美国国家公共电台 NPR Migrant Kids Survive Hardship To Reunite With Parents. Then What?

 Migrant Kids Survive Hardship To Reunite With Parents. Then What?

SCOTT SIMON, HOST:

We've heard a good deal lately about migrant families being separated at the southern border, but most migrant children coming to the U.S. from Central America in recent years arrive without their mothers or fathers. They travel alone or with a sibling¹ to reunite with a parent who's already living here. That reunification, after years of separation, rarely goes as smoothly² as everyone hopes. NPR's Rhitu Chatterjee has the story.

RHITU CHATTERJEE, BYLINE³: Ericka and her younger sister Angeles came to the United States from El Salvador.

ERICKA: (Through interpreter) I remember it was the 5 of September that we left from there.

CHATTERJEE: That was September 2016. She was 17, and her sister, only 12. Their grandmother, who raised them, had just passed away, and the family decided⁴ it was best for the girls to join their mother in suburban⁵ Washington, D.C. Their older brother would stay behind for now.

The siblings⁶ hadn't seen their mom in more than a decade.

ERICKA: (Through interpreter) Practically, I couldn't remember her because I was really little when she left.

CHATTERJEE: But when her mom came to pick them up at the airport, their reunion was emotional. Angeles says she burst out crying.

ANGELES: (Through interpreter) I cried because I was happy. I only knew her through photos.

CHATTERJEE: Their mother, Fatima, had moved to the U.S. so she could provide a better life for her kids back home. We're not using her last name because she's undocumented and her daughters are now seeking asylum⁷. Fatima says she was overjoyed to see her daughters again.

FATIMA: (Through interpreter) What I wanted most was to touch them and have them with me. It was really emotional because as a mother, you want your kids with you.

CHATTERJEE: They were beyond happy to be together, but Fatima says living together was hard in the beginning. For example, Angeles acted out a lot at home and in school.

FATIMA: (Through interpreter) She would be really rebellious⁸ in school. Sometimes her schoolmates would tease her because she didn't speak English. But she'd say, I have a pupusa face, I only speak Spanish.

CHATTERJEE: She also took frequent bathroom breaks at school and wanted to eat all the time. Ericka says she used to have nightmares about their journey to the U.S., traveling for weeks with a group of strangers, not knowing where they'd sleep each night or whether they were safe. And in those first months in this country, she says she was anxious a lot.

ERICKA: (Through interpreter) It was a little hard 'cause you have to adapt to something new. How do you start over?

CHATTERJEE: And she desperately⁹ missed her brother, Billy.

ERICKA: (Through interpreter) We were always together since we were little. And we never imagined that at some moment, we'd be separated.

CHATTERJEE: This longing¹⁰ for family left behind, the nightmares, the stress-eating - these are common experiences for children who come to this country unaccompanied. Rachel Osborn is a licensed¹¹ social worker at Mary's Center, a health clinic in Washington, D.C.

RACHEL OSBORN: To try to understand the reality of what it's like to be an unaccompanied minor¹² or any type of migrant youth, you really have to suspend your belief of what's normal.

CHATTERJEE: Osborn works with migrant youth, and she says these kids have to deal with a mountain of challenges. There's the stress of adapting to a new country, learning a new language. And she says...

OSBORN: They have these layers of trauma¹³ that have been layered on top of each other. And so they come into school, and they are carrying the enormous, you know, weight of their stories with them.

CHATTERJEE: The journey to the U.S. without the protection of a parent is often traumatic, she says, as is their time in detention¹⁴ centers or shelters. In the case of Ericka and Angeles, they were separated for a few days at a shelter in Texas. Osborn says these are kids who've had to survive multiple separations from their family members.

OSBORN: There's been these major breaks in consistent, reliable caregiving. That is what we know helps the child develop, you know, a sense of being safe in the world, of being protected, of not feeling vulnerable, of being comforted.

CHATTERJEE: And very often, the parents are coping with their own traumas¹⁵ and the stress of being undocumented. All of this together creates a toxic¹⁶ stew¹⁷ that gets in the way of families building a happy life together. Luckily, for Fatima and her daughters, they got some help through a program at Fairfax County Public Schools in Virginia.

ROSARIO CARRASCO: OK. My name is Rosario Carrasco (ph).

CHATTERJEE: Carrasco is a parent liaison¹⁸ with the school system and leads a three-day workshop called Families Reunite.

CARRASCO: (Through interpreter) I truly believe that a family given the proper tools can overcome all this.

CHATTERJEE: She says the most important tool is communication because most immigrant families she's worked with don't talk about things that hurt them. Carrasco helps change that by encouraging them to talk openly with each other.

CARRASCO: (Through interpreter) They can sit down and talk about their feelings and figure out how they're going to act going forward.

CHATTERJEE: She also teaches positive parenting skills. Fatima and her younger daughter, Angeles, participated last year, and it really helped.

ANGELES: (Through interpreter) I listen to my mom now, and I understand her. Before, I didn't really understand where she was coming from.

CHATTERJEE: These days, they do activities together, like go to church or cook. On this evening, Angeles helped her mother make tortillas and chicken for dinner.

FATIMA: (Speaking Spanish).

CHATTERJEE: The sisters still struggle with speaking English, fitting in at school, but Ericka says they've come a long way.

ERICKA: (Through interpreter) I mean, it's hard. But as time goes on, you get used to it and the hard times get left behind.

CHATTERJEE: She says what helps make it a little easier now is having their mother with them. Rhitu Chatterjee, NPR News.

1 sibling   

n.同胞手足(指兄、弟、姐或妹)

参考例句：

• Many of us hate living in the shadows of a more successful sibling.我们很多人都讨厌活在更为成功的手足的阴影下。
• Sibling ravalry has been common in this family.这个家里，兄弟姊妹之间的矛盾很平常。

2 smoothly   

adv.平滑地，顺利地，流利地，流畅地

参考例句：

• The workmen are very cooperative,so the work goes on smoothly.工人们十分合作，所以工作进展顺利。
• Just change one or two words and the sentence will read smoothly.这句话只要动一两个字就顺了。

3 byline   

n.署名；v.署名

参考例句：

• His byline was absent as well.他的署名也不见了。
• We wish to thank the author of this article which carries no byline.我们要感谢这篇文章的那位没有署名的作者。

4 decided   

adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的

参考例句：

• This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
• There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。

5 suburban   

adj.城郊的，在郊区的

参考例句：

• Suburban shopping centers were springing up all over America. 效区的商业中心在美国如雨后春笋般地兴起。
• There's a lot of good things about suburban living.郊区生活是有许多优点。

6 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

7 asylum   

n.避难所，庇护所，避难

参考例句：

• The people ask for political asylum.人们请求政治避难。
• Having sought asylum in the West for many years,they were eventually granted it.他们最终获得了在西方寻求多年的避难权。

8 rebellious   

adj.造反的，反抗的，难控制的

参考例句：

• They will be in danger if they are rebellious.如果他们造反，他们就要发生危险。
• Her reply was mild enough,but her thoughts were rebellious.她的回答虽然很温和，但她的心里十分反感。

9 desperately   

adv.极度渴望地，绝望地，孤注一掷地

参考例句：

• He was desperately seeking a way to see her again.他正拼命想办法再见她一面。
• He longed desperately to be back at home.他非常渴望回家。

10 longing   

n.（for）渴望

参考例句：

• Hearing the tune again sent waves of longing through her.再次听到那首曲子使她胸中充满了渴望。
• His heart burned with longing for revenge.他心中燃烧着急欲复仇的怒火。

11 licensed   

adj.得到许可的v.许可，颁发执照(license的过去式和过去分词)

参考例句：

• The new drug has not yet been licensed in the US. 这种新药尚未在美国获得许可。
• Is that gun licensed? 那支枪有持枪执照吗？

12 minor   

adj.较小(少)的，较次要的；n.辅修学科；vi.辅修

参考例句：

• The young actor was given a minor part in the new play.年轻的男演员在这出新戏里被分派担任一个小角色。
• I gave him a minor share of my wealth.我把小部分财产给了他。

13 trauma   

n.外伤，精神创伤

参考例句：

• Counselling is helping him work through this trauma.心理辅导正帮助他面对痛苦。
• The phobia may have its root in a childhood trauma.恐惧症可能源于童年时期的创伤。

14 detention   

n.滞留，停留；拘留，扣留；(教育)留下

参考例句：

• He was kept in detention by the police.他被警察扣留了。
• He was in detention in connection with the bribery affair.他因与贿赂事件有牵连而被拘留了。

15 traumas   

n.心灵创伤( trauma的名词复数 )；损伤；痛苦经历；挫折

参考例句：

• She felt exhausted after the traumas of recent weeks. 她经受了最近几个星期的痛苦之后感到精疲力竭。
• Conclusion: Safety lens of spectacles can protect the occurrence of ocular traumas. 结论：安全镜片可以预防眼镜碎片所致的眼外伤。 来自互联网

16 toxic   

adj.有毒的，因中毒引起的

参考例句：

• The factory had accidentally released a quantity of toxic waste into the sea.这家工厂意外泄漏大量有毒废物到海中。
• There is a risk that toxic chemicals might be blasted into the atmosphere.爆炸后有毒化学物质可能会进入大气层。

17 stew   

n.炖汤，焖，烦恼；v.炖汤，焖，忧虑

参考例句：

• The stew must be boiled up before serving.炖肉必须煮熟才能上桌。
• There's no need to get in a stew.没有必要烦恼。

18 liaison   

n.联系，（未婚男女间的）暖昧关系，私通

参考例句：

• She acts as a liaison between patients and staff.她在病人与医护人员间充当沟通的桥梁。
• She is responsible for liaison with researchers at other universities.她负责与其他大学的研究人员联系。