2007年VOA标准英语-US Women's Soccer Team Visits South Africa

By Andrew Payton
Washington
20 August 2007
 

Members of a Washington, D.C.-based soccer team had what they describe as a life-changing trip to South Africa. In addition to tours and a safari¹, the young players spent time with many poor African teenagers playing soccer and also talking about their lives, hopes and dreams. VOA's Andrew Payton has their story.

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DC Blast, Team picture (2006)

Earlier this year members of the girl's soccer team DC Blast traveled halfway³ around the world to South Africa.

Sixteen-year-old Molly Brune and 10 of her teammates spent two weeks meeting with local girls to coach them in their soccer game and to discuss the difficulties of living in a country where the HIV/AIDS epidemic⁴ is widespread. "The main part," said Molly, "was we had a five day camp in Port Elizabeth and there were about 11 girls. So there was the same amount of South African girls as there were us. That way we got to become very close to them. And we learned with them about HIV/AIDS. Most of the stuff we were learning we had already learned in school and stuff, so it was a lot of us trying to help them speak out and say what they thought, and process the information."

DC Blast team and South African girls

Anna Rassman, also 16, discussed the culture shock she experienced when driving out of Cape⁵ Town and into the townships where the poverty of the continent is more apparent⁶. "When we first got there we were in Cape Town, which is pretty much like a European city, so we were all just kind of like, 'this is not what I expected Africa to look like.' And it was beautiful." Anna continued, "But once we started driving into the townships -- I remember I was taking a nap in the van, and when I woke up, all of a sudden it went from highrise buildings to just nothing, it was just tin shacks⁷, and that was the first time I'd seen a township, and that was shocking."

Rassman spoke⁸ of the difficulty in seeing the economic and racial divides in South African communities. "It was just so hard because it was so hard to see. There, government had so many problems and still does, and it's such a fresh -- apartheid is so fresh there -- I feel like these people are being forced to live there and this is kind of what their parents did and their grandparents did. And it's kind of the cycle they're put in."

Coach Ian Oliver arranged the program for the girls through Grassroot Soccer, an organization that uses soccer to instruct African children about the difficulties of HIV/AIDS.

Brune discussed the importance of using education to empower individuals as opposed to other types of more short-term aid. "And they have such high HIV/AIDS rates, and while we have a high rate here in Washington, DC, in Africa they don't have education programs in many of the places. And while we could give them monetary⁹ aid giving them educational aid I feel is a better solution. Because it's not, like, just 'here, here's this.' But it helps them change their lives so they'll live longer. And the fact that you can do that through an educational program, it seems like the best way to help I think."

In their trip they hoped that their openness and willingness to discuss difficult issues would influence the South African girls they met. "I think some of the girls you can see that by the end of the week they're talking more. And not just in the games but in lunch, and interacting¹⁰ with girls more. Women in South Africa are kind of second class citizens, so it's difficult for them to speak up. I think they're scared of being wrong, I think they're taught to be quiet."

Brune and Rassman both agree that the experience has shaped the way they think about Africa and the rest of the world. "The whole time we were in South Africa, everyone would be, like, 'When you come back to Africa,' or 'Now Africa is in your blood and you're going to want to come back really badly.' I was talking to my mom about what colleges have good African Studies programs because I think that would be really interesting. Also, I really want to do fundraisers here to get them and help the programs continue just now, not even waiting until I can get a job and go help there."

Though the girls originally went with the intention of influencing and inspiring the young girls of South Africa, they found that they came home with an irreplaceable experience.

1 safari   

n.远征旅行(探险、考察)；探险队，狩猎队

参考例句：

• When we go on safari we like to cook on an open fire.我们远行狩猎时，喜欢露天生火做饭。
• They went on safari searching for the rare black rhinoceros.他们进行探险旅行，搜寻那稀有的黑犀牛。

2 blast   

v.炸毁，摧毁；n.爆炸，爆破，一阵，汽笛声

参考例句：

• A huge bomb blast rocked central London last night.昨晚一次剧烈的炸弹爆炸震动了伦敦市中心。
• Not until last week was the project in full blast.工程直到上星期才全部开工。

3 halfway   

adj.中途的，不彻底的，部分的；adv.半路地，在中途，在半途

参考例句：

• We had got only halfway when it began to get dark.走到半路，天就黑了。
• In study the worst danger is give up halfway.在学习上，最忌讳的是有始无终。

4 epidemic   

n.流行病；盛行；adj.流行性的，流传极广的

参考例句：

• That kind of epidemic disease has long been stamped out.那种传染病早已绝迹。
• The authorities tried to localise the epidemic.当局试图把流行病限制在局部范围。

5 cape   

n.海角，岬；披肩，短披风

参考例句：

• I long for a trip to the Cape of Good Hope.我渴望到好望角去旅行。
• She was wearing a cape over her dress.她在外套上披着一件披肩。

6 apparent   

adj.表面上的，貌似真实的，显然的，明明白白的

参考例句：

• The apparent truth was really a lie.表面上看似实话，实际上是个谎言。
• His guilt is apparent to all.他的罪恶尽人皆知。

7 shacks   

n.窝棚，简陋的小屋( shack的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• They live in shacks which they made out of wood. 他们住在用木头搭成的简陋的小屋里。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Most people in Port au-Prince live in tin shacks. 太子港的大多数居民居住在铁皮棚里。 来自互联网

8 spoke   

n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说

参考例句：

• They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
• The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。

9 monetary   

adj.货币的，钱的；通货的；金融的；财政的

参考例句：

• The monetary system of some countries used to be based on gold.过去有些国家的货币制度是金本位制的。
• Education in the wilderness is not a matter of monetary means.荒凉地区的教育不是钱财问题。

10 interacting   

adj.相互影响的；相互作用的

参考例句：

• The interacting surfaces were lubricated with a mineral oil. 相互作用表面是用矿物油润滑的。
• Proteins which have two separate but interacting sites are called allosteric proteins. 这种具有两个不同而又相互作用位置的蛋白质叫做变构蛋白质。