2007年VOA标准英语-Mauritania Rappers Fight Against Clandestine Mi

By Phuong Tran
Nouakchott, Mauritania
02 September 2007

Mauritanian rap group, Diam Men Teky, has been rapping in Mauritania's poorest neighborhoods for 15 years. Their songs about state corruption¹ and neglect have not won them many fans in the government, but thousands of youths continue to line up for the mostly underground concerts. These three young rappers now have a new cause: fighting clandestine² migration³. Phuong Tran met with the rappers in Nouakchott, Mauritania and has this report for VOA.

Scene from Diam Men Teky Clandestine Migration music video

 They rap in their native ethnic⁴ Pulaar language about police taking bribes⁵, about a government that has forgotten its youths, and recently, about clandestine migration.

The rappers say local police still try to shut down their concerts and raid music vendors⁶ selling their latest CD, called Gongoo, which means "truth" in Pulaar.

Local officials deny harassing⁷ the group.

Mar⁸ Ba, the group's leader, says despite the many problems faced during the 15 years the group has been performing music, it is still trying to get its rap songs to its fans.

He says the group will stop performing when there is no longer anything to denounce. But until then, he adds, they will keep speaking out.

They live, work and perform in the roughest neighborhoods in the country, shunning⁹ grand concert halls for youth community centers and backyards like their own.

Places with no electricity, where water deliveries by donkey carts are infrequent, and jobs are few.

The rappers say their concerts thinned out last year as the mostly male crowd started leaving on illegal boat trips to Spain.

The rappers fought back. They recruited concert-goers to star in a video about a topic touching¹⁰ more and more African youth - clandestine migration.

Unemployed¹¹ men volunteered to be in the rappers' video about the reasons youth sold jewelry¹² and everything their family could spare to buy a space on a boat destined¹³ for Europe.

Rappers recruited concert goers for their video Clandestine Migration

In the video for the song Clandestine Migration, rapper Ba tries to convince his fellow rapper, Lamine, to not make the deadly 1000-kilometer sea crossing in a used fishing boat.

Ba asks his friend how he can make the deadly trip as a Muslim, since suicide is considered a sin according to the Koran.

His friend replies that Ba does not understand his situation. Pointing to a broken down shack¹⁴, the friend sings he cannot provide for his family and cannot even think about marriage at 25.

The group's third rapper, Ousmane, jumps in, telling Lamine that he must accept God's will rather than give his money to Mafia-like boat organizers who profit from his misery¹⁵.

Anti-trafficking officials say it is mostly organized crime networks that purchase the boats, often used fishing canoes. A space on the boat can cost up to $3,000.

The song has caught on at concerts. The fans sing along, swaying their hands in the air at the all-too familiar song topic.

The rappers say they hope people in the crowd do more than sing along. They hope people really listen to the message.

Even if it is just one person, the rap group says, it believes its song will have been a success.

The rappers end the song with a plea to parents not to compare their children to those with more money, which they say forces their children to risk their lives to defend family honor.

Officials in the Spanish Canary Islands, a popular destination for West Africa's illegal migrants, reported about 30,000 mostly male youths reaching their shores last year; 12,000 were caught and returned to Africa.

Officials are unclear how many died during the rocky Atlantic crossing.

Mauritania's fishing town, Nouadhibou, has become a popular departure port for West Africans hoping to migrate.

Officials with the International Office for Migration say more Mauritanians are joining the West African migrants leaving from their shore, turning the country into a growing source of illegal migration.

1 corruption   

n.腐败，堕落，贪污

参考例句：

• The people asked the government to hit out against corruption and theft.人民要求政府严惩贪污盗窃。
• The old man reviled against corruption.那老人痛斥了贪污舞弊。

2 clandestine   

adj.秘密的，暗中从事的

参考例句：

• She is the director of clandestine operations of the CIA.她是中央情报局秘密行动的负责人。
• The early Christians held clandestine meetings in caves.早期的基督徒在洞穴中秘密聚会。

3 migration   

n.迁移，移居，（鸟类等的）迁徙

参考例句：

• Swallows begin their migration south in autumn.燕子在秋季开始向南方迁移。
• He described the vernal migration of birds in detail.他详细地描述了鸟的春季移居。

4 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。

5 bribes   

n.贿赂( bribe的名词复数 )；向（某人）行贿，贿赂v.贿赂( bribe的第三人称单数 )；向（某人）行贿，贿赂

参考例句：

• It was alleged that he had taken bribes while in office. 他被指称在任时收受贿赂。
• corrupt officials accepting bribes 接受贿赂的贪官污吏

6 vendors   

n.摊贩( vendor的名词复数 )；小贩；（房屋等的）卖主；卖方

参考例句：

• The vendors were gazundered at the last minute. 卖主在最后一刻被要求降低房价。
• At the same time, interface standards also benefIt'software vendors. 同时，界面标准也有利于软件开发商。 来自About Face 3交互设计精髓

7 harassing   

v.侵扰，骚扰( harass的现在分词 )；不断攻击（敌人）

参考例句：

• The court ordered him to stop harassing his ex-wife. 法庭命令他不得再骚扰前妻。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• It was too close to be merely harassing fire. 打得这么近，不能完全是扰乱射击。 来自辞典例句

8 mar   

vt.破坏，毁坏，弄糟

参考例句：

• It was not the custom for elderly people to mar the picnics with their presence.大人们照例不参加这样的野餐以免扫兴。
• Such a marriage might mar your career.这样的婚姻说不定会毁了你的一生。

9 shunning   

v.避开，回避，避免( shun的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• My flight was more a shunning of external and internal dangers. 我的出走是要避开各种外在的和内在的威胁。 来自辞典例句
• That book Yeh-yeh gave me-"On Filial Piety and the Shunning of Lewdness"-was still on the table. 我坐下来，祖父给我的那本《刘芷唐先生教孝戒淫浅训》还在桌子上。 来自汉英文学 - 家（1-26） - 家（1-26）

10 touching   

adj.动人的，使人感伤的

参考例句：

• It was a touching sight.这是一幅动人的景象。
• His letter was touching.他的信很感人。

11 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。

12 jewelry   

n.（jewllery）（总称）珠宝

参考例句：

• The burglars walked off with all my jewelry.夜盗偷走了我的全部珠宝。
• Jewelry and lace are mostly feminine belongings.珠宝和花边多数是女性用品。

13 destined   

adj.命中注定的；(for)以…为目的地的

参考例句：

• It was destined that they would marry.他们结婚是缘分。
• The shipment is destined for America.这批货物将运往美国。

14 shack   

adj.简陋的小屋，窝棚

参考例句：

• He had to sit down five times before he reached his shack.在走到他的茅棚以前，他不得不坐在地上歇了五次。
• The boys made a shack out of the old boards in the backyard.男孩们在后院用旧木板盖起一间小木屋。

15 misery   

n.痛苦，苦恼，苦难；悲惨的境遇，贫苦

参考例句：

• Business depression usually causes misery among the working class.商业不景气常使工薪阶层受苦。
• He has rescued me from the mire of misery.他把我从苦海里救了出来。