English 中文网 漫画网 爱新闻iNews 翻译论坛
中国网站品牌栏目(频道)
当前位置: Language Tips> Audio & Video> 新闻播报> Normal Speed News VOA常速

'Cleaning-climbers' promote green tourism in Yemen

[ 2010-04-02 10:52]     字号 [] [] []  
免费订阅30天China Daily双语新闻手机报:移动用户编辑短信CD至106580009009

'Cleaning-climbers' promote green tourism in Yemen

As Yemeni scientists watch with horror, major cities are running out of water, and pollution and erratic weather patterns are destroying farmlands. And while permanent solutions are nowhere to be found, a new style of tourism offers a small comfort: a "cleaning climb." Hundreds of tourists, students and professional climbers gathered this morning to rock-climb in the Yemeni mountains, while picking up the trash that pollutes the local water and soil.

In Yemen's ancient villages, where most of the people in the country live, there is often not a lot - not a lot of money, not a lot of water, and not a lot to do.

There is, however, and abundance of garbage. In this village tucked into a rocky mountainside, piles of household refuse tumble down the winding streets and pollute the otherwise picturesque gardens and terrace farms.

Locals joke that Yemeni trees are actually blue and red, the color of the plastic bags that you get when you buyqat, a mildly narcotic leaf, and the Yemeni national past time. But this morning, for the first time in a long time, a few of the trees were green.

Some of the people rappelling down this mountain have never rock-climbed before and the crowd cheers as they land. They came to the village to clean up the trash, climb the massive rocks atop the mountain, and later have a picnic.

Cleaning and climbing

Addie Byrum, a NGO worker from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania says the idea is to gather adventure/travelers looking for good times, and combine the event with good works. Before hitting the rocks, climbers donned plastic gloves and garbage bags and sent trucks, loaded with about 400 bags to the local dump.

"I think the climbing thing is good to bring people here and get them interested. But the cleaning is probably the most useful part of this whole thing," said Byrum.

In Yemen, when you finish your soda, it is customary to toss the can onto the street. And while much of the countryside in the remote, largely undeveloped country remains pristine, garbage in the villages piles up almost unchecked.

Environmental awareness

Joshua Maricich, the head of the Yemen Adventure Club, the organization that ran this event, said that by bringing tourists, expats and villagers to clean it up together, he hopes the event will begin to foster a culture of environmental awareness.

"We need education in these villages. They don't like having their villages being filthy. Someone just needs to give them a little spark," he said.

More than 50,000 children die each year in Yemen because of diseases caused by water pollution. Malaria, diarrhea, and typhoid - water-related diseases that are not fatal in First World countries- cause half of the child deaths in Yemen.

Pollution, drought and erratic weather patterns caused by climate change have already decimated much of Yemen's farmlands. And many say the beleaguered nation is soon to have the first capital city without any clean drinking water. Yet despite these pending and ongoing disasters, environmental awareness remains rare in a country where half the people live on less than $2 a day.

Sixteen-year-old Mota, like many of the school children who live in the village, came to help the visitors clean. Mota says if the village is clean, more tourists will come, and bring income to the desperately poor area.

When the targeted area was cleaned up Thursday morning and the first truck was loaded, village children suggested they take more bags into other neighborhoods. But the suggestion was lost on the older teenage cleaners, who raced up the mountain to start rock climbing and repelling.

But in their enthusiasm, it became apparent that Yemen's habit of dropping trash could not be broken with one event. Many of the teens dropped their plastic gloves on the mountainside along the way.

terrace farm: 梯田

rappel down: to slide down it in a controlled way using a rope, with your feet against the cliff or rock 绕绳下降(用绳缠绕着身体,双脚蹬陡坡或峭壁自己放绳下滑)

pristine: not developed or changed in any way; left in its original condition 未开发的;处于原始状态的

typhoid: a serious infectious disease that causes fever, red spots on the chest and severe pain in the bowels, and sometimes causes death 伤寒

decimate: to severely damage something or make something weaker 严重破坏;大大削弱

beleaguered: experiencing a lot of criticism and difficulties 饱受批评的;处于困境的

Related stories:

克利夫兰获评全美最悲惨城市

New pollution reduction targets listed

Mountain air worse than city: study

Big-name companies conceal pollution info

(来源:VOA 编辑:陈丹妮)

 
中国日报网英语点津版权说明:凡注明来源为“中国日报网英语点津:XXX(署名)”的原创作品,除与中国日报网签署英语点津内容授权协议的网站外,其他任何网站或单位未经允许不得非法盗链、转载和使用,违者必究。如需使用,请与010-84883631联系;凡本网注明“来源:XXX(非英语点津)”的作品,均转载自其它媒体,目的在于传播更多信息,其他媒体如需转载,请与稿件来源方联系,如产生任何问题与本网无关;本网所发布的歌曲、电影片段,版权归原作者所有,仅供学习与研究,如果侵权,请提供版权证明,以便尽快删除。
 

关注和订阅

人气排行

翻译服务

中国日报网翻译工作室

我们提供:媒体、文化、财经法律等专业领域的中英互译服务
电话:010-84883468
邮件:translate@chinadaily.com.cn