第一夫人梅拉尼娅·特朗普(Melania Trump)结束非洲之行,她对美国资助的解贫努力和她致力于改善儿童生活的举措表示骄傲。
第一夫人10月6日在结束她对非洲四国的友好访问、也是她的首次单独国际访问之旅时说,这是“一次美妙的旅程”。
她在加纳、马拉维、肯尼亚和埃及参观了医院、孤儿院、学校和野生动物保护区;穿过了俯瞰大西洋(the Atlantic)的臭名昭著的昔日奴隶交易城堡之门,并在埃及吉萨金字塔群前(Great Pyramids)驻足。
她对随行记者团表示,最重要的是,这次访问让人们注意到“我们的美国国际发展署(USAID [U.S. Agency for International Development])的工作以及我的倡导努力”,旨在增进儿童健康和福祉。她为儿童带去了印有她的项目名称”Be Best“(力争最佳)的礼物。
当被问到她从此次访问带回的收获时,第一夫人回答说,各地人民的热情欢迎。
10月3日,在加纳海岸角(Cape Coast)阿明齐马德宫(Emintsimadze Palace)举行的五彩缤纷的仪式上,第一夫人与酋长奥萨巴伊姆巴·奎西·阿塔二世(Osabarimba Kwesi Atta II)握手,并获得他的正式许可进入海岸角城堡(Cape Coast Castle)。曾经有数以千计沦为奴隶的非洲人被带到这里上船,当成货品运往美洲。第一夫人在参观后说,“在这么多年前发生的确实是一场悲剧”。
10月4日在马拉维,梅拉尼娅·特朗普在学生众多的查帕拉小学(Chipala Primary School)观看了儿童上课,学生们在这里学习英语和当地语言。两个学生坐在班主任老师莫琳·马西(Maureen Masi)和第一夫人中间。梅拉尼娅·特朗普还宣布,通过美国资助的一个读书项目,向马拉维的5600所小学赠送140万册图书。
10月5日,梅拉尼娅·特朗普访问了肯尼亚,聚焦动物保护。她为幼象喂食,并在内罗毕国家公园(Nairobi National Park)动物保护员内利·帕尔米利斯(Nelly Palmeris)的陪同下游览了野生动物公园。帕尔米利斯讨论了肯尼亚为制止偷猎和非法象牙贸易采取的措施。
First lady focuses on Africa’s children, wildlife, antiquities
First lady Melania Trump concluded her travels across Africa voicing pride in American-funded efforts to alleviate poverty and in her own steps to improve the lives of children.
It was “an amazing trip,” the first lady told reporters on October 6 as the four-nation goodwill visit and her first major solo international trip came to a conclusion.
As she visited Ghana, Malawi, Kenya and Egypt, she toured a hospital, an orphanage, schools and a wildlife preserve. She stepped through the doorway of what was an infamous slave-trading fort overlooking the Atlantic and stood before the Great Pyramids of Egypt.
What mattered most, she told the travelling press corps, was the attention the trip drew to “what we’re doing with USAID [U.S. Agency for International Development] and what I do with my initiatives” to promote children’s health and well-being. She brought children gifts imprinted with the name of her “Be Best” program.
Asked what she would take home from her visit, she replied that it was the warm welcome from people everywhere.
At a colorful ceremony in the Emintsimadze Palace in Cape Coast, Ghana, Trump shook hands with Paramount Chief Osabarimba Kwesi Atta II on October 3 and received his formal permission to visit Cape Coast Castle, where thousands of enslaved Africans were brought and shipped like cargo to the Americas. “What happened so many years ago was really a tragedy,” she said afterward.
In Malawi on October 4, Trump observed classes at the crowded Chipala Primary School where children learn English and local languages. Two pupils seated between head teacher Maureen Masi and the first lady. Trump also announced the donation to Malawi’s 5,600 primary schools of 1.4 million books through a U.S.-funded reading program.
Trump’s October 5 visit to Kenya focused on animal conservation. She fed baby elephants and was escorted on a safari through Nairobi National Park by game warden Nelly Palmeris, who discussed the measures Kenya has taken to stop poaching and the illicit ivory trade.