環(huán)球英語 — 480：First Response: Bihar Floods

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Voice 1

Welcome to Spotlight. I’m Marina Santee.

Voice 2

And I’m Steve Myersco. This programme uses a special English method of broadcasting. It is easier for people to understand, no matter where in the world they live.

Voice 1

In August 2008, North East India was hit by a serious flood. The flood affected millions of people in the state of Bihar. It covered more than a thousand square kilometres. It destroyed homes and washed away roads. It was a disaster for the area.

Voice 2

Many aid organisations worked to rescue and feed the victims of the flood. But one group was doing something different. Today, Spotlight looks at an unusual radio programme that served the people of the Bihar flood.

Voice 3

‘Our radio broadcasts for the people affected by the Bihar Flood started eight days ago. So far we have received more than two hundred telephone calls and text messages. These are from people who are still surrounded by flood water. We receive calls from people who have not been rescued. They are in faraway and unreachable areas. Their homes are under water. They are staying on the tops of houses or any other safe place. They cried and told their painful stories to us. They asked for us to help them get food for them and their animals. They want to live but no one has come to rescue them. Now the water is going down in some areas. But there is fear of disease... Listeners tell us that many children have died because of diarrhoea or hunger.’

Voice 1

These are some of the words of Firoz Faridi. He works for a project called First Response. This name describes how the project wanted to be the first to meet people’s needs. First Response set up an emergency radio station near the flooded area of Bihar. It was the only radio station in the area making programmes especially for the flood victims.

Voice 2

The project was run by a group of Christian radio organisations. The group is called 'Far East Broadcasting' or FEB. FEB's manager of First Response describes how the project first began:

Voice 4

‘It started several years ago, with just an idea. We thought that there could be value in using radio to help in disasters. Radio naturally reaches so many people. Then in 2004, the large wave, the Tsunami, hit Asia. We thought, “If we do not start doing radio now, in this disaster, then when will we start?” So we collected some radio equipment together. Then we went out to Indonesia to help one of the groups we work with there to set up a radio station. This station operated for three months. It gave a voice to the people affected by the tsunami. And it brought them information to help them rebuild their lives.’

Voice 1

Far East Broadcasting's workers saw how radio could have a good effect in areas struck by disaster. This is why they started First Response. FEB had already developed equipment that would work well in disaster areas. And now, First Response helped to train workers in other countries to produce programmes. They needed to be ready for the next time radio could help in a major emergency.

Voice 2

Firoz Faridi is one of the people who received training for First Response. He lives in India. When the floods hit Bihar he was ready to put his training to the test. Bihar is the first place where First Response had been used for real. Firoz Faridi says they received many calls from listeners.

Voice 3

‘Listeners call us because we are trying to meet their needs. In all the talks with our listeners we find similar problems. The most common problems are: a lack of food and clean water, loneliness, fear, lack of security, and hopelessness. They also want to criticise the government and the political parties’.

Voice 1

The First Response team use specially developed equipment to broadcast the Bihar programmes. All they need to create a radio station has been built into two carry cases.

Voice 4

‘The first case is the radio studio in a case. This has a computer, recording devices and other radio equipment. That lets us produce radio programmes where we like... The second case has equipment to broadcast the programme.'

Voice 2

First Response also had a thousand radios that they could give away. With this equipment, and their training, they do what they can to help their listeners. Firoz Faridi says,

Voice 3

‘We work with an aid group that is based in a camp for victims of the flood. When listeners call us for help, we immediately call the workers in this aid group. These workers arrange help for the affected people in the listeners' area. We are always collecting information from government officials, aid organisations and our listeners. Our programmes are totally based on information from these groups.’

Voice 1

The First Response producers create radio programmes to help with the listeners problems. The manager of First Response says,

Voice 4

‘Listeners call us on the telephone with questions. Every time they do, that becomes a new radio programme. Our producers try to find answers to the problems and issues that the listeners raise.’

Voice 2

In one example of this, a man sent a message on his phone to the radio station. It said,

Voice 5

‘We are flood victims and we have lost everything. I want to ask if the Bihar government will provide us with jobs. If they do not we will be forced to move away to find work.’

Voice 1

After hearing this the producers made a programme to answer the man’s question. They were able to tell this listener, and others like him, that the government was planning to provide new jobs.

Voice 2

Programmes like this build a relationship with the listener. The listeners are able to guide what the programmes talk about. The programmes let listeners tell their own stories. This gives them more power as their voice can be heard by the authorities. One listener called the radio station to say:

Voice 6

‘Please do something for us. There are more than one thousand people here. We are not getting safe drinking water. Children are suffering from fever and there is no medical help. I do not know what will happen tomorrow. This programme gives us hope. I believe that now our voice can reach the people in power.’

Voice 2

It is stories like this that show the important work that radio can do. The Bihar flood showed that First Response can help. The manager told Spotlight:

Voice 4

‘On the day the first programme was broadcast listeners started calling us immediately. It was then that we knew that we were in the right place, doing the right thing.'

Voice 1

The writer and producer of this programme was Steve Myersco. The voices you heard were from the United Kingdom and the United States. All quotations were adapted and voiced by Spotlight.