灾区动态: 芦山地震灾区的志愿者们

The devastating earthquake that struck Sichuan province in southwest China on Saturday hit close to home for Liao Wenjun.

上周六发生在中国西南四川省的破坏力巨大的地震，对廖文俊（音译）的打击很大。

Pausing from his rice bowl during lunch break at a military hospital in Shengli, a village near the epicentre, the 30-year-old doctor recalled the traumatic event that claimed the lives of almost 200 people and injured another 12,000. “Some of my relatives were buried in the rubble, and we still haven’t pulled them out,” he said.

在靠近震中的胜利村的一家解放军医院，这名30岁的医生在午休期间放下饭碗，回顾这个已导致近200人死亡、1.2万人受伤的创伤性事件。“我有一些亲戚被埋在废墟下，我们还没有把他们救出来，”他说。

Gesturing at the main street where houses lie like dropped matchsticks, he added without showing much emotion: “Our house is just down there.”

他指着房屋大面积倒塌、就像散落的火柴一样堆着的主要街道，然后脸上没什么表情地补充说：“我家的房子就在那边。”

In Shengli, and other areas in the badly affected Lushan county, devastation from the worst quake to hit the area since 2008 met the eye everywhere.

在胜利村以及芦山县境内其它严重受灾地区，地震造成的破坏比比皆是。芦山地震是自2008年以来中国发生的最大地震。

Loose beams and broken furniture were scattered on the main street in Shengli – which means “victory” in Chinese – and the remaining buildings were too dangerous to enter.

在胜利村的主要街道上，散布着脱落的横梁和受损的家具，仍未倒塌的建筑物岌岌可危，不能进入。

“Get out of there right now!” yelled an army officer when he spotted a colleague trying to buy batteries in a shop.

“快点出来！”一名军官在看到一个同事试图从商店购买电池的时候大声喊道。

With aftershocks rocking the area repeatedly yesterday, villagers froze in fear each time they felt a fresh tremor. But the situation in Shengli and nearby villages paled in comparison with the 2008 quake that killed 90,000.

昨日当地仍不断发生余震，村民们每次感觉到地动的时候，都吓得不敢动。不过，胜利村及邻近村子的情况与2008年导致9万人死亡的汶川大地震不可同日而语。

One silver lining from that disaster was it sparked a big increase in civic involvement in disaster relief.

那场灾难之后的一大进步，就是公民参与救灾的积极性大幅提高。

Over the weekend, volunteers – many with hand-painted “earthquake rescue” signs taped to their cars – flocked to the disaster area. On the road to Longmen, a village where most houses were destroyed, so many private cars arrived with donations – mostly water, instant noodles and blankets – that police started turning them away because of heavy road congestion. Later yesterday, China’s cabinet said only official groups would be allowed access to reduce the traffic congestion.

在刚刚过去的这个周末，大量志愿者赶往灾区，其中许多人的汽车上贴着手写的“地震救援”标记。在通往龙门乡（那里的多数房屋被毁）的道路上，众多私家车带着饮用水、方便面和毯子前来救灾，导致道路严重阻塞，警察开始指挥后面的汽车掉头返回。昨日稍后，中国国务院宣布，为减轻交通拥堵，只允许官方组织进入灾区。

“In 2008, we all donated money but this time we decided to come ourselves to help,” said one man riding on a scooter as two friends rode astride another one. “We felt the earthquake in our county too but we know it is much worse over there, so we want to do whatever we can.”

“2008年，我们都捐了钱，但这一次我们决定自己赶来出一把力，”一名骑在轻型摩托车上的男子说道。他的两个朋友骑在另一辆车上。“我们在自己的县里也感觉到地震，但我们知道灾区的情况糟糕得多，所以我们想要尽力而为。”

Others were more organised. Feng Guangliang, an evangelical Christian from Hangzhou in east China, said his church formed a rapid-response team after the 2008 quake. Beijing tightly controls religious activities but independent churches are increasingly being tolerated when they operate in crisis areas.

其他人则更有组织。来自华东杭州市的福音派基督徒冯光良（音译）介绍说，他所在的教会在2008年四川地震后组建了一个快速反应团队。北京方面对宗教活动严加管制，但在危机地区，独立教会的工作日益得到容忍。

“We wanted a way to show God’s love,” said Mr Feng. “We bought a car that we keep in Chengdu, so we can be quick to arrive when there are earthquakes.”

“我们希望有一条途径显示主的爱，”冯光良表示。“我们买了一辆汽车放在成都待命，这样我们在发生地震后能够快速赶来。”

The government has tried to harness such enthusiasm via an official volunteer programme.

政府试图通过官方的志愿者计划来调动救灾热情。

“There were hundreds of people in line when we signed up to volunteer,” said Yang Ya, a 21-year-old who wandered through Shengli with his friends carrying a Chinese flag and a Communist flag. But the young men, who grew up in nearby Fenghuan village, were unsure how they would be able to help.

“我们报名成为志愿者时，有几百人排队，”21岁的杨亚（音译）表示。他和几个朋友举着一面中国国旗和一面中共党旗在胜利村走来走去。但这些在附近的凤凰村长大的年轻男子不太清楚自己能帮上什么忙。

Government rapid- response teams also had a large visible presence. The narrow mountain roads near the disaster zones were crammed with earth diggers, water trucks, ambulances and military convoys. Mobile phone repair crews were also mobilised and service had been restored to much of the area by last night.

政府的快速反应救援团队也随处可见。在靠近灾区的狭窄山路上，挤满了挖土机、水车、救护车和军车车队。移动通信网络的维修人员也投入抢修，截至昨晚，大部分地区的手机服务已经恢复。

But not all of the official rescue efforts have gone smoothly. A convoy carrying thousands of tents was unable to reach the quake zone because the tents were loaded on to trucks too big for the mountain roads.

但并不是所有官方救援努力都顺利展开。运载着数千顶帐篷的一个车队无法抵达灾区，因为这些卡车太大了，无法在山路上行驶。

As a result, many families spent their first night after the earthquake in makeshift shelters they pitched on the street. Villagers also complained of a lack of food and water, since water supplies have been cut off.

结果，很多家庭在街上搭起的简易小棚度过震后第一晚。村民们还抱怨缺乏食物和饮用水，因为供水中断了。

“So many people come here but they all come empty-handed,” complained Yuan Shihua, a former village head of a hamlet in Taiping county. “There are lots of doctors, but we don’t have water or electricity. We’ve had no supplies delivered yesterday or today.”

“很多人来到这里，但他们都空着手来，”太平镇一个村的原村长袁实华（音译）抱怨道。“医生有很多，但我们没有水，也没有电。昨天、今天都没人送基本必需品来。”