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| Lot Thomson (R)
and Daniel John, soccer players of Carnicobar XI, pose before
the start of an exhibition soccer match between Carnicobar XI
and India XI (under-17) team in the southern Indian city of
Bangalore May 30, 2005. (reuters)
| |
Lot Thompson has a black eye and gash across his temple , but his passion for soccer drives
him to finish the tsunami recovery series.
The 20-year-old has much deeper wounds.
Half the Thompson family were killed in last year's tsunami which
ravaged India's remote Andaman and Nicobar islands.
Soccer, says the stocky Thompson sporting
four stitches from his injury, provides a brief escape.
"I'm trying to forget all that," he says, recalling how he ran into the
jungle and climbed a coconut tree to escape the giant waves that lashed
the archipelago off India's eastern coast.
"I lost 13 members of my family, including my mother and sister. We
were 26 members in the family. Now we have been reduced to half. We
haven't even recovered their bodies."
Thompson was a member of an 18-man squad from the tiny island which
toured the Indian mainland this month to play a series of matches against
prominent local teams.
The soccer tour was organized by the Sports Authority of India (SAI), a
top state-run sports agency, to help in dealing with post-tsunami
trauma .
"We have a social stake in Car Nicobar which has a very old tradition
of soccer," says SAI secretary B.K. Sinha. "We decided to use sport as a
means to make them socially and psychologically stronger."
Most of the squad were leaving their sleepy island of swaying coconut
plantations for the first
time.
"Many of them have lost family members, we have kind of adopted them,"
he says. "We're also taking them for sightseeing in all the big cities to
help them forget the tragedy."
Daniel John, a 19-year-old teammate of Thompson, says he is still
struggling to get over the horrors of Dec. 26 which began with an undersea
earthquake a few hundred miles south of Car Nicobar and triggered the
tsunami.
"I was also swept away when the waves hit, but I clung on to a log and
somehow survived," says John, displaying scars on his elbow and foot
suffered during his fight for survival.
Officials say the tsunami killed 850 people on Car Nicobar, which had a
population of 19,000 before the disaster.
(Agencies) |
罗德·汤普森眼圈发黑，鬓角那还有一道深深的疤痕，不过，对足球的热情让他从海啸造成的创伤中逐渐恢复过来。
这位20岁的青年心中还有更深的伤痛。
汤普森一半的家人都在去年的海啸中丧生，那次海啸席卷了印度偏远的安达曼群岛和尼科巴群岛。
足球让我们暂时忘记悲伤，这位健壮结实的小伙子说。他当时因受伤缝了四针。
“我试着摆脱过去。”他说，并回忆起当时他是如何奔向丛林，为躲避巨浪爬上一棵椰子树。那次海啸带来的巨浪疯狂地席卷了印度东海岸地区所属群岛。
“我有13位家人在海啸中丧生，其中包括我的妈妈和姐姐。我们一家共有26口人，现在少了一半。至今我们还没有找到他们的尸体。”
作为小岛上18人球队的一员，本月汤普森将随队前往印度内陆，参加一系列足球巡回赛，其对手则是当地的多支知名球队。
这次足球巡回赛是由印度体育协会（SAI）组办的，这家印度最权威的国有体育机构希望借此帮助大家摆脱灾难留下的阴影。
SAI秘书辛哈称，“卡尔尼古巴岛拥有一支历史非常悠久的足球队，我们决定用体育让他们更好地与外界沟通，同时在心理上更加坚强。”
在小岛的18人球队中，大多数球员都是第一次离开他们布满大片椰树种植园的宁静家园。
他说：“很多球员失去了亲人，我们就像收养孩子一样对待他们。我们还要带他们游览所有的大城市，帮助他们忘记悲伤。”
汤普森19岁的队友丹尼尔·约翰表示，他目前仍在努力从12月26日海啸的阴影中走出来。最初，卡尔尼古巴岛南部几百英里处的海底发生地震并由此引发海啸。
约翰说：“我当时也差点被巨浪卷走，但后来抓住一根伐木，这才侥幸生还。”他还露出求生时在肘部及脚部留下的伤疤。
官员们表示，海啸导致卡尔尼古巴岛上850人丧生，海啸发生前该岛上共有19,000名居民。
（中国日报网站译） |
Updated: 2005-06-15 09:03