Unit 4 Helping people around the World The earthquakes in Japan reminded me to think back to my experience in Yushu, China as a Goodwill Ambassador working with the UN.All the staff, including a lot of worthy doctors, many assistants, and a few interpreters, went there by truck or lorry.Our destination was a remote, mountainous village hit by a series of earthquakes. We brought carpets, wool, a lot of food and medicine contributed by charities around the world.Our task was to help the victims of the earthquakes, and our task was voluntary, not paid by the wage or the salary.We treated it as a commitment, not a political one.The situation was quite terrible beyond description: crowds of people can not find shelters, lots of whom were suffering lack of drinking water and starvation, everything was in chaos.It had drawn the attention of the people from every corner of the globe.Our biggest barrier was not the language, but the transportation. All the approaches to the village were muddy and damp；by no means can we get access to it. We had no alternative but to walk, because our trucks broke down. If only we had brought our bikes. Sometimes, we had to get hold of the rock; in addition, what we carried was very troublesome.When we arrived there finally, we found the village like a primitive one, full of poverty.When the villagers saw us, they ran out of their vacant homes, as they had lost their possessions in the disaster.Although the work there was very hard, we thought it worthwhile, because we made a difference by our effort. 日本地震使我回想起我作为联合国亲善大使在中国玉树的经历。所有工作人员，包括许多值得尊重的医生、许多助理和几位口译工作者，坐卡车去那儿。我们的目的地是遭受一系列地震袭击的一个偏僻的山村。我们带着由世界各地慈善机构捐赠的毯子、羊毛制品许多食物和药品。我们的工作是帮助地震中的受害者，并且我们的工作是自愿的，没有人付工资。我们把它当作责任和义务而不是政治任务。情况糟得无法形容，成群结队的人们找不到住处，很多人正遭受缺少饮用水和饥饿的痛苦，到处一片混乱。这种状况引起了来自世界各地的人们的关注。我们最大的障碍不是语言而是交通。通往村子的所有的路泥泞潮湿，我们根本无法进入。我们没有选择只好步行，因为我们的车辆出了故障。要是我们带着自行车该多好啊！有时，我们不得不抓住岩石；另外，我们携带的东西也很麻烦。当我们终于到达那里的时候，我们发现这个村子像个原始部落，非常贫穷。但村民们看到我们时，他们跑出他们空空如也的家，因为他们已经在灾难中失去了自己的财产。尽管我们在那儿的工作非常艰苦，但我们认为是值得的，因为我们的努力使灾区的状况有了很大的改观。
