I'm here to tell you not just my story but stories of exceptional women from India whom I've met. They continue to inspire me, teach me, guide me in my journey of my life. These are incredible women. They never had an opportunity to go to school, they had no degrees, no travel, no exposure. Ordinary women who did extraordinary things with the greatest of their courage, wisdom and humility. These are my teachers.
我在这里不只是讲述我的故事, 还有我遇到过的 杰出印度女性的故事。 她们启发我, 教育我,引导我的人生旅程。 她们都是不可思议的女性。 她们没有机会上学, 她们没有任何学历, 没有旅行过,没有曝光过。 做不平凡事情的平凡的女性, 以她们的伟大勇气, 智慧和谦逊。 她们是我的老师。
For the last three decades, I've been working, staying and living in India and working with women in rural India. I was born and brought up in Mumbai. When I was in college, I met Jayaprakash Narayan, famous Gandhian leader who inspired youth to work in rural India. I went into the villages to work in rural India. I was part of land rights movement, farmers' movement and women's movement. On the same line, I ended up in a very small village, fell in love with a young, handsome, dynamic young farmer-leader who was not very educated, but he could pull the crowd. And so in the passion of youth, I married him and left Mumbai, and went to a small village which did not have running water and no toilet. Honestly, my family and friends were horrified.
在过去30年里, 我工作,居留和生活在印度, 并与印度农村的妇女一起工作。 我在孟买出生和长大。 我在大学时, 我遇到了贾亚普拉卡什·纳拉扬, 著名的甘地主义领袖, 他鼓舞年轻人到印度农村工作。 我下乡来到印度农村工作。 我是土地权利运动、 农民运动 和女性运动的一份子。 与此同时, 我最后来到一个很小的村庄, 与一个年轻,英俊,充满活力的 农民领袖相爱, 他受的教育不多, 但他能带动群众。 在年轻的热恋之中, 我嫁给了他 并离开了孟买, 去了一个没有自来水没有厕所的 村庄。 老实说,我家人和朋友都吓坏了。
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I was staying with my family, with my three children in the village, and one day, a few years later one day, a woman called Kantabai came to me. Kantabai said, "I want to open a saving account. I want to save." I asked Kantabai: "You are doing business of blacksmith. Do you have enough money to save? You are staying on the street. Can you save?" Kantabai was insistent. She said, "I want to save because I want to buy a plastic sheet before the monsoons arrive. I want to save my family from rain." I went with Kantabai to the bank. Kantabai wanted to save 10 rupees a day -- less than 15 cents. Bank manager refused to open the account of Kantabai. He said Kantabai's amount is too small and it's not worth his time. Kantabai was not asking any loan from the bank. She was not asking any subsidy or grant from the government. What she was asking was to have a safe place to save her hard-earned money. And that was her right. And I went -- I said if banks are not opening the account of Kantabai, why not start the bank which will give an opportunity for women like Kantabai to save? And I applied for the banking license to Reserve Bank of India.
我与我的家人呆在一起, 与我三个小孩生活在乡下。 有天, 几年后的某天, 一个名叫坎塔白的妇女找到我。 坎塔白说:“我想要开个储蓄账户, 我想要存钱.” 我问坎塔白: “你在做铁匠的生意。 你有足够的钱去存吗? 你住在大街上。 你能存钱吗?” 坎塔白仍然坚持。 她说:“我想要存钱 是因为我想在季风来临前 买塑料薄帆。 我不想家人被雨淋。” 我跟坎塔白来到银行。 坎塔白想一天存10卢比, 这还不到15美分。 银行管理员拒绝为她开户。 他说坎塔白的钱太少了, 不值得浪费他的时间。 坎塔白都没向银行借钱。 她没有要求政府提供 任何补贴或补助。 她只是想要一个安全的地方 去存她辛苦赚来的钱。 而那是她的权利。 于是我—— 我说如果银行不为坎塔白开户, 为什么不开个银行 为坎塔白这样的女性提供存钱的机会呢? 于是我向印度储备银行申请银行牌照。
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No, it was not an easy task. Our license was rejected --
不,这并不是件轻松的事。 我们的牌照被拒绝了。
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on the grounds -- Reserve Bank said that we cannot issue a license to the bank whose promoting members who are nonliterate. I was terrified. I was crying. And by coming back home, I was continuously crying. I told Kantabai and other women that we couldn't get the license because our women are nonliterate. Our women said, "Stop crying. We will learn to read and write and apply again, so what?"
理由是—— 储备银行说他们不会给 那些客户是文盲的银行颁发牌照。 我真是被吓到了。 我哭了。 回到家后, 我仍然止不住哭。 我告诉坎塔白和其他妇女, 因为我们女性不识字, 所以我们拿不到牌照。 她们说:“别哭了, 我们会学习读和写, 再去申请一样,那又怎样?“
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We started our literacy classes. Every day our women would come. They were so determined that after working the whole day, they would come to the class and learn to read and write. After five months, we applied again, but this time I didn't go alone. Fifteen women accompanied me to Reserve Bank of India. Our women told the officer of Reserve Bank, "You rejected the license because we cannot read and write. You rejected the license because we are nonliterate." But they said, "There were no schools when we were growing, so we are not responsible for our noneducation." And they said, "We cannot read and write, but we can count."
我们开始了我们的扫盲课程。 每天,妇女都来参加。 在已经工作一整天后, 她们目标坚定地 来上课,学习阅读和书写。 五个月后, 我们再次进行申请, 但这次我不是一个人去。 15位女性跟我一起来到印度储备银行。 她们告诉储备银行的官员: “因为我们不会读和写, 你们拒绝发牌照。 你拒绝牌照是因为我们是文盲。” 但她们接着说: “我们小时候没有学校, 所以没有受教育又不是我们的错。” 她们接着说:“我们不能读写, 但我们可以算。”
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And they challenged the officer. "Then tell us to calculate the interest of any principal amount."
她们挑战官员。 “那么让我们计算任何本金的利息。”
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"If we are unable to do it, don't give us license. Tell your officers to do it without a calculator and see who can calculate faster."
“如果我们算不出来, 不要给我们发牌照。 让你的官员不要用计算器, 看谁算得更快。”
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Needless to say, we got the banking license.
不用说, 我们拿到了银行牌照。
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Today, more than 100,000 women are banking with us and we have more than 20 million dollars of capital. This is all women's savings, women capital, no outside investors asking for a business plan. No. It's our own rural women's savings.
今天,有10万名女性 在我们银行开了账户, 我们拥有了超过2千万美金的资本。 这些全是女人的储蓄, 女人的资金, 没有外部投资者 要求提供商业计划书。 没有。 这是我们农村女性的储蓄。
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I also want to say that yes, after we got the license, today Kantabai has her own house and is staying with her family in her own house for herself and her family.
我也想要说是的, 在我们获得银行牌照后, 如今坎塔白已经有了她自己的房子, 正在跟她的家人住在一起, 在她自己的房子里。
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When we started our banking operations, I could see that our women were not able to come to the bank because they used to lose the working day. I thought if women are not coming to the bank, bank will go to them, and we started doorstep banking. Recently, we starting digital banking. Digital banking required to remember a PIN number. Our women said, "We don't want a PIN number. That's not a good idea." And we tried to explain to them that maybe you should remember the PIN number; we will help you to remember the PIN number. They were firm. They said, "suggest something else," and they --
当我们刚开始运营时, 我发现很多我们的女性 并没有时间来银行, 因为她们白天忙得不可开交。 我想如果女性不能够来银行, 银行可以去找她们, 于是我们开始了上门银行服务。 最近,我们开始了电子银行。 电子银行要求人们记住一个密码。 我们的女性用户说: “我们不要密码。 这不是个好主意。” 我们试图给她们解释 你们应该要有个密码; 我们也会帮你记住你的密码。 她们仍然坚持。 她们说:“想想别的方法,” 她们——
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and they said, "What about thumb?" I thought that's a great idea. We'll link that digital banking with biometric, and now women use the digital financial transaction by using the thumb. And you know what they said? They said, "Anybody can steal my PIN number and take away my hard-earned money, but nobody can steal my thumb."
她们说:“拇指怎样?” 我觉得这个是个好主意。 我们将把电子银行跟生物识别技术 联系起来, 现在女性可以通过指纹进行 电子金融交易。 你们知道她们怎么说吗? 她们说:“任何人都可以偷我的密码, 拿走我辛苦赚的钱, 但没人能偷走我的手指。”
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That reinforced the teaching which I have always learned from women: never provide poor solutions to poor people. They are smart.
这强化了我从女性身上学到的认识: 不要为穷人提供糟糕的解决方案。 她们是聪明人。
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A few months later, another woman came to the bank -- Kerabai. She mortgaged her gold and took the loan. I asked Kerabai, "Why are you mortgaging your precious jewelry and taking a loan?" Kerabai said, "Don't you realize that it's a terrible drought? There's no food or fodder for the animals. No water. I'm mortgaging gold to buy food and fodder for my animals." And then she asks me, "Can I mortgage gold and get water?" I had no answer. Kerabai challenged me: "You're working in the village with women and finance, but what if one day there's no water? If you leave this village, with whom are you going to do banking?" Kerabai had a valid question, so in this drought, we decided to start the cattle camp in the area. It's where farmers can bring their animals to one place and get fodder and water. It didn't rain. Cattle camp was extended for 18 months. Kerabai used to move around in the cattle camp and sing the songs of encouragement. Kerabai became very popular. It rained and cattle camp was ended, but after cattle camp ended, Kerabai came to our radio -- we have community radio which has more than 100,000 listeners. She said, "I want to have a regular show on the radio." Our radio manager said, "Kerabai, you cannot read and write. How will you write the script?" You know what she replied? "I cannot read and write, but I can sing. What's the big deal?"
几个月后, 另一位女性来到银行—— 喀拉白。 她抵押她的金条贷了款。 我问喀拉白: “你为什么要抵押你的珍贵珠宝 贷款?” 喀拉白说:“你没意识到现在的干旱 很可怕吗? 动物没有食物和饲料了。 没有水了。 我抵押金条来为我的家畜 购买食物和饲料。” 然后她问我:“我能抵押金条 来获取水吗?” 我答不上来。 喀拉白问我我: “你在这个村庄 与女性和金融一起工作, 但如果有一天这里没水了呢? 如果你离开这个村庄, 你打算和谁一起做金融业务呢?” 喀拉白问了这个实实在在的问题, 所以在这场大旱中, 我们决定在这个地区 开设养牛的营地。 在那里,农民可以把她们的牲畜带来 获得饲料和水。 天没有下雨。 养牛营延长到了18个月。 喀拉白过去常常在牛营中到处走动, 唱着鼓励的歌谣。 喀拉白变得非常受欢迎。 终于下雨了, 而养牛营也结束了, 但在养牛营结束后, 喀拉白来到我们的电台—— 我们有社区电台, 拥有超过10万名听众。 她说:“我想要在电台上 做常规节目。” 我们的电台主管说: “喀拉白,你不会读和写。 你怎么写稿子?” 你知道她怎么回复吗? “我不能读写, 但我会唱。 有什么大不了?”
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And today, Kerabai is doing a regular radio program, and not only that, she's become a famous radio jockey and she has been invited by all of the radios, even from Mumbai. She gets the invitation and she does the show.
今天, 喀拉白正在做一个常规的广播节目, 不仅如此, 她成为了著名的广播节目主持人, 被所有的电台邀请过, 甚至有孟买的电台。 她应邀去做了节目。
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Kerabai has become a local celebrity. One day I asked Kerabai, "How did you end up singing?" She said, "Shall I tell you the real fact? When I was pregnant with my first child, I was always hungry. I did not have enough food to eat. I did not have enough money to buy food, and so to forget my hunger, I started singing." So strong and wise, no? I always think that our women overcome so many obstacles -- cultural, social, financial -- and they find out their ways.
喀拉白已经成为当地的名人。 一天,我问喀拉白。 “你是怎么学会唱歌的?” 她说:“我可以告诉你真相吗? 当我怀着我的第一个孩子时, 我总是很饿。 我没有足够的东西吃。 我不够钱买食物, 于是为了忘记我的饥饿, 我开始唱歌。” 多么坚强和聪明,不是吗? 我总在想我们的女性 克服了如此多的障碍—— 来自文化,社会,财务—— 她们找到了自己的方法。
I would like to share another story: Sunita Kamble. She has taken a course in a business school, and she has become a veterinary doctor. She's Dalit; she comes from an untouchable caste, but she does artificial insemination in goats. It is a very male-dominated profession and it is all the more difficult for Sunita because Sunita comes from an untouchable caste. But she worked very hard. She did successful goat deliveries in the region and she became a famous goat doctor. Recently, she got a national award. I went to Sunita's house to celebrate -- to congratulate her. When I entered the village, I saw a big cutout of Sunita. Sunita was smiling on that picture. I was really surprised to see an untouchable, coming from the village, having a big cutout at the entrance of the village. When I went to her house, I was even more amazed because upper caste leaders -- men -- were sitting in the house, in her house, and having chai and water, which is very rare in India. Upper caste leaders do not go to an untouchable's house and have chai or water. And they were requesting her to come and address the gathering of the village. Sunita broke centuries-old caste conditioning in India.
我想要分享另一个故事: 萨尼塔·坎波。 她在商学院学习了一门课程, 她已经成为了一名兽医。 她是达利特; 她来自一个贱民阶层, 但她能对山羊做人工授精。 这本是一个男性主导的职业, 对萨尼塔而言就更难了, 因为她来自贱民阶层。 但她工作非常努力。 她在该地区成功地进行了 山羊的分娩, 并成为了一位非常知名的山羊医生。 最近她获得了国家大奖。 我前往萨尼塔家中庆祝, 去祝贺她。 当我来到村庄, 我看到一个萨尼塔的画报模型。 萨尼塔在画中微笑着。 我非常的惊讶, 当看到一个来自 山村的贱民阶层的人, 可以在村庄的入口有一副大的剪贴画。 当我来到她家, 我更加惊奇地看到 因为高级种姓的领导人们, 男人们——正坐在她家中, 喝茶喝水, 这在印度非常少见。 高种姓领导一般不会去贱民家中 喝茶喝水。 他们在邀请她 去参加村庄的聚会。 萨尼塔打破了印度几个世纪来的 种姓制度。
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Let me come to what the younger generations do. As I'm standing here -- I'm so proud as I stand here, from Mhaswad to Vancouver. Back home, Sarita Bhise -- she's not even 16 years old. She's preparing herself -- she's a part of our sports program, Champions' program. She's preparing herself to represent India in field hockey. And you know where she's going? She's going to represent in 2020 Olympics, Tokyo.
让我们看看年轻一代在做什么。 我站在这里—— 我非常自豪我能站在这里, 从姆哈斯瓦德到温哥华。 在家乡,萨里塔·博伊西 —— 她还不到16岁。 她正在—— 她是我们体育项目的一份子, 准备冠军比赛。 她正在准备代表印度 参加曲棍球比赛。 你知道她要去哪吗? 她要去参加2020年东京奥运会。
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Sarita comes from a very poor shepherd community. I am just -- I couldn't be more proud of her.
萨里塔来自非常贫穷的牧羊人社区。 我真是,最为她感到骄傲。
There are millions of women like Sarita, Kerabai, Sunita, who can be around you also. They can be all over the world, but at first glance you may think that they do not have anything to say, they do not have anything to share. You would be so wrong. I am so lucky that I'm working with these women. They are sharing their stories with me, they are sharing their wisdom with me, and I'm just lucky to be with them. 20 years before -- and I'm so proud -- we went to Reserve Bank of India and we set up the first rural women's bank. Today they are pushing me to go to National Stock Exchange to set up the first fund dedicated to micro rural women entrepreneurs. They are pushing me to set up the first small finance women's bank in the world. And as one of them said, "My courage is my capital." And I say here, their courage is my capital. And if you want, it can be yours also.
像萨里塔、喀拉白和萨尼塔 这样的女性有成千上万, 她们可能就在你身旁。 她们可能分布于全球各地, 第一眼, 你会觉得她们没啥好说的, 她们没啥好分享的。 你就大错特错了。 我很幸运能和这些女性一起工作。 她们一直跟我分享她们的故事, 她们与我一直分享智慧, 我真是如此幸运能够跟她们一起。 20年前, 我非常自豪, 我们来到印度储备银行 开设了第一家农村妇女银行。 如今,她们推动我 来到印度国家证券交易所 设立首个专门针对 农村妇女企业家的基金。 她们推动我去设立 世界上首个女性小型金融银行。 正如其中一位说的, “我的勇气就是我的资本。” 我在这里说, 她们的勇气是我的资本。 如果你们想, 也可以是你的资本。
Thank you.
谢谢。
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