Refugees Once Cut Trees in Uganda, Now Work to Plant Them

Refugees Once Cut Trees in Uganda, Now Work to Plant Them

曾在乌干达砍伐树木的难民，现在致力于种植树木

【听力音频】

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　　By Dan Friedell

　　22 January 2024

　　Enock Twagirayesu was seeking safety when he and his family fled violence in Burundi more than 10 years ago. They found it in Uganda. The small East African nation has taken in thousands of refugees from neighboring countries.

　　Twagirayesu and his family live in Nakivale Refugee Settlement, near the Tanzanian border. There were two children in his family when they arrived in Uganda. Today, there are eight children.

　　Growing families like his -- and the arrival of new refugees -- have put pressure on the land that makes up the settlement.

　　Twenty years ago, the area was a thick forest. Today, the trees are mostly gone. They have been cut down for cooking fuel. When Twagirayesu saw women digging up roots to burn a few years ago, he knew it was time to act.

　　"When the trees are finished, we will also be finished," Twagirayesu said. "Because if there are no trees to be used for cooking, even the people cannot survive."

　　Twagirayesu and two other refugees began planting trees in 2016. That early group quickly grew. Twagirayesu now leads the Nakivale Green Environment Association. Its members carry out what Twagirayesu calls the urgent business of reforesting.

　　Nakivale is the oldest refugee settlement in Africa. It has about 180,000 refugees. Some are from Burundi, while others are from Congo and Rwanda. New people come all the time. Once the refugees register with Uganda, they are granted a small piece of land on which they can live. They can build small homes and plant gardens.

　　Nsamizi Training Institute for Social Development is a local organization. It is supporting the tree-planting activities of Twagirayesu and others. The institute's yearly goal is to plant 300,000 trees.

　　On a recent afternoon, a group of refugees planted baby pine trees on a hill above a school. One of the school's teachers said she hopes the tree-planting project reduces the amount of water that runs off from rains. If it rains too much, the water floods the schoolyard and students are forced to stay inside.

　　Twagirayesu said the group has planted at least 460,000 trees in Nakivale. The trees are pine, acacia and bamboo. The refugees who plant the trees say being able to walk under the tree cover provides them peace.

　　But they also worry officials may one day want to send them home. They believe Ugandan officials may seek to protect the new trees and remove the people from the land.

　　But for now, Twagirayesu says, "when we are walking in the places where we planted trees, we feel much happiness."

　　I'm Dan Friedell.

　　Dan Friedell adapted this story for Learning English based on a report by the Associated Press.

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　　作者：Dan Friedell

　　2024年1月22日

　　十多年前，Enock Twagirayesu和他的家人为了寻求安全，逃离了布隆迪的暴力冲突。他们在乌干达找到了庇护。这个位于东非的小国接纳了来自邻国的数千名难民。

　　Twagirayesu和他的家人住在靠近坦桑尼亚边境的Nakivale难民营。当他们抵达乌干达时，他们家有两个孩子。而现在，他们有八个孩子。

　　像他的家庭这样不断增长的家庭，以及新难民的到来，给难民营的土地带来了压力。

　　二十年前，这个地方是一片茂密的森林。而现在，大部分树木都已经消失。它们被砍伐用作烹饪燃料。几年前，当Twagirayesu看到女人们挖树根烧火时，他知道是时候采取行动了。

　　Twagirayesu说：“当树木消失后，我们也将消失。因为如果没有树木可以用来烹饪，人们甚至无法生存。”

　　2016年，Twagirayesu和另外两名难民开始种植树木。这个初期的小组很快就扩大了。Twagirayesu现在领导着Nakivale绿色环境协会。其成员们正在进行Twagirayesu所说的紧急的重新造林工作。

　　Nakivale是非洲最古老的难民营，大约有180,000名难民。有些人来自布隆迪，而其他人则来自刚果和卢旺达。新的人们一直在来。一旦难民在乌干达注册，他们就会获得一小块可以居住的土地。他们可以在上面建造小房子和种植花园。

　　Nsamizi社会发展培训学院是一个当地的组织，它正在支持Twagirayesu和其他人的植树活动。该学院的年度目标是种植300,000棵树。

　　在最近的一个下午，一群难民在学校上方的山丘上种植了小松树。学校的一位老师说，她希望植树项目能减少雨水的流失。如果雨水过多，会淹没学校的操场，学生们被迫待在室内。

　　Twagirayesu说，该团队在Nakivale至少种植了460,000棵树。这些树是松树、金合欢和竹子。种植这些树的难民们说，能够在树荫下行走让他们感到平静。

　　但他们也担心有一天官员可能会要求他们回家。他们认为乌干达的官员可能会寻求保护新种的树木，并将人们从这片土地上赶走。

　　但是现在，Twagirayesu说，“当我们在我们种植树木的地方行走时，我们感到非常快乐。”

　　我是Dan Friedell。

　　Dan Friedell根据美联社的报道为英语学习改编了这个故事。