萨拉和她的《早安，武汉》

文/张晓 李碗容 译/周媛

“我把这里当成了自己的家，因为朋友除了有福同享，更应该有难同当。我也相信武汉能够渡过难关，中国有能力处理好这次疫情危机。”回忆起在武汉遭遇新冠肺炎疫情的经历，2020年度中国政府友谊奖获得者、江汉大学副教授萨拉·普拉托（Sara Platto，意大利）这样说。

2020年新冠肺炎疫情期间，她4次婉拒撤侨，选择和武汉人民一起坚守家园，并通过互联网向国际社会讲述武汉抗疫故事。她将武汉的抗疫过程和亲身经历撰写成书，已在意大利出版。今年3月，中文版《早安，武汉》由天津新蕾出版社出版。在中国工作生活15年，萨拉和14岁的儿子马特奥早已经把这片熟悉的土地当成自己的家。家，是爱，是温暖与守护。

“It is my home, and friends always share happiness and suffering. However, I believe that Wuhan will ride over difficulties and that China can handle the epidemic well,” said Sara Platto (Italian), winner of the 2020 Chinese Government Friendship Award and associate professor of Jianghan University, when recalling her experience with COVID—19 in Wuhan.

During the epidemic in 2020, she declined evacuation from Wuhan four times. She stayed with the people in Wuhan and told the stories about Wuhan’s efforts to fight COVID—19 to the world through the Internet. She has written a book published in Italy about the anti-epidemic battle and her personal experience in Wuhan. The Chinese version of Good Morning, Wuhan was published this March. China, the land where Sara and her 14-year-old son Mateo have worked and lived for 15 years, has become their beautiful and warm homeland to be protected.

In 2007, Sara, who is firmly devoted to the protection and research of wild animals worldwide, paid her first visit to China and gave a keynote speech on the link between humans and dolphins upon the invitation from the Institute of Hydrobiology Chinese Academy of Sciences. Here, she met the person who became her supervisor. She was then appointed as a postdoctoral researcher at the Institute in Wuhan, marking the start of her inseparable bond with China. “I like Wuhan very much, and the people of Wuhan are very hospitable,” said Sara when recalling her first visit to Wuhan.

In 2017, she became an associate professor providing courses on animal behavior and animal welfare at the College of Life Science, Jianghan University. “Animals affect humans, and animal behavior and animal welfare are topics worldwide Knowledge related to that is significant for life sciences, environmental science, and food safety,” said Sara. Therefore, she actively encouraged students to learn about animal behavior and animal welfare, promoting harmonious coexistence between humans and animals.

婉拒撤侨“我相信中国”

2007年，长期致力于世界野生动物保护与研究的萨拉首次来到中国，受中科院水生生物研究所邀请参加一场关于人类与海豚的主题演讲。在这里，她遇到了自己后来的导师，成为位于武汉的中国科学院水生生物研究所博士后，从此与中国结下了难以割舍的情缘。“我很喜欢武汉，武汉人民很热情。”回忆起第一次来武汉，萨拉谈道。

2017年，她成为江汉大学生命科学学院副教授，主讲动物行为学、动物福利等课程。“动物的情况也会影响到人类，在国际上动物行为学和动物福利很受关注。了解这些知识，对学习生命科学、环境学和食品安全都有意义。”萨拉介绍。她号召学校学生积极学习动物行为学、动物福利相关内容，一同帮助人类和动物架起和谐共处的桥梁。

转眼在中国已经生活了15年，萨拉爱上了中国书法，喜欢喝中国茶，爱吃武汉的特色小吃热干面。“马特奥就是在北京出生的。”她说了儿子的一个小故事，“有一次马特奥说梦话。我只听得懂其中几个字，像是打鼓、节拍、拿去。我惊讶地发现马特奥在梦中说的，竟然是中文！”她曾经在某个地方读到这样的信息：想知道一个人的母语是什么，就看他做梦和数数时说哪种语言。“这么说，马特奥的母语是中文喽！我在中国住了这么多年，虽然听力还行，中文却说得很烂，但马特奥的中文比我好多了！”

萨拉和儿子已经把中国当作第二故乡，每两三年才会回一次位于意大利北部的家乡布雷西亚。那里，有萨拉的父母和妹妹。“我父母年纪已经大了，不方便来武汉了。”2020年新冠肺炎疫情肆虐武汉，“武汉封城的那一天，其实也是我儿子的生日。我们决定留下来，这不仅是我的决定，也是我儿子的决定，我们在武汉生活差不多十年了，这里就是我们的家。”2月3日，萨拉收到通知可以通过意大利使馆的撤侨航班回国，已经拒绝过一次的萨拉再次婉言拒绝返回意大利。尽管当时意大利还没有出现病例，她说：“武汉是我的家，我相信中国。”萨拉拒绝回国的消息让母亲非常生气。一天深夜她接到了妹妹的电话，说妈妈甚至想给意大利外交部打电话让他们强行把她带回国。凌晨3点，看到意大利大使馆的来电，萨拉没有接，她说当时真的担心大使馆告诉自己妈妈去意大利外交部诉苦抱怨。最终，在第10次来电时，萨拉接了，这次大使馆是来寻求帮助的。原来在撤侨时，一个意大利孩子因为发烧被留在了武汉机场。随后两周，萨拉和意大利大使馆、武汉、中国生物多样性保护与绿色基金会积极沟通，最终成功帮助孩子返回意大利。

Having been in China for 15 years, Sara has a deep love for Chinese calligraphy, Chinese tea, and hot and dry noodles, a local snack in Wuhan. “Matteo was born in Beijing.” said Sara, “Matteo once talked in his sleep, and I only heard Chinese words like ‘drum,’ ‘rhythm,’ and ‘take.’ To my surprise, Matteo was speaking Chinese in his dream! “It’s said that one can tell the mother language of others according to the language they speak in the dream and when counting numbers.” So, Matteo’s mother language is Chinese! After living in China for many years, I can understand what others are saying, but I still cannot speak Chinese well. Matteo’s Chinese is much better than mine!”

China has become the second home of Sara and her son. They return to their hometown in Brescia in northern Italy every two or three years to reunite with their parents and sister. “My parents are too old to come to Wuhan,” Sara commented. In 2020, COVID—19 broke out in Wuhan. “The day when Wuhan was locked down was my son’s birthday. So, my son and I decided to stay. We have lived in Wuhan for almost ten years. It is our home.” On February 3, Sara was notified that she could return to Italy via the evacuation flight from the Italian Embassy. Even though there were no COVID—19 cases in Italy at that time, she politely refused the suggestion once again. She said: “Wuhan is my home, and I have faith in China.” Sara’s refusal to return to Italy made her mother terribly angry. In a late evening phone call, her sister told Sara that their mom was planning to call the Italian Foreign Ministry to ask to push her daughter to come back home. At 3 a.m., she received a call from the Italian embassy. She let the call go unanswered at different times because she was afraid they would tell her that her mom had complained at the Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Finally, Sara answered the 10th phone call. The Italian Embassy called not because of her mother but to ask for help. An Italian teenager was left at Wuhan airport during the evacuation because he came down with a fever. From that moment, Sara started a series of phone calls that would initiate the two weeks long coordinated work with the Italian Embassy, Wuhan authorities, and China Biodiversity Conservation and Green Development Foundation (CBCGDF) to help the boy to return to Italy.

During the epidemic, Sara received help and care from her neighbors and the school. The foreign teacher administrator of Jianghan University supplied staple food, meat, eggs, vegetables, and fruits regularly and bought her much-needed cheese by all manner of means. Neighbors helped her shop for groceries online and brought her vegetables and pasta. “My neighbor left me an English note saying ‘Sara, be strong. China will solve the problem.’” Impressed by the warmth of the local people, Sara actively shared her life in Wuhan through international social media platforms, where she told stories about China’s battle against the epidemic. “My Italian friends and I in Wuhan have a social media account where we exchange information frequently. We are furious about false reports on the epidemic in Wuhan,” stated Sara.

疫情期间，萨拉得到了邻居和学校的诸多帮助和关爱，江汉大学外教管理员及时定期送来主食、肉蛋、蔬菜和水果，还辗转多处给她买来急需的芝士。邻居帮助她线上买菜，还给她带来了蔬菜和意大利面。“我的一位邻居还用英文给我留字条，上面写着‘萨拉，坚强些，中国会解决这个难题的’。”倍感温暖的同时，萨拉积极通过国际社交平台分享在武汉的生活情况，讲述中国战“疫”故事，“我们留在武汉的意大利好友还有一个群，大家平常在群里分享情况，看到一些关于武汉疫情的不实内容，我们都很气愤。”萨拉回忆。

“曾有一家境外媒体来电采访我，问我现在武汉是否不让外出，我说仍然可以外出，不过只能是购买食物，结果对方说谢谢、再见。我感觉很不好，这个人并不想知道真相，只是想得到符合她预期的信息。”因此，萨拉通过Instagram等国际社交网络发布武汉的真实情况，她在武汉不停地发出一条条图片和视频信息：学校发放的物资塞满了小车的后备厢、小区居民送来的食物和邻居的暖心字条、社区发放爱心菜、小区严格封控、武汉复苏场景……几十家海外媒体通过各种途径联系上萨拉，她在电话里、视频中，向全球的人们展示自己在武汉的生活和乐观心态，“我就是想展现这里的实情”。

后来，意大利不幸成为疫情重灾区，她的家乡甚至成了意大利死亡率最高的地区之一。她通过视频给意大利中学生上了一堂生动的疫情教育课，她拿着通信工具带意大利学生看武汉的城市街道，让他们了解中国真实的抗疫举措。她也通过社交平台给意大利同胞和其他国家的人们提供一些疫情期间的生活建议。

“我写这本书的初衷是展现武汉的真实面貌，我也在思考武汉的未来。这本书传递了希望，鼓励人们在像新冠肺炎疫情这样的大灾难面前依然要抱有希望，生活的脚步从不停歇，我们要展望未来。”

“A foreign media asked me whether I was forbidden from going outside my home in Wuhan during an interview. I said that I was allowed to walk out of the house to buy food. She ended the interview with ‘thank you’ and ‘goodbye.’ I got a bad feeling. I knew that she only wanted to get information that matches her expectations rather than the truth.” Therefore, Sara shared true stories about Wuhan through Instagram and other international social networks and kept sending pictures and videos about trunks filled with supplies delivered by the school, the food sent by community residents and neighbors, heart-warming notes, groceries provided by the community, strict epidemic control measures in the community and the recovery of Wuhan. Dozens of overseas media contacted Sara through various channels. She showed her life in Wuhan and optimistic attitude to people worldwide on the phone and in videos. “I just want to let others know what is happening here.”

Unfortunately, Italy was severely hit by COVID—19 later. Her hometown was one of the two places in Italy with the highest death rate. Through video, she gave a vivid lecture on epidemic control to middle and high school students in Italy. She showed them the streets in Wuhan to help them understand epidemic control measures in China. She also provided tips for daily living during the epidemic to Italians and people in other countries through social platforms.

“My book mainly describes the experiences of my son and me in Wuhan during the lockdown. It has been published in Italy, and the Chinese version will soon be published. I wrote this book to show people the real Wuhan and my thoughts about the future of this city. It conveys hope and encourages people to remain positive despite disasters like COVID—19. Life never stops, and we must look forward to the future.”

Sara has long been committed to animal behavior and animal welfare research. As a veterinarian, she also uses her professional advantages to contribute to the fight against the pandemic. One of the studies explored the relationship between COVID—19 and a coronavirus isolated from pangolins. In addition, as an expert in animal behavior research, she has established cooperation with the authoritative international platform for zoonosis to facilitate the international anti-epidemic work actively.

Sara expressed that the loss of biodiversity has created favorable conditions for the occurrence of epidemics such as the COVID—19. For example, deforestation has dramatically enhanced the contact between human beings and wild animals. Bats can quickly adapt to where people reside among wild animals, such as houses, barns, arable land, and orchards. The research found that bats are the primary hosts of several coronaviruses. Still, they have evolved unique physiological and immune systems to resist it, while viruses can infect other species such as humans. “As we interact with wild animals more and more frequently, we have to learn more about these viruses inside animals, especially how they are spread to other species.”

研究动物“我们要积极保护野生动物”

萨拉长期从事动物行为学、动物福利研究，疫情期间她积极发挥专业优势为抗疫做贡献，参与探寻新冠病毒与穿山甲身上分离出来的一种冠状病毒关系的项目。作为一名动物行为学研究专家，她与人兽共患病国际权威平台建立合作，积极推动国际抗疫工作。

萨拉说，生物多样性的丧失其实为新冠肺炎疫情的发生创造了条件。比如，砍伐森林大大增加了人类与野生动物的接触。在野生动物中，蝙蝠很容易适应人类居住的环境，如房屋、谷仓、耕地、果园。研究已经发现，蝙蝠是几种冠状病毒的主要宿主，但它们进化出了独特的生理和免疫系统抵抗病毒，而病毒却会感染人类等其他物种。“当我们与野生动物的互动越来越频繁，我们就必须对动物体内的这些病毒进行更多的研究和了解，尤其是它们是如何传播给其他物种的。”

“所以我们要积极保护野生动物。”萨拉长期从事动物行为学、动物福利研究，如极度濒危物种长江江豚的行为、伪虎鲸在进食前后的发声交流等。在多年的科研工作中，萨拉积极为我国《野生动物保护法》的修改提出建议，组织“动物福利：食品安全与人类健康”研讨会，等等。

“So, we should also take the initiative in protecting the wild animals.” Sara has lifelong experience in animal behavior and has researched the critically endangered Yangtze finless porpoise and the vocal communication of Pseudorca crassidens before and after feeding. In long-term scientific research, Sara has actively put forward suggestions for revising the Law of the People’s Republic of China on the Protection of Wildlife and organized seminars on “Animal Welfare: Food Safety and Human Wellness.”

Sara often uses her weekends to speak out for Wuhan Small Animal Rescue Center. She has worked as a veterinarian in animal rescue centers in Spain, the United States, and Canada, dealing with distinct species such as wild animals, marine mammals, reptiles, and avians. Usually, Sara will enjoy Wuhan cuisine with everyone at Chinese dinner parties while happily narrating the legendary stories of saving little animals worldwide when she was young.

During Sara’s early university years, she gained a great interest in Dolphins. “The vast coast of The Canary Islands brought me ample opportunities to get in close contact with dolphins. When I was in my fourth year of veterinary school, I won the Erasmus scholarship that allowed me to move to the Canary Islands, where I finished my last year of college. I did my master thesis on cetacean parasitology. Later, I was awarded a Ph.D. in Biology of Behavior from the University of Milan. Then, with the collaboration of a professor from the Free University of Berlin, I moved from The Canary Islands to Israel to develop my Ph.D. research on human-dolphin interaction.” Her postdoctoral thesis at the Chinese Academy of Sciences was about dolphin communication and cognition.

During the 2020 National Science and Technology Week, Sara gave a famous science lecture entitled “How Does It Sound to Be a Dolphin?” for children at Beijing Planetarium. She aroused intense interest among the young audience with a video of whales and dolphins swimming in the sea. How do dolphins “listen” and “see”? Are dolphins as intelligent as humans? Dolphins have a lot of “skills” that humans do not possess, and dolphins have a much more comprehensive range of hearing than humans, so they can “hear” sounds that humans fail to pick up, Sara explained. Dolphins also “see” the world differently by accurately forming “holograms” in the brain through echolocation systems. “In the world of dolphins, humans look so stupid that we cannot hear sounds underwater or turn our heads into sonar generators. Are we stupid? No, we are just different from dolphins.” So, do dolphins have to be “like humans” to be treated as equal creatures? In a row of questions, she guides children to learn about dolphins and develop the concepts of loving and protecting wild animals.

挚爱海豚获奖“对我来说是荣誉更是激励”

教学科研之余，萨拉还经常利用周末为武汉小动物救助中心宣讲。曾在西班牙、美国和加拿大的动物救助中心担任兽医，与野生动物、海洋哺乳动物、爬行动物和鸟类等不同物种打过交道，萨拉通常会在聚餐时和大家一边享受武汉美食，一边幸福地讲述自己年轻时在世界各地救助小动物的传奇故事。

早在读大学期间，海豚这种动物就引起了萨拉极大的兴趣，“加纳利群岛广阔的海岸为我带来与海豚亲密接触的丰富机会。大四的时候，我赢得了伊拉斯莫奖学金，于是在加纳利群岛完成了大学最后一年的学业，并在此完成了关于鲸类寄生虫的硕士论文。随后，我获得了米兰大学的行为生物学的博士学位，之后通过与一位德国柏林自由大学教授的合作，去以色列研究人类与海豚的互动。”她在中国科学院的博士后论文也是关于海豚的交流与认知。

2020年全国科技活动周期间，萨拉在北京天文馆为孩子们作了题为“闻声识海豚”的科普讲座。她以一段鲸类和海豚在大海中遨游的视频引起了同学们强烈的兴趣，海豚如何“听”和“看”？海豚像人类一样聪明吗？萨拉解释道：海豚有很多人类所不具备的“本领”，海豚的听力范围比人类广泛很多，所以，它们可以“听”到人类听不到的声音。海豚“看”世界的方式也和人类不同，是通过回声定位系统准确地在大脑中形成“全息图像”。“在海豚的世界里，我们人类会显得相当愚蠢，我们无法在水下听到声音，无法把自己的脑袋变成声呐发生器。但即便如此，我们就不聪明了吗？不，我们只是和海豚不一样罢了。”那么，海豚必须要“像人类一样”才能被人类视作平等的生物来对待吗？她在一个又一个问题中引导孩子们了解海豚，树立热爱和保护野生动物的意识。

狂犬病预防是萨拉的另一个科普主题。她多年深入社区传播狂犬病预防知识，连续多年在武汉举办世界狂犬病日活动，与动物医院合作开展疫苗接种，与全球狂犬病控制联盟（GARC）合作举办系列讲座。通过与中国生物多样性与绿色发展基金会合作，她帮助GARC推出“狂犬病教育人员资格证书”汉化课程。每年的9月28日是世界狂犬病日。萨拉介绍说，狂犬病是一种致命但可预防的人畜共患病，病死率几乎100%。大家都知道，被狗咬伤后要及时接种狂犬病疫苗，事实上，提前为狗接种犬用狂犬病疫苗是更经济有效的预防狂犬病的方法。但在中国，犬类疫苗接种率仍旧偏低。萨拉已连续几年在武汉举办世界狂犬病日活动，联合当地动物医院和社区开展狂犬病预防教育活动。2017年，萨拉出版《马泰奥在多吉的世界：狗狗们如何表达情绪》（中英双语）一书，教导儿童识别狗的肢体语言。

Rabies prevention is yet another popular science theme for Sara. She has provided rabies prevention knowledge in the community by setting up the yearly Wuhan Vaccination Campaign during the “World Rabies Day.” In collaboration with local veterinary hospitals, she conducted vaccinations and held a series of lectures with the Global Alliance for Rabies Control (GARC). In partnership with China Biodiversity Conservation and Green Development Foundation, she helped GARC translate the Rabies Education Personnel Qualification Certificate courses from English to Chinese to make them available to all Chinese people interested in becoming rabies educators. Annual World Rabies Day falls on September 28th. Sara said rabies is a fatal but preventable zoonosis with a fatality rate of 100%. All should know that a rabies vaccine should be given within time after a dog’s bite. Vaccinating dogs in advance is a more economical and effective way. However, in China, the vaccination rate for dogs is still on the low side. Sara has been providing rabies prevention education activities with local animal hospitals and communities in the past few years. In 2017, Sara published Matteo in Doggy’s World (Chinese and English), which teaches children to recognize dogs’ body language.

On September 30, 2021, the 2020 and 2021 Chinese Government Friendship Awards ceremony was held in the Great Hall of the People, and Associate Professor Sara was awarded the 2020 Chinese Government Friendship Award. This is the highest honorary award set up to commend foreign experts with outstanding contributions to China’s modernization drive. “Professor Sara has contributed to biological research and teaching at Jianghan University. Furthermore, her actions during the epidemic strengthened the friendly relations between China and Italy and deepened the world’s accurate understanding of China.” Zhang Xingping, secretary of the Party committee of Jianghan University, commented on Sara’s award. He also expressed that all the teachers and students were thrilled and proud of Sara.

For the award, Sara said that she was pleasantly surprised. “I could not believe that I had won the award, but it was real, and the award certificate was in my hand. It’s an honor and inspiration for me,” Sara said that she would continue to serve as the envoy of friendly exchanges between China and Italy and between China and the international community.

2021年9月30日，2020、2021年度中国政府友谊奖颁奖仪式在人民大会堂隆重举行。萨拉副教授荣获2020年度中国政府友谊奖——为表彰在中国现代化建设中作出突出贡献的外国专家而设立的最高荣誉奖项。“萨拉教授为江汉大学生物研究和教学作出了贡献，疫情中她的举措更是加强了中意友好关系，加深了世界对中国的准确认识。”江汉大学党委书记张幸平谈道，对于萨拉此次获奖，他表示学校全体师生都很高兴，也为萨拉感到骄傲。

对于此次获奖，萨拉坦言很惊喜，“我不太相信自己获奖了，但是拿到获奖证书后很真实，对我来说是荣誉更是激励。”萨拉表示自己要继续做中意友好往来的使者，做中国和国际社会友好往来的使者。