VOA标准英语2012--Surgeons Volunteer to Improve Liberian Health Care

Surgeons Volunteer to Improve Liberian Health Care

Although fighting ended in Liberia in 2003, the country remains¹ on a long road to recovery from civil war. Poverty, a lack of development and little health care are among the challenges facing the government. But a group of volunteer surgeons has visited this week Liberia to provide services rarely seen in that country.
The team of surgeons from Project Hope spent several days at Phebe Hospital in Bong County. That’s north of the capital Monrovia.
No surprises
Dr. Jonathan Laryea, who led the medical team, says they were not surprised by what they found.
“We had done some background checks on what was going on in Liberia. And so, we kind of had a pretty decent idea of what to expect. And then secondly², an advance team came in. two of us came in earlier, to make kind of an assessment³ before the rest of the team came in,” he said.
Liberia’s civil war took a heavy toll⁴ on civilians⁵, infrastructure⁶ and social services, including health care.
“They have very few medical personnel in this country. I think the long period of civil war just decimated the country. Most of the doctors that were already here left. And then for that prolonged period of time of the war they were not training new doctors and any new medical personnel. And so that has really made it a very difficult situation for them in terms of health care,” he said.
He estimates there are fewer than 10 surgeons in a country of 4 million people. The statistics are similar for other medical specialties⁷, as well.
In the OR
Laryea and the Project Hope team performed many surgeries at Phebe Hospital, but he says he just can’t remember how many. He gives a few examples.
“Removing large goiters, some of which were pretty complicated. We did a bunch of hernias. We operated on a trauma⁸ patient and a Crohn’s disease patient. And then we did a complex uteral reimplantation surgery on somebody who had had a fistula as a result of childbirth,” he said.
Obstetric fistula is a tear or hole between the birth canal and the bladder or rectum that results from prolonged or difficult labor⁹. Left uncorrected, the woman is unable to control her urine or bowel¹⁰ content. She is often shunned¹¹ by her family because of the constant odor.
Following the surgeries, the doctors also instructed Liberian medical students. It’s part of the effort to help rebuild health infrastructure. It’s estimated the country has only one hospital bed for every 1,000 people in the country.
Project Hope, which is based in the U.S. state of Virginia, has been providing humanitarian¹² assistance since 1958. It has programs in more than 35 countries.

1 remains   

n.剩余物，残留物；遗体，遗迹

参考例句：

• He ate the remains of food hungrily.他狼吞虎咽地吃剩余的食物。
• The remains of the meal were fed to the dog.残羹剩饭喂狗了。

2 secondly   

adv.第二，其次

参考例句：

• Secondly,use your own head and present your point of view.第二，动脑筋提出自己的见解。
• Secondly it is necessary to define the applied load.其次，需要确定所作用的载荷。

3 assessment   

n.评价；评估；对财产的估价，被估定的金额

参考例句：

• This is a very perceptive assessment of the situation.这是一个对该情况的极富洞察力的评价。
• What is your assessment of the situation?你对时局的看法如何？

4 toll   

n.过路(桥)费；损失，伤亡人数；v.敲(钟)

参考例句：

• The hailstone took a heavy toll of the crops in our village last night.昨晚那场冰雹损坏了我们村的庄稼。
• The war took a heavy toll of human life.这次战争夺去了许多人的生命。

5 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。

6 infrastructure   

n.下部构造，下部组织，基础结构，基础设施

参考例句：

• We should step up the development of infrastructure for research.加强科学基础设施建设。
• We should strengthen cultural infrastructure and boost various types of popular culture.加强文化基础设施建设，发展各类群众文化。

7 specialties   

n.专门，特性，特别；专业( specialty的名词复数 )；特性；特制品；盖印的契约

参考例句：

• Great Books are popular, not pedantic. They are not written by specialists about specialties for specialists. 名著绝不引经据典，艰深难懂，而是通俗易读。它们不是专家为专业人员撰写的专业书籍。 来自英汉 - 翻译样例 - 文学
• Brain drains may represent a substantial reduction in some labor force skills and specialties. 智力外流可能表示某种劳动力技能和特长大量减少。 来自辞典例句

8 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。

9 labor   

n.劳动，努力，工作，劳工；分娩；vi.劳动，努力，苦干；vt.详细分析；麻烦

参考例句：

• We are never late in satisfying him for his labor.我们从不延误付给他劳动报酬。
• He was completely spent after two weeks of hard labor.艰苦劳动两周后，他已经疲惫不堪了。

10 bowel   

n.肠(尤指人肠)；内部，深处

参考例句：

• Irritable bowel syndrome seems to affect more women than men.女性比男性更易患肠易激综合征。
• Have you had a bowel movement today?你今天有排便吗？

11 shunned   

v.避开，回避，避免( shun的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• She was shunned by her family when she remarried. 她再婚后家里人都躲着她。
• He was a shy man who shunned all publicity. 他是个怕羞的人，总是避开一切引人注目的活动。 来自《简明英汉词典》

12 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。