earth.

Waves of fighting have pushed Chadians into camps like this one, in Koukou. They arrive daily, some emerging from the forest where they have been in hiding, many for weeks.

This time last year, there were about 25,000 Chadians in these camps.  Now, there are some 150,000, scattered⁴ throughout the east.
 
The routine is similar for each wave. New arrivals wait in the 40-plus degree heat for their names to be called so they can pick up a kettle, a mat and blanket. 

Some line up to pump water, as humanitarian groups rush to drill more water wells, nearby.  Gilbert Nkusi is the water project officer for the United Nations Children's Fund in Goz Beida, eastern Chad.

He says hygiene⁵ is horrible here.   As more Chadians squeeze into the camps, Nkusi's group tries to disinfect water more quickly, with chloride and ultraviolet rays. This helps to prevent diseases like cholera⁶ from spreading in the camps.

As Nkusi checks on the water pumps in each camp, he says the children remind him of his own childhood.

"I have lived through what these displaced children have, not understanding why they are separated from their families and not having any idea why there is a conflict," he recalls.  "When I was five years old, I was displaced in Rwanda."

Nkusi says he remembers seeing, as a child, fighting between warring ethnic groups.   He says, even though different ethnic groups are fighting in Sudan and Chad, the confusion for children caught up in the conflict is the same.

His own five children are in Ottawa, Canada, with his wife.  He sees them every two months for about one week.

"Our own families are far from us, which makes it even harder to work in circumstances where almost every day there are attacks by the Janjaweed [Sudanese] militia⁷ or rebels fighting against government forces," he explains.

The United Nations cut back its staff in eastern Chad, late last year, because of the increasing violence.  Most of those laid off have not returned.

The Chad government says it cannot protect civilians⁸ or humanitarian workers in this region.

The United Nations is still negotiating with leaders from both Chad and Sudan to post more international peacekeepers along the lawless and often violent border.

Back at the camp in Koukou, humanitarian worker Nkusi must leave by 18 hours, to avoid being on the streets past the nightly curfew.

1 ethnic   

adj.人种的，种族的，异教徒的

参考例句：

• This music would sound more ethnic if you played it in steel drums.如果你用钢鼓演奏，这首乐曲将更具民族特色。
• The plan is likely only to aggravate ethnic frictions.这一方案很有可能只会加剧种族冲突。

2 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。

3 rape   

n.抢夺，掠夺，强奸；vt.掠夺，抢夺，强奸

参考例句：

• The rape of the countryside had a profound ravage on them.对乡村的掠夺给他们造成严重创伤。
• He was brought to court and charged with rape.他被带到法庭并被指控犯有强奸罪。

4 scattered   

adj.分散的，稀疏的；散步的；疏疏落落的

参考例句：

• Gathering up his scattered papers,he pushed them into his case.他把散乱的文件收拾起来，塞进文件夹里。

5 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。

6 cholera   

n.霍乱

参考例句：

• The cholera outbreak has been contained.霍乱的发生已被控制住了。
• Cholera spread like wildfire through the camps.霍乱在营地里迅速传播。

7 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。

8 civilians   

平民，百姓( civilian的名词复数 )； 老百姓

参考例句：

• the bloody massacre of innocent civilians 对无辜平民的血腥屠杀
• At least 300 civilians are unaccounted for after the bombing raids. 遭轰炸袭击之后，至少有300名平民下落不明。