災區動態: 蘆山地震災區的志願者們

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

上週六發生在中國西南四川省的破壞力巨大的地震，對廖文俊（音譯）的打擊很大。

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.

在靠近震中的勝利村的一家解放軍醫院，這名30歲的醫生在午休期間放下飯碗，回顧這個已導致近200人死亡、1.2萬人受傷的創傷性事件。“我有一些親戚被埋在廢墟下，我們還沒有把他們救出來，”他說。

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

他指着房屋大面積倒塌、就像散落的火柴一樣堆着的主要街道，然後臉上沒什麼表情地補充說：“我家的房子就在那邊。”

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.

在勝利村以及蘆山縣境內其它嚴重受災地區，地震造成的破壞比比皆是。蘆山地震是自2008年以來中國發生的最大地震。

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.

在勝利村的主要街道上，散佈着脫落的橫樑和受損的傢俱，仍未倒塌的建築物岌岌可危，不能進入。

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

“快點出來！”一名軍官在看到一個同事試圖從商店購買電池的時候大聲喊道。

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.

昨日當地仍不斷髮生餘震，村民們每次感覺到地動的時候，都嚇得不敢動。不過，勝利村及鄰近村子的情況與2008年導致9萬人死亡的汶川大地震不可同日而語。

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

那場災難之後的一大進步，就是公民參與救災的積極性大幅提高。

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.

在剛剛過去的這個週末，大量志願者趕往災區，其中許多人的汽車上貼着手寫的“地震救援”標記。在通往龍門鄉（那裏的多數房屋被毀）的道路上，衆多私家車帶着飲用水、方便麪和毯子前來救災，導致道路嚴重阻塞，警察開始指揮後面的汽車掉頭返回。昨日稍後，中國國務院宣佈，爲減輕交通擁堵，只允許官方組織進入災區。

“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，我們都捐了錢，但這一次我們決定自己趕來出一把力，”一名騎在輕型摩托車上的男子說道。他的兩個朋友騎在另一輛車上。“我們在自己的縣裏也感覺到地震，但我們知道災區的情況糟糕得多，所以我們想要盡力而爲。”

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.

其他人則更有組織。來自華東杭州市的福音派基督徒馮光良（音譯）介紹說，他所在的教會在2008年四川地震後組建了一個快速反應團隊。北京方面對宗教活動嚴加管制，但在危機地區，獨立教會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.”

“我們希望有一條途徑顯示主的愛，”馮光良表示。“我們買了一輛汽車放在成都待命，這樣我們在發生地震後能夠快速趕來。”

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

政府試圖通過官方的志願者計劃來調動救災熱情。

“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.

“我們報名成爲志願者時，有幾百人排隊，”21歲的楊亞（音譯）表示。他和幾個朋友舉着一面中國國旗和一面中共黨旗在勝利村走來走去。但這些在附近的鳳凰村長大的年輕男子不太清楚自己能幫上什麼忙。

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.

政府的快速反應救援團隊也隨處可見。在靠近災區的狹窄山路上，擠滿了挖土機、水車、救護車和軍車車隊。移動通信網絡的維修人員也投入搶修，截至昨晚，大部分地區的手機服務已經恢復。

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.

但並不是所有官方救援努力都順利展開。運載着數千頂帳篷的一個車隊無法抵達災區，因爲這些卡車太大了，無法在山路上行駛。

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.

結果，很多家庭在街上搭起的簡易小棚度過震後第一晚。村民們還抱怨缺乏食物和飲用水，因爲供水中斷了。

“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.”

“很多人來到這裏，但他們都空着手來，”太平鎮一個村的原村長袁實華（音譯）抱怨道。“醫生有很多，但我們沒有水，也沒有電。昨天、今天都沒人送基本必需品來。”