Zimbabwe's Rescued Wildlife Joins Jerusalema Dance Challenge
VOA News|Africa
September 24, 2020 04:49 PM (source)
Zimbabwe's Rescued Wildlife Joins Jerusalema Dance Challenge
辛巴威被拯救的野生動物參加耶路撒冷舞蹈挑戰賽
September 24, 2020 04:49 PM
Columbus Mavhunga
HARARE
The Jerusalema Dance Challenge, a South African internet craze, is sweeping the African continent.
As the Jerusalema spreads across Africa, in Zimbabwe, the wildlife is joining in. Staff at Zimbabwe's Wild is Life sanctuary for rescued wildlife have seen their online dance video with elephants, giraffes and other animals go viral.
The song "Jerusalema," by South African DJ and record producer Master KG and vocalist Nomcebo, went viral during the coronavirus lockdown.
Dancers, both professional and amateur, began posting their performances to the song online – including with some wildlife. Roxy Danckwerts, the founder of Wild is Life, said they used their phones to record the video.
Danckwerts said they made the video just to ease lockdown boredom with her employees.
"I think we have already — we have had an amazing response. We didn't expect that to happen at all, that it would go viral. I hope it will spread further and get more people involved in the challenge. But really, it is about — for us particularly — it is about spreading awareness about animals and the sentience of animals and the importance of animals for national heritage, basically for our children and for our country," she said.
Danckwerts said she hopes it will help support Zimbabwe's wildlife tourism industry.
South African tourist Phillipa Meek said she decided to visit the Wild is Life center with her friend Ben Fowler after seeing the video online.
"I have been watching a few of the Jerusalema videos, and the Wild is Life one was absolutely amazing. With all the animals and baby elephants, they were so cute, the giraffes and all the spirit in the video was absolutely fantastic, and I thought it was one of the best Jerusalema videos that is out there and it really encouraged me, because I am from South Africa, to come here and I just see it for myself," Meek said.
Like much of Africa, Zimbabwe's tourism industry has been suffering since the pandemic began in March. But even before the pandemic, Zimbabwe struggled to attract visitors.
Godfrey Koti, the spokesman for the Zimbabwe Tourism Authority, said the pandemic has brought the industry worldwide to "ground zero" and it is time for Zimbabwe to take off.
"And we are starting with domestic tourism, making sure that everything is in place from a domestic perspective. For us to be successful, we need a sound domestic product, then we can go to the region and effectively send it to the international market and increase our arrivals, thereby increasing our contribution to the GDP, which is currently at 8%. We are looking at maybe between 15% and 18% and obviously, this will give us a very healthy billion contribution to the fiscus," Koti said.
Zimbabwe has seen triple-digit inflation, adding to the country's economic problems. Tourism is one of the industries Zimbabwe hopes will revive the country's struggling economy.
耶路撒冷舞蹈挑戰賽(Jerusalema Dance Challenge),在南非(South Africa)蔚為網路流行風潮,正橫掃非洲大陸(Africa)。
隨著耶路撒冷舞蹈挑戰賽的擴展,野生動物也加入比賽行列。辛巴威(Zimbabwe)野生動物保護區(sanctuary)(Wild is Life Sanctuary)工作人員看到他們和大象、長頸鹿和其他動物的線上影片爆紅。
南非 DJ 兼唱片製作人克加格洛﹡莫阿吉(Master KG)和歌手諾姆塞博(Nomcebo)所演唱的 《 Jerusalema》在新冠肺炎鎖城期間瘋傳。
專業和業餘(amateur)舞者皆開始在網路上上傳他們的表演,有些還包括野生動物。保護區創始人丹克沃(Roxy Danckwerts)表示,他們是使用手機錄影。 丹克沃說,他們製作影片只是為了排解員工因封城的無聊。
「我覺得我們已經得到了驚人的回響,我們壓根沒想到影片會造成轟動,我希望它會進一步傳播並吸引更多的人參與挑戰。不過,對我們而言,向大眾傳遞保護動物的意識(awareness)和感知能力(sentience)以及動物對國家遺產(national heritage)的重要性,基本上這都是為了我們的下一代和國家。」
丹克沃表示,她希望這將有助於支持辛巴威的野生動物旅遊業。
南非遊客菲利帕.米克(Phillipa Meek, 音釋)說她在網上觀看了影片後,決定與朋友班.福勒(Ben Fowler, 音釋)一起參觀該保護區。
米克說:「我看了一些耶路撒冷舞蹈挑戰賽的影片,野生動物保護區的影片實在令人讚嘆。所有的動物和小象都非常可愛,長頸鹿的表演及所有動物的活靈活現都相當精彩,我認為這支影片是耶路撒冷挑戰賽影片裡最好的影片之一,因為我來自南非,這支影片鼓勵了我得親自來走訪。」
和非洲大部分的地區一樣,自從三月份疫情大擴張後,津巴布韋的旅遊業遭受了強大的打擊,即使在疫情前,辛巴威的旅遊業已經十分嚴峻。
辛巴威旅遊局(Zimbabwe Tourism Authority)發言人戈弗雷·科蒂(Godfrey Koti)表示,疫情已使全球旅遊業「歸零」(ground zero, 註 1),現在正是振興辛巴威旅遊業的時候。
「我們先從國內旅遊業開始,確保從國內視角一切都準備就緒。若要成功,我們需要優質的國內產品,然後便可以前往該地區並有效發展國際市場,促進遊客人數,進而增加國內生產總值(GDP, 註 2),目前為 8%。我們預計是 15% 到 18% 之間,顯然這將為我們國庫(fiscus, 註 3) 帶來 50 億美元健全的財政支持。」
辛巴威的通貨膨脹率(inflation)已達到 3 位數,經濟問題雪上加霜。旅遊業目前是辛巴威最希望能振興的產業之一。
Language Notes
註 1: ground zero 於本文指「起點」或 「歸零」;源自原子爆炸,而 2001 年起參照 911 襲擊事件
註 2: GDP 全名是「Gross Domestic Product」;於本文指「國內生產總值」
註 3: fiscus 源自拉丁文的「錢包」和「籃子」 " fiscus " ; 於本文指「國庫」的意思 ; 注意重音在第 1 音節
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Check your comprehension!
Choose the BEST answer to each of the questions below. After you finish, highlight the parentheses to reveal the hidden answers.
1. ( D ) What is TRUE about the Jerusalema Dance Challenge?
(A) It is a song that originated from Zimbabwe in South Africa.
(B) It fell in ratings because of Wild is Life Sanctuary's dance video.
(C) It was created by a DJ and producer called Roxy Danckwerts.
(D) It became extremely popular across the continent of Africa.
2. ( B ) Why did Philippa Meek decide to visit the Wild is Life Sanctuary?
(A) She wanted to film her own dance cover in the sanctuary.
(B) She was motivated to see it after seeing the sanctuary's video.
(C) She decided to photograph the wildlife at the sanctuary.
(D) She had to take her friend Ben Fowler to see the sanctuary.
3. ( D ) What does Godfrey Koti say about tourism in Zimbabwe?
(A) It has been improved thanks to Wild is Life's dance video.
(B) The pandemic has flattened any chance of it to grow or change.
(C) It has given the country a billion increase compared to last year.
(D) There is potential for it to grow and contribute to the country's economy.
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