6月22日VOA聽力：敘利亞災黎兒童面對康健危急
ZA'ATARI CAMP, JORDAN— Many Syrianchildren under 5 years old cannot remember lifebefore violence and homelessness. At asprawling refugee camp in Jordan, parents saytheir children suffer everything from epilepsy toincontinence as a result of trauma, and camphospitals are not equipped to solve this complex health crisis.
Many ailments affecting children
Morhaf is 4 1/2- years- old, and his mother said he starting having seizures as a baby after thebombing began. His 1-year-old brother, Rafaat, is malnourished because of constant vomitingand diarrhea.
As she waits at refugee camp clinic for medicines for her children, Aziza Ghazawi said traumafrom the violence of the Syrian war has ruined the health of all of her six children. “The shellingwas constant and my house was totally demolished. One of my children was hurt. Mydaughter's leg was injured. My son developed epileptic seizures from the air raids. My youngestchild doesn’t eat or drink,” she said.
Other parents at the camp say most of the children born since the war began four years agohave health problems.
Aid workers say the families fled gruesome battles to live in rough conditions, making themsicker than other people. And their numbers keep growing.
“There is tremendous pressure on health centers inside the camps because there is a largedemand from huge numbers of refugees. From one day to another we are trying to cope withthese problems. We are trying to increase the number of doctors and health centers. But it cannot be underestimated how many people still need health care,” explained Najed Bawaneh,Jordan Health Aid Society.
Health crisis grows in camps
And as the crisis grows, funds to help refugees are dwindling, said Nasreddine Touaibia, aspokesman for the U.N.’s refugee agency at the camp. “The general picture is 600,000 refugeesin Jordan alone. And more than 3.5 million refugees in the region. So Za’atari is really the tip ofthe iceberg. And that’s the biggest challenge," Touaibia said. "To keep the funding and to keepthe programs running.”
Some parents say the care needed for children who may have complex trauma injuries isdifficult to find anywhere, and nearly impossible for refugees.
“She is four years old, and she has been like this for four years. I’ve taken her everywhere I canfor help. She cannot speak, she cannot hear, and she is terrified at night,” explained refugeeTayssir Fowaz Shehada.
His daughter, Bissan, is also incontinent and has trouble focusing her eyes, he said. His wifesaid the child was born at home, while bombs reigned down on her city. “We didn’t take her formedical care in the hospital immediately. She waited at our home in Syria for ten days. Wedidn’t take her to the hospital because the hospital was under siege. It was completelysurrounded,” he added.
Ghazawi said she thinks the health crisis will get worse before it gets better, with no end insight for the war. And Morhaf’s generation of Syrian children, she said, are already more sickand tired than many of the adults.
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