(单词翻译:单击)
Monica Achol holds her breath as she crouches on the dry grass under the protective cover of a tree.
莫妮卡·阿科尔屏住呼吸,蹲在一棵树下的干草地上
She focuses on the field ahead, her fine, red-colored dreads tied back into a high ponytail.
她将注意力放在前方的田野上,将难以察觉的、鲜红的恐惧扎成高高的马尾束在脑后
A metallic cable snakes from a detonator she is gripping tightly, across the dusty ground, to a target 200 meters (about 650 feet) away.
一根金属电缆从她紧握的雷管上蜿蜒而出,穿过尘土飞扬的地面,到达200米(约650英尺)外的目标处
“All clear!” her colleague, Antasia Bullen, shouts through a walkie-talkie.
“一切安全!” 她的同事安塔西娅·布伦通过对讲机喊道
Ms. Bullen counts to three. When she utters the word “Fire!” Ms. Achol presses the round button with both her thumbs.
当布伦数到三,说出“开火!”时,阿科尔用两个拇指按下了圆形按钮
The explosion lifts the surrounding soil and sandbags, sending fragments of metal flying in all directions.
爆炸掀起了周围的土壤和沙袋,金属碎片四处飞扬
Even from the distance where Ms. Achol is crouched, the ground shakes.
即使从阿科尔蹲着的远处看,地面也在震动
Only then do the team members breathe a sigh of relief.
只有这个时候,团队成员才会松一口气
They have witnessed hundreds of explosions like this, but now there’s one fewer bomb in South Sudan, their home.
他们目睹了数百起这样的爆炸,但目前,她们的家乡南苏丹又少了一枚炸弹
Thousands more are still buried in fields across the world’s youngest country, one of the most heavily contaminated with mines and bombs.
数以千计的炸弹仍埋在这个世界上最年轻的国家的田野里,这个国家是地雷和炸弹污染最严重的国家之一
Ms. Achol and her colleagues are at the forefront of the fight to remove them all.
阿科尔和同事们站在了清除所有炸弹的斗争的最前线
“We’re saving the lives of our people,” she says later, while clearing up the site of the explosion.
“我们是在拯救我们人民的生命,”她后来在清理爆炸现场时说
South Sudan has been in turmoil for most of its existence.
南苏丹建国以来大部分时间都处于动荡之中
It fought for decades to gain independence from neighboring Sudan in Africa’s longest-lasting civil war.
南苏丹在非洲持续时间最长的内战中,为从邻国苏丹获得独立而战斗了几十年
In 2011, the new republic was formed, but peace didn’t hold.
2011年,这个新共和国成立,但和平并没有持续下去
Two years later, another civil war broke out along ethnic lines, killing nearly 400,000 people and displacing millions.
两年后,另一场种族内战爆发,造成近40万人死亡,数百万人流离失所
Explosive remnants of war – which have killed or injured more than 5,000 people in the last decade – are still scattered over 500 million square feet, according to the United Nations Mine Action Service.
根据联合国地雷行动处的数据,战争遗留的爆炸物在过去十年已造成5000多人死亡或受伤,但它们仍散落在5亿多平方英尺的土地上
And after 12 years of independence, extreme poverty, ethnic rivalries, and tensions over resources – all stoked by the climate emergency – continue to roil the vast desert nation.
南苏丹独立12年后,极端贫困、种族对抗与资源紧张——所有这些都是由气候紧急情况引发的——继续困扰着这个广阔的沙漠国家
Conflict that broke out in neighboring Sudan in April has so far brought over 130,000 returnees, adding yet another emergency to an already challenging situation.
到目前为止,邻国苏丹4月份爆发的冲突已使超过13万名难民返回南苏丹,使本已充满挑战的局势雪上加霜