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有很多次,我到世界各地演講時,人們會問我問題,關於面對挑戰、我的關鍵時刻及我的悔恨。1998年,身為一位帶著四名子女的單親媽媽,在我第四個孩子出生後三個月,我找到一份工作-當研究助理。我到了賴比瑞亞北部,這份工作包括了由村莊提供的住所,他們安排我跟一位單親媽媽及她的女兒同住。
這女孩剛好是村裡唯一的女孩,她好不容易升上九年級,是全村嘲笑的對象。其他婦女常跟她母親說,「妳和妳孩子到死都是窮人。」在那座村莊工作了兩個禮拜,到了要回去的時候,那位母親來到我面前,跪了下來,然後說,「Leymah,帶我女兒走,我希望她能當一個護士。」窮的要死,和父母一起住的我,沒有那種能力。我眼中盈滿熱淚,說,「不行。」
兩個月後,我去另一座村莊進行同樣的工作,他們要我跟村長一起住。那位女村長有個小女孩,跟我一樣是混血的,全身髒兮兮,不管去哪裡都只穿著內衣。我問道,「那是誰?」她說,「那是Wei,這個名字的意思是豬,她母親生她的時候死了,沒人知道她父親是誰。」那兩個禮拜她都跟我在一起,跟我一起睡,我幫她買了二手衣物,幫她買了她第一個玩偶。我離開的前一晚,她走進房間,說,「Leymah,不要丟下我,我想跟妳走,我想上學。」窮的要死,口袋空空,和父母一起住的我,還是只能說,「不行。」兩個月後,這兩座村莊都捲入另一場戰爭。直到今天,我還是不知道那兩個女孩在哪裡。
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以下為系統擷取之英文原文
Many times I go around the world to speak, and people ask me questions about the challenges, my moments, some of my regrets. 1998: A single mother of four, three months after the birth of my fourth child, I went to do a job as a research assistant. I went to Northern Liberia. And as part of the work, the village would give you lodgings. And they gave me lodging with a single mother and her daughter.
This girl happened to be the only girl in the entire village who had made it to the ninth grade. She was the laughing stock of the community. Her mother was often told by other women, "You and your child will die poor." After two weeks of working in that village, it was time to go back. The mother came to me, knelt down, and said, "Leymah, take my daughter. I wish for her to be a nurse." Dirt poor, living in the home with my parents, I couldn't afford to. With tears in my eyes, I said, "No."
Two months later, I go to another village on the same assignment and they asked me to live with the village chief. The women's chief of the village has this little girl, fair color like me, totally dirty. And all day she walked around only in her underwear. When I asked, "Who is that?" She said, "That's Wei. The meaning of her name is pig. Her mother died while giving birth to her, and no one had any idea who her father was." For two weeks, she became my companion, slept with me. I bought her used clothes and bought her her first doll. The night before I left, she came to the room and said, "Leymah, don't leave me here.I wish to go with you. I wish to go to school." Dirt poor, no money, living with my parents, I again said, "No." Two months later, both of those villages fell into another war. Till today, I have no idea where those two girls are.
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快轉到2004年,那時我們的激進行動正如火如荼地展開,賴比瑞亞性別與發展部部長打電話給我,說,「Leymah,我有個九歲的孩子要交給妳,我要妳帶她回家,因為我們沒有安全的地方收留她。」這個小女孩的情況是,她被她的親祖父強暴,整整六個月,每天都是。她來的時候全身浮腫、臉色慘白,我每晚下班後,躺在冰冷的地板上時,她會躺在我身邊,然後說,「阿姨,我希望一切都會變好,我希望能上學。」
2010年,有位年輕女子站在Sirleaf總統面前,發表她親身的見證,說她和兄弟姊妹住在一起,他們的父母死於戰爭中。她19歲,夢想是上大學,好幫助她的手足。她很有運動天分,她遭遇的其中一件事是,她申請了獎學金,也拿到了全額獎學金;她求學的夢想、接受教育的希望終於得以實現。她第一天去學校時,學校的體育主任,他的責任是讓她參與課程學習,卻要她離開教室,接下來三年,她的命運是每天都得跟他做愛,當作讓她進學校的報答。
在世界各地,我們有各種政策,各種國際組織,各項工作的領導者,偉大的人許下承諾-我們會保護我們的孩子,免於貧困、免於恐懼。聯合國有「兒童權利公約」;在美國,我們知道有「有教無類法案」這種東西;其他國家則有不同的政策;「聯合國千禧年發展目標」第三項將重點放在女孩身上。這些偉大的人所做的偉大工作,目的是要引導全球年輕人達到我們希望的境界。我認為這些努力失敗了。
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Fast-forward, 2004: In the peak of our activism, the minister of Gender Liberia called meand said, "Leymah, I have a nine-year-old for you. I want you to bring her home because we don't have safe homes." The story of this little girl: She had been raped by her paternal grandfather every day for six months. She came to me bloated, very pale. Every night I'd come from work and lie on the cold floor. She'd lie beside me and say, "Auntie, I wish to be well. I wish to go to school."
2010: A young woman stands before President Sirleaf and gives her testimony of how she and her siblings live together, their father and mother died during the war. She's 19; her dream is to go to college to be able to support them. She's highly athletic. One of the things that happens is that she applies for a scholarship. Full scholarship. She gets it.Her dream of going to school, her wish of being educated, is finally here. She goes to school on the first day. The director of sports who's responsible for getting her into the program asks her to come out of class. And for the next three years, her fate will be having sex with him every day, as a favor for getting her in school.
Globally, we have policies, international instruments, work leaders. Great people have made commitments -- we will protect our children from want and from fear. The U.N. has the Convention on the Rights of the Child. Countries like America, we've heard things like No Child Left Behind. Other countries come with different things. There is a Millennium Development called Three that focuses on girls. All of these great works by great peopleaimed at getting young people to where we want to get them globally, I think, has failed.
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例如,在賴比瑞亞,少女懷孕的比例是十分之三,少女賣淫率創下新高。在某個部落,有人曾經跟我們說,早上起來時,會看到用過的保險套就像口香糖包裝紙一樣四處散落。女孩12歲就開始賣淫,一個晚上賺不到一塊美金,這令人沮喪、傷心。就在我來TED演講幾天前,有人問我,「希望在何方?」
幾年前,我和幾個朋友決定,我們必須填平這個世代和這世代年輕女性之間的落差。說來慚愧,當賴比瑞亞共和國有兩位諾貝爾獎得主時,國內的女孩們卻無人聞問;沒有希望,或看起來沒有希望。我們建立一個場所,進行所謂的「年輕女性改革計畫」。我們前往郊區部落,我們做的事就跟我在這裡所做的一樣,就是建立一個場所,當這些女孩坐在你面前時,你釋放知識、釋放熱情、釋放信念、釋放關懷、釋放偉大的領導者。今天,我們幫助了超過300位女孩,有些走進房間時很害羞的女孩勇敢地挺身而出,例如那些年輕媽媽,為了其他年輕女性的權利站出來大聲宣傳。
我遇過一位年輕女性,十幾歲就生了四個小孩,從未想過能完成高中學業,結果順利畢業了;從未想過能上大學,結果被錄取了。有一天,她對我說,「我的願望是完成大學學業,並有能力培養我的孩子。」她住在一個無法讓她賺到足夠的錢上學的地方,她賣水、賣飲料、賣電話儲值卡,你們或許認為,她會把那些錢當作自己的教育基金。她叫Juanita,她拿著這些錢找了些住在同部落的單親媽媽,送她們去學校。她說,「Leymah,我的願望是接受教育,如果我不能接受教育,當我看見我的姐妹們接受教育時,我的願望就達成了。我希望生活能更好,我希望我的小孩有東西吃,我希望能停止學校裡的性暴力和剝削。」這是非洲女孩的夢想。
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In Liberia, for example, the teenage pregnancy rate is three to every 10 girls. Teen prostitution is at its peak. In one community, we're told, you wake up in the morning and see used condoms like used chewing gum paper. Girls as young as 12 being prostitutedfor less than a dollar a night. It's disheartening, it's sad. And then someone asked me,just before my TEDTalk, a few days ago, "So where is the hope?"
Several years ago, a few friends of mine decided we needed to bridge the disconnectbetween our generation and the generation of young women. It's not enough to say you have two Nobel laureates from the Republic of Liberia when your girls' kids are totally out there and no hope, or seemingly no hope. We created a space called the Young Girls Transformative Project. We go into rural communities and all we do, like has been done in this room, is create the space. When these girls sit, you unlock intelligence, you unlock passion, you unlock commitment, you unlock focus, you unlock great leaders. Today, we've worked with over 300. And some of those girls who walked in the room very shyhave taken bold steps, as young mothers, to go out there and advocate for the rights of other young women.
One young woman I met, teen mother of four, never thought about finishing high school,graduated successfully; never thought about going to college, enrolled in college. One day she said to me, "My wish is to finish college and be able to support my children." She's at a place where she can't find money to go to school. She sells water, sells soft drinks and sells recharge cards for cellphones. And you would think she would take that money and put it back into her education. Juanita is her name. She takes that money and finds single mothers in her community to send back to school. Says, "Leymah, my wish is to be educated. And if I can't be educated, when I see some of my sisters being educated, my wish has been fulfilled. I wish for a better life. I wish for food for my children. I wish that sexual abuse and exploitation in schools would stop." This is the dream of the African girl.
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幾年前,有一位非洲女孩,這女孩有個兒子,他希望能吃一口甜甜圈,因為他非常餓。她對社會和她孩子的情況感到生氣、挫折、不滿,這個年輕女孩發起一項活動,一項由女性共同創造和平的活動。我會達成這個願望,這是另一位非洲女孩的願望。我無法達成那兩位女孩的願望,我失敗了。其他年輕女性腦海裡會有這種想法-我失敗了、我失敗了、我失敗了。所以我會這麼做:女性挺身而出,抗議殘暴的獨裁者,毫無所懼地表達心中的想法,不但要實現吃一口甜甜圈的願望,也要實現和平的願望。這位年輕女性也希望能上學,所以她去學校就讀;這位年輕女性希望能發生其他改變,她達成了這些改變。
這位年輕女性就是今天的我-諾貝爾獎得主,我現在正進行一趟旅程來實現我的願望,以我微不足道的能力,讓那些非洲小女孩達成接受教育的願望。我們成立一個基金會,提供四年全額獎學金,給村莊裡那些我們認為有潛力的女孩。
我沒什麼資格向你們要求,我也來過美國這個國家,我知道這個國家的女孩也有願望。住在紐約布朗克斯區的某人希望有更好的生活;住在洛杉磯市中心的某人希望有更好的生活;住在德州的某人希望有更好的生活;住在紐約的某人希望有更好的生活;住在紐澤西的某人希望有更好的生活。
你們願意跟我一起進行這趟旅程,去幫助那個女孩嗎?不論是非洲女孩、美國女孩或是日本女孩,完成她的願望、完成她的夢想、達成那個夢想嗎?因為我們這幾天討論、看到的所有的偉大改革者和創新者,現在也都在世界各個角落,他們對我們的要求只有-創造一個地方,來釋放知識、釋放熱情、釋放她們擁有的強大潛能。讓我們一起旅行,一起進行這趟旅程。
謝謝大家。
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Several years ago, there was one African girl. This girl had a son who wished for a piece of doughnut because he was extremely hungry. Angry, frustrated, really upset about the state of her society and the state of her children, this young girl started a movement, a movement of ordinary women banding together to build peace. I will fulfill the wish. This is another African girl's wish. I failed to fulfill the wish of those two girls. I failed to do this.These were the things that were going through the head of this other young woman -- I failed, I failed, I failed. So I will do this. Women came out, protested a brutal dictator,fearlessly spoke. Not only did the wish of a piece of doughnut come true, the wish of peace came true. This young woman wished also to go to school. She went to school.This young woman wished for other things to happen, it happened for her.
Today, this young woman is me, a Nobel laureate. I'm now on a journey to fulfill the wish,in my tiny capacity, of little African girls -- the wish of being educated. We set up a foundation. We're giving full four-year scholarships to girls from villages that we see with potential.
I don't have much to ask of you. I've also been to places in this U.S., and I know that girls in this country also have wishes, a wish for a better life somewhere in the Bronx, a wish for a better life somewhere in downtown L.A., a wish for a better life somewhere in Texas,a wish for a better life somewhere in New York, a wish for a better life somewhere in New Jersey.
Will you journey with me to help that girl, be it an African girl or an American girl or a Japanese girl, fulfill her wish, fulfill her dream, achieve that dream? Because all of thesegreat innovators and inventors that we've talked to and seen over the last few days are also sitting in tiny corners in different parts of the world, and all they're asking us to do is create that space to unlock the intelligence, unlock the passion, unlock all of the great things that they hold within themselves. Let's journey together. Let's journey together.
Thank you.
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Chris Anderson:非常感謝。目前在賴比瑞亞,妳看到的哪一項問題最讓妳煩惱?
LG:有人要求我領導「賴比瑞亞調停協議」的進行,我的工作之一就是前往不同的村莊和城鎮,在泥巴路上奔波13、15小時。我前往的每一個部落中,都能見到一些聰明的女孩,但不幸的是,未來的展望或夢想都只是空想,因為人們心中的邪念;我說過,少女懷孕的情形屢見不鮮。
所以令我煩惱的是,我曾經身處那個地方,而我現在有幸能站在這裡,我不希望自己是唯一能站上這個講台的人,我正在尋找能讓其他女孩像我一樣站在這裡的方法。我希望在二十年後,我們會看到另一個賴比瑞亞女孩、加納女孩、奈及利亞女孩、衣索匹亞女孩站在TED講台上,也許,只是也許,她會說,「因為那位諾貝爾獎得主,所以我今天站在這裡。」所以當我看見她們彷彿失去希望時,我會擔心,但我不是悲觀的人,因為我知道不需要花太多代價,就能助她們一臂之力。
CA:以去年來說,請告訴我們一件妳親眼目睹、令人充滿希望的事。
LG:我可以說出許多親眼目睹、令人充滿希望的事,但去年-在Sirleaf總統出生的村莊,我們去那裡幫助當地女孩,我們發現讀高中的女孩不到25個,其他女孩全都到金礦坑去了,顯然她們主要是去賣淫,或做其他工作。我們挑了其中50名女孩,給予她們協助。當時競選活動剛剛開始,這個地方的女性從不曾-即使是年長的女性,也很少能與男性平起平坐。這些女孩團結在一起,組成一個團體,發起一項活動,爭取投票權登記。那是個相當落後的村莊,她們使用的標語是「連漂亮女孩都會投票」,她們成功動員了年輕女性。
但她們做的不僅如此。她們去找那些競選者,詢問他們,「你們當選後能為這個部落的女孩帶來什麼?」其中一個已擔任公職的人非常地-因為賴比瑞亞有最嚴厲的強暴法,他是國會裡亟欲推翻這條法律的人之一,因為他認為這是一條野蠻的法律;他說強暴不是野蠻行為,那樣的法律才是野蠻行為。當女孩們開始跟他爭論時,他對她們相當不友善,那些年輕女孩轉頭對他說,「我們會用選票趕走你。」現在他已不再擔任公職。
(掌聲)
CA:Leymah,謝謝妳,非常感謝妳來到TED。
LG:不客氣。(CA:謝謝。)
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Chris Anderson: Thank you so much. Right now in Liberia, what do you see as the main issue that troubles you?
LG: I've been asked to lead the Liberian Reconciliation Initiative. As part of my work, I'm doing these tours in different villages and towns -- 13, 15 hours on dirt roads -- and there is no community that I've gone into that I haven't seen intelligent girls. But sadly, the vision of a great future, or the dream of a great future, is just a dream, because you have all of these vices. Teen pregnancy, like I said, is epidemic.
So what troubles me is that I was at that place and somehow I'm at this place, and I just don't want to be the only one at this place. I'm looking for ways for other girls to be with me. I want to look back 20 years from now and see that there's another Liberian girl,Ghanaian girl, Nigerian girl, Ethiopian girl standing on this TED stage. And maybe, just maybe, saying, "Because of that Nobel laureate I'm here today." So I'm troubled when I see them like there's no hope. But I'm also not pessimistic, because I know it doesn't take a lot to get them charged up.
CA: And in the last year, tell us one hopeful thing that you've seen happening.
LG: I can tell you many hopeful things that I've seen happening. But in the last year, where President Sirleaf comes from, her village, we went there to work with these girls. And we could not find 25 girls in high school. All of these girls went to the gold mine, and they were predominantly prostitutes doing other things. We took 50 of those girls and we worked with them. And this was at the beginning of elections. This is one place where women were never -- even the older ones barely sat in the circle with the men. These girls banded together and formed a group and launched a campaign for voter registration. This is a real rural village. And the theme they used was: "Even pretty girls vote." They were able to mobilize young women.
But not only did they do that, they went to those who were running for seats to ask them, "What is it that you will give the girls of this community when you win?" And one of the guyswho already had a seat was very -- because Liberia has one of the strongest rape laws,and he was one of those really fighting in parliament to overturn that law because he called it barbaric. Rape is not barbaric, but the law, he said, was barbaric. And when the girls started engaging him, he was very hostile towards them. These little girls turned to him and said, "We will vote you out of office." He's out of office today.
(Applause)
CA: Leymah, thank you. Thank you so much for coming to TED.
LG: You're welcome. (CA: Thank you.)