云南地震引发志愿者角色讨论

Five days after an earthquake killed hundreds in southwestern China, a debate is swirling around the mob of volunteers who flooded into the disaster zone, demonstrating how the world's most-populous country continues to grapple with the role charitable groups should play in society.

云南发生地震后数日，人们围绕大量志愿者涌向地震灾区展开了一场讨论，表明中国继续被慈善组织应该在社会中扮演什么角色这一问题所困扰。

After the 6.1-magnitude tremor struck the county of Ludian, in northern Yunnan province, on Sunday, thousands of volunteers rushed into affected areas, clogging roads and making it harder for authorities to send in supplies and remove the wounded. That sparked public criticism and led authorities to ramp up restrictions on private cars entering the area.

中国云南鲁甸县8月3日发生了6.1级地震，已导致数百人丧生，上千名志愿者闻讯赶来，导致公路拥堵，使得官方在派发救援物资以及运送伤员方面面临更大的困难。公众对此提出批评，并且有关部门对私家车进入灾区增加了限制。

Yet some better-organized private groups have played an important part in handling unpleasant tasks such as digging survivors and the dead out of the rubble, residents and officials say. That has convinced some officials that civil-society groups and private volunteers--sometimes seen as threatening to the Communist Party, particularly when concentrating on national issues--should be encouraged to play a bigger role in relief efforts.

然而，当地居民和官员们表示，一些有组织的私人团体在处理棘手事务上确实起到了重要作用，例如从废墟中挖出幸存者和尸体。因此，一些官员认为，应该鼓励民间社会团体和私人志愿者在救灾工作中发挥更重要的作用。

'Some were there the first night, pulling people out,' said one member of China's People's Armed Police, who was among the first to arrive in the quake zone. 'They've been a huge help.'

一名第一批抵达地震灾区的武警说，地震发生当晚一些志愿者就已经抵达了地震现场，参与救援，他们提供了很大的帮助。

There was still much work to be done on Friday, as the death toll rose to 617, with many more injured, according to state media. Aftershocks continued to shake the area as troops and volunteers pushed further into the mountains to help people in distant villages, while authorities began to contemplate longer-term efforts that will be needed to rebuild.

据官方媒体报道，仍有大量工作需要完成，地震死亡人数已经升至617人，受伤人数仍在上升。该地区继续遭遇余震，部队和志愿者进一步深入山区，向边远山村的人们提供帮助，同时政府开始考虑长期灾后重建工作。

It wasn't clear on Friday exactly how many volunteers had entered Ludian. The local government official in charge of managing volunteers declined to comment.

截至上周五，尚不清楚到底有多少志愿者进入了鲁甸。负责志愿者管理工作的当地政府官员未予置评。

The debate over how much leeway to give private aid groups is an important one for China. Authorities have long feared that domestic and international charitable groups could morph into political activism or foster more criticism of the government, as they have in other countries.

在中国，有关应该给民间援助团体留下多大活动余地的问题受到热烈讨论。其他国家的一些案例令中国当局一直以来都担心，国内外慈善团体可能转变为具有政治倾向的激进组织，或者可能令政府招致更多批评。

Chinese President Xi Jinping has led a crackdown on other parts of civil society recently, with authorities detaining or jailing dozens of activists and rights lawyers, while also ordering a nationwide investigation into foreign nongovernmental groups and their local partners which authorities worry could stir up trouble.

中国国家主席习近平近期已经带头对其他领域的民间团体实施了打压，政府部门逮捕或关押了数十名活动人士和维权律师，此外当局还在全国范围内对海外非政府团体及其本地合作方开展调查，原因是担心这些团体可能煽动矛盾。

'The ambiguity with which Chinese authorities have faced civil society has always been profound and, of late, more evident,' said Orville Schell, director of the Asia Society's Center on U.S.-China Relations.

亚洲协会美中关系中心(Asia Society's Center on U.S.-China Relations)主任夏伟(Orville Schell)表示，中国当局对待民间团体的态度一直非常含糊，近期这一点变得更加明显。

Yet there is also a growing recognition among many Chinese that private groups are needed to help respond to crises that stretch official resources. Although authorities have generally gotten good marks for their work in Ludian so far, experts say they may lack capacity for more-sophisticated relief such as psychological counseling or child protection.

不过中国民众也日益认识到，在遇到一些令官方疲于应对的危机时，需要得到民间团体的帮助。虽然到目前为止，中国当局在鲁甸的救灾行动总体获得好评，但专家们认为，在开展心理辅导或儿童保护等较为复杂的援助方面，政府部门的力量可能不够。

'Our experience is that the government is starting to recognize the value-added that the NGOs can deliver,' said Mike Bruce, a regional media and advocacy specialist for Plan International, a children's development group. He said provincial authorities granted Plan permission to send in an emergency response team on Monday morning, just hours after the quake occurred.

儿童发展组织Plan International的区域媒体和宣传专家布鲁斯(Mike Bruce)说，按照他们的经验，政府已经逐渐意识到了非政府组织(NGO)能够带来的附加价值。他说，就在地震发生之后数小时，中国的省级政府就给予了Plan International批准，允许其于上周一上午派出一支紧急应答队伍。

Getting official buy-in for programs in China 'has been a gradual process, but that is a gradual process that has been getting better,' he said.

布鲁斯说，在中国，得到官方的支持是一个循序渐进的过程，但这一过程正渐渐变得越来越顺畅。

The emergence of more-active private aid efforts in China dates back to the 2008 Sichuan earthquake, when large numbers of residents spontaneously rushed to affected areas to help. Many volunteers were critical of the government response, and of the shoddy school construction that led to thousands of deaths in the area.

中国民间积极参与救援活动的兴起，要追溯至2008年的四川地震，当时大批中国公民自发地赶赴灾区救援。许多志愿者对于政府的反应非常不满，而且当地糟糕的教学楼质量造成数千学生伤亡，也令他们十分愤怒。

They also occasionally sowed chaos, burdening limited food supplies and getting in the way of rescue efforts.

不过，志愿者们偶尔也会给局面添乱，他们的到来使得本就有限的食物供应更加紧张，还妨碍了救援工作。

Since then, private groups have become more sophisticated, with better equipment and logistics, and in some cases have tried working more closely with public officials to smooth over tensions. Some--sporting matching uniforms so that residents will take them more seriously--are now virtually indistinguishable from the troops and police they are helping.

自那时以来，民间救助组织变得越来越经验丰富，他们配置了更好的设备和物流工具，有些时候还尝试与政府官员更密切合作，缓和紧张局面。一些队伍穿上了统一的制服，以便得到灾区人民更认真的看待，现在，前来助军队、警察一臂之力的他们已经几乎能够和官方队伍做得一样好了。

Authorities have also become more organized about bringing volunteers under their wings, setting up check-in centers where officials can track them and disperse information. The result is a growing number of experienced rescue groups that function at times as an extension of the government, while also serving as an outlet for the swelling numbers of Chinese who want to participate.

当局也把志愿者更好地组织起来，设立登记中心，以便官方联络他们和散发信息。结果是，偶尔充当政府救援力量补充的有经验救援组织数量越来越多，它们同时也充当了越来越多的想要参加救灾工作的中国志愿者的一个枢纽机构。

One such group, from northern China's Hebei province, is managed and funded by Wang Wenzhong, a former soldier who went on to make millions in the clothing business in Beijing before returning to his hometown to serve as the local Communist Party Secretary.

王文忠就在河北省出资成立并管理着这样一个组织。王文忠退伍后在北京做服装生意，赚了许多钱，然后回到了家乡担任地方党支部书记。

Mr. Wang led a team of 10, all outfitted in army surplus fatigues, into Ludian on Tuesday, bringing with him a van filled with supplies worth 30,000 yuan, or nearly $5,000. Mr. Wang, who's been to seven earthquake zones, said he has modeled his life on Lei Feng, a fictional good Samaritan soldier held up by Mao Zedong as a moral model.

王文忠周二带领着一只10人组成的团队，统一穿着军工装，进入了鲁甸，他还带了一辆面包车，装载了价值人民币3万元的供给品。曾经到过七个地震灾区的王文忠表示，他的人生楷模是雷锋。士兵雷锋是毛泽东树立的一个助人为乐的道德模范。

'I was helped by so many others when I was younger, so this is my way of giving back,' he said.

王文忠说，自己年轻的时候曾经受到许多人的帮助，所以这是他回馈社会的方式。

On the drive into Ludian, Mr. Wang coordinated with the local state-run TV station and officials in the county seat to determine where the group was most needed, something he said he learned to do after Sichuan. After waiting for approval to enter the quake zone, his team spent three days passing out goods they brought and helping authorities distribute medicine.

在驱车前往鲁甸的时候，王文忠和当地国有电视台及县政府官员进行了协调，确定了哪里是最需要其团队的地方，他说这是他在四川地震之后学到的一件事情。在获准进入灾区后，他的团队花了三天时间分发所携带的物品，并且帮助当局分发药物。

Not all volunteers have been so experienced or conscientious. Many are students visiting a disaster area for the first time. Especially in the first few days after the earthquake, a number of them wandered aimlessly around the collapsed houses, snapping selfies in front of the wreckage.

并不是所有的志愿者都富有经验和认真负责。很多志愿者都是首次来到灾区的学生。特别是在灾后的头几天，有不少志愿者都在倒塌的房屋周围漫无目的地转悠，在废墟前面自拍。

'Authorities are reacting faster and behaving more professionally,' so they don't need volunteers to rush in, said Zhang Haitao, a 21-year-old college student in Beijing who called the restrictions on traffic in Ludian 'a good thing.'

北京21岁的大学生张海涛表示，当局反应比以前更迅速、也更专业，所以不需要这些志愿者一窝蜂赶来。他说，鲁甸限行是好事。

'Some people just want to run up the mountain by themselves to dig out bodies or see what an earthquake looks like,' added Liu Yan, the manager of a volunteer service stand set up by the Communist Youth League next to the government's relief headquarters. 'We don't have any place for them.'

一个由共青团设立的志愿者服务站的负责人刘艳（音）表示，一些人只想着自己爬山去救人或是看看地震是什么样子。她说，现在也没有地方安置这些人。

Still, she said, the Communist Youth League had registered more than 3,000 volunteers willing to forgo the glamour for grunt work like bringing supplies to earthquake victims, cleaning, and cooking.

她表示，共青团有超过3,000名志愿者愿意做那些并不风光的繁重工作，例如为灾民送物资、打扫卫生、做饭。

In the first 72-hours--the time when survivors are most likely to be found--volunteers need to step aside and let the government take the lead, said Gu Linsheng, executive director of Sichuan University's Institute for Disaster Management and Reconstruction.

四川大学灾后重建与管理学院执行院长顾林生表示，在震后72小时内――也就是找到幸存者可能性最高的时候――志愿者应回避，让政府出面开展工作。

'But in the next stage of after-disaster resettlement, more social force should come in,' he said. 'In regards to the distribution of goods and mental assistance, only (the) government's efforts are not enough.'

他表示，但在接下来的灾后重新安置阶段，需要更多的社会力量参与。他说，在物质和精神帮助方面，只有政府的努力是不够的。