VOA常速英语2014--Rwandans in US Commemorate 20 Years Since Genocide 卢旺达大屠杀20周年 纪念历史之痛铭记全球之殇

Rwandans in US Commemorate¹ 20 Years Since Genocide 卢旺达大屠杀20周年 纪念历史之痛铭记全球之殇

WASHINGTON — Rwandans all over the world this week are commemorating² the 20th anniversary of the genocide in their country that took the lives of 800,000 people. One such observance was held by the Rwandan diaspora community in Washington.

Genocide survivors⁵ joined with U.S. and Rwandan officials, academics, human rights activists⁶ and performers to reflect on the Rwandan genocide 20 years ago.

种族灭绝的幸存者们参与到这场纪念活动中来，同美国及卢旺达官员、学者、人权活动家还有表演者们一同反思20年前在这个国家发生的种族大屠杀事件。

These young performers were a painful reminder⁷ for genocide survivor⁴ Jacqueline Murekatete, who still has flashbacks.

这些年轻的表演者们用生动的表演将人们重新带回到了那场屠杀之中，而幸存者之一的杰奎琳·穆莱凯迪特对于那段记忆仍然记忆犹新。

She was only nine years old in 1994.

在1994年的她还只有9岁。

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“I still see women and children in my mind, vividly⁸ remember them being dragged to their death.

“在我脑海里仍然记得妇女和儿童,她们濒临生死边缘时刻的情景仍然历历在目。

I still hear the voices of children whom I had to listen to; whose arms and legs have been cut off; they'd be crying for their mothers and fathers who have already been killed."

我仍然听到孩子的哭喊;他们的胳膊和腿都被砍断,他们因为已经被杀害的父母嚎啕大哭。”

Murekatete lost her parents, her six siblings⁹ and part of her extended family.

穆莱凯迪特失去了她的父母,她的六个兄弟姐妹,自己大家庭的一部分。

She said it's important to become actively¹⁰ involved in her country's healing, since there still are many challenges.

她表示积极投身于国家的恢复中来至关重要,因为这个国家仍然面临许多挑战。

“A lot of women were raped¹¹ and intentionally¹² infected with HIV/AIDS.

“很多妇女被强奸而且故意感染艾滋病毒。

There are children who were born of those rapes¹³ and are just now coming to terms with their identity because they are learning the circumstances of their birth.”

很多新生儿的出生都因为这些强奸案而且因为出生证明被迫作出妥协,因为他们正在努力适应周围的环境。”

Edouard Kayihura, another genocide survivor, said there is one thing that haunts him.

另一位种族灭绝的幸存者爱德华·凯伊胡拉称有件事情一直让他揪心。

“I lost parents, I lost cousins.

“我失去了父母,失去了兄弟。

I lost everyone in my family.

我失去了所有家人。

It's now me alone… Why did I survive?

现在我是孤身一人…为什么我会存活下来?

Maybe to tell this story.”

也许是要告诉他人我所亲身经历的这个故事。”

Rwandan diplomat¹⁴ Yvette Rugasaguhunga said unity³ is important in moving on.

卢旺达外交官耶迪·拉加萨古加表示团结非常重要。

"The unity has to really go beyond the borders of Rwanda.

“团结真正的超越卢旺达的边界。

That's why we invited the world to commemorate with us to reflect on the lessons and make sure that never again is actually a reality in the world.”

这就是为什么邀请世界与我们纪念反思这场血的教训,并确保现实世界不再有同样的事情发生。”

Gaetan Gatete, the head of the Rwandan-American community in the U.S., said he thought the world had learned its lesson.

美国的卢美社区主管局长格谭·加迪表示他认为世界也已经吸取了教训。

“But unfortunately, after 20 years, we are still seeing it happen all over the world… in Central Africa and South Sudan.”

“但不幸的是,20年后,我们仍然能够在世界各地看到它发生…尤其是在非洲中部和南部苏丹。”

Still, his message is one of hope.

不过,他也表达出希望。

“We just don't want to stay in 1994.

“我们只是不想再回到1994年。

There's more to what happened to Rwanda.

相比卢旺达所发生的有更重要的事情等待我们去做。

There's a rebuilding of the country and of its people.”

这就是国家的重建的及让人民重拾信心。”

Rwanda's ambassador to the U.S., Mathilde Mukantabana, said that while commemorating the genocide means reliving very difficult moments, it's still important to find answers to why there was such hatred¹⁵ in her country.

卢旺达驻美国大使玛蒂尔德·穆卡塔巴娜表示尽管纪念大屠杀意味着重温那段艰辛时刻,找到为什么在她的国家有这样的仇恨的答案仍然至关重要。

She said that she and others owe it to the victims, survivors and future generations to keep searching for answers.

 

她表示继续寻找答案是她和其他人对受害者,幸存者和子孙后代们所应该补偿的。

1 commemorate   

vt.纪念，庆祝

参考例句：

• This building was built to commemorate the Fire of London.这栋大楼是为纪念“伦敦大火”而兴建的。
• We commemorate the founding of our nation with a public holiday.我们放假一日以庆祝国庆。

2 commemorating   

v.纪念，庆祝( commemorate的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• He was presented with a scroll commemorating his achievements. 他被授予一幅卷轴，以表彰其所做出的成就。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The post office issued a series commemorating famous American entertainers. 邮局发行了一个纪念美国著名演艺人员的系列邮票。 来自互联网

3 unity   

n.团结，联合，统一；和睦，协调

参考例句：

• When we speak of unity,we do not mean unprincipled peace.所谓团结，并非一团和气。
• We must strengthen our unity in the face of powerful enemies.大敌当前，我们必须加强团结。

4 survivor   

n.生存者，残存者，幸存者

参考例句：

• The sole survivor of the crash was an infant.这次撞车的惟一幸存者是一个婴儿。
• There was only one survivor of the plane crash.这次飞机失事中只有一名幸存者。

5 survivors   

幸存者，残存者，生还者( survivor的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The survivors were adrift in a lifeboat for six days. 幸存者在救生艇上漂流了六天。
• survivors clinging to a raft 紧紧抓住救生筏的幸存者

6 activists   

n.（政治活动的）积极分子，活动家( activist的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• His research work was attacked by animal rights activists . 他的研究受到了动物权益维护者的抨击。
• Party activists with lower middle class pedigrees are numerous. 党的激进分子中有很多出身于中产阶级下层。 来自《简明英汉词典》

7 reminder   

n.提醒物，纪念品；暗示，提示

参考例句：

• I have had another reminder from the library.我又收到图书馆的催还单。
• It always took a final reminder to get her to pay her share of the rent.总是得发给她一份最后催缴通知，她才付应该交的房租。

8 vividly   

adv.清楚地，鲜明地，生动地

参考例句：

• The speaker pictured the suffering of the poor vividly.演讲者很生动地描述了穷人的生活。
• The characters in the book are vividly presented.这本书里的人物写得栩栩如生。

9 siblings   

n.兄弟，姐妹( sibling的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• A triplet sleeps amongst its two siblings. 一个三胞胎睡在其两个同胞之间。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• She has no way of tracking the donor or her half-siblings down. 她没办法找到那个捐精者或她的兄弟姐妹。 来自时文部分

10 actively   

adv.积极地，勤奋地

参考例句：

• During this period all the students were actively participating.在这节课中所有的学生都积极参加。
• We are actively intervening to settle a quarrel.我们正在积极调解争执。

11 raped   

v.以暴力夺取，强夺( rape的过去式和过去分词 )；强奸

参考例句：

• A young woman was brutally raped in her own home. 一名年轻女子在自己家中惨遭强暴。 来自辞典例句
• We got stick together, or we will be having our women raped. 我们得团结一致，不然我们的妻女就会遭到蹂躏。 来自辞典例句

12 intentionally   

ad.故意地，有意地

参考例句：

• I didn't say it intentionally. 我是无心说的。
• The local authority ruled that he had made himself intentionally homeless and was therefore not entitled to be rehoused. 当地政府裁定他是有意居无定所，因此没有资格再获得提供住房。

13 rapes   

n.芸苔( rape的名词复数 )；强奸罪；强奸案；肆意损坏v.以暴力夺取，强夺( rape的第三人称单数 )；强奸

参考例句：

• The man who had committed several rapes was arrested. 那个犯了多起强奸案的男人被抓起来了。 来自辞典例句
• The incidence of reported rapes rose 0.8 percent. 美国联邦调查局还发布了两份特别报告。 来自互联网

14 diplomat   

n.外交官，外交家；能交际的人，圆滑的人

参考例句：

• The diplomat threw in a joke, and the tension was instantly relieved.那位外交官插进一个笑话，紧张的气氛顿时缓和下来。
• He served as a diplomat in Russia before the war.战前他在俄罗斯当外交官。

15 hatred   

n.憎恶，憎恨，仇恨

参考例句：

• He looked at me with hatred in his eyes.他以憎恨的眼光望着我。
• The old man was seized with burning hatred for the fascists.老人对法西斯主义者充满了仇恨。