I've been working on issues of poverty for more than 20 years, and so it's ironic that the problem that and question that I most grapple with is how you actually define poverty. What does it mean? So often, we look at dollar terms -- people making less than a dollar or two or three a day. And yet the complexity of poverty really has to look at income as only one variable. Because really, it's a condition about choice, and the lack of freedom.
我研究貧窮的問題二十多年了 諷刺的是,我覺得最困難之處 在於如何界定貧窮,貧窮所指為何? 通常我們會用收入衡量 窮人就是一天賺不到兩三塊美金的人 但貧窮牽涉的層面很多 收入只是其中之一 因為貧窮代表無力選擇 以及缺乏個人自由
And I had an experience that really deepened and elucidated for me the understanding that I have. It was in Kenya, and I want to share it with you. I was with my friend Susan Meiselas, the photographer, in the Mathare Valley slums. Now, Mathare Valley is one of the oldest slums in Africa. It's about three miles out of Nairobi, and it's a mile long and about two-tenths of a mile wide, where over half a million people live crammed in these little tin shacks, generation after generation, renting them, often eight or 10 people to a room. And it's known for prostitution, violence, drugs: a hard place to grow up. And when we were walking through the narrow alleys, it was literally impossible not to step in the raw sewage and the garbage alongside the little homes. But at the same time it was also impossible not to see the human vitality, the aspiration and the ambition of the people who live there: women washing their babies, washing their clothes, hanging them out to dry. I met this woman, Mama Rose, who has rented that little tin shack for 32 years, where she lives with her seven children. Four sleep in one twin bed, and three sleep on the mud and linoleum floor. And she keeps them all in school by selling water from that kiosk, and from selling soap and bread from the little store inside.
而某次經歷讓我更瞭解貧窮 以及其背後的真義 那時我人在肯亞,在此和各位分享 我和攝影師朋友蘇珊 前往馬沙爾谷的貧民窟 它是非洲歷史最久的貧民窟之一 大約離奈洛比五公里 佔地約1.5公里長,300公尺寬 卻住了超過50萬人 全擠在小小的鐵皮屋裡 一代代就這麼租著鐵皮屋 一間屋子塞八到十人 在那裡賣淫、暴力和毒品猖獗 成長環境非常艱辛 我們穿越一條條窄巷 腳下踩著的都是 小屋旁的骯髒穢物和垃圾 然而於此同時 我也見到了人的生命力 以及心懷理想和抱負的居民 許多婦女在替孩子洗澡、洗晾衣物 我遇到一位叫蘿絲的媽媽 她租小鐵皮屋已有32年之久 和七個孩子同住 其中四個擠在一張床上 三個睡在滿是泥巴的油地氈上 七個孩子都有上學,全靠她在那個小亭子賣水 還有在裡面那家小商店賣肥皂和麵包
It was also the day after the inauguration, and I was reminded how Mathare is still connected to the globe. And I would see kids on the street corners, and they'd say "Obama, he's our brother!" And I'd say "Well, Obama's my brother, so that makes you my brother too." And they would look quizzically, and then be like, "High five!"
那天剛好是歐巴馬就職的隔天 我發現馬沙爾並未和世界脫軌 因為一些街上的小朋友 會對我說「歐巴馬是我們同胞耶!」 我便答「他也是我的同胞,所以我們大家都是同胞」 他們先一臉疑惑,然後開心地要跟我擊掌
And it was here that I met Jane. I was struck immediately by the kindness and the gentleness in her face, and I asked her to tell me her story. She started off by telling me her dream. She said, "I had two. My first dream was to be a doctor, and the second was to marry a good man who would stay with me and my family, because my mother was a single mom, and couldn't afford to pay for school fees. So I had to give up the first dream, and I focused on the second." She got married when she was 18, had a baby right away. And when she turned 20, found herself pregnant with a second child, her mom died and her husband left her -- married another woman. So she was again in Mathare, with no income, no skill set, no money. And so she ultimately turned to prostitution. It wasn't organized in the way we often think of it. She would go into the city at night with about 20 girls, look for work, and sometimes come back with a few shillings, or sometimes with nothing. And she said, "You know, the poverty wasn't so bad. It was the humiliation and the embarrassment of it all."
我就是在這裡遇到了珍 她臉上溫柔親切的神情立刻打動了我 我便請她跟我分享她的故事 她先從她的兩個夢想說起 第一個夢想是當醫生 第二個是嫁給好男人 「一個能長伴我和家人左右的男人」 「由於我母親是單親媽媽」 「付不起學費」 「所以我只得放棄第一個夢,努力實現另一個夢」 珍在18歲時結婚,很快生了個小孩 她20歲時發現自己懷第二胎 母親卻在這時過世,先生也另娶新歡 她待在馬沙爾,毫無收入或一技之長 最後只好選擇出賣肉體 賣淫並非如我們想像得那麼容易 她晚上和大約20個女子一起進城 努力拉客,有時一晚才賺幾角美金 有時一毛錢都賺不到 她說「其實窮倒還好,出賣肉體受的屈辱 才是最令人難受的事
In 2001, her life changed. She had a girlfriend who had heard about this organization, Jamii Bora, that would lend money to people no matter how poor you were, as long as you provided a commensurate amount in savings. And so she spent a year to save 50 dollars, and started borrowing, and over time she was able to buy a sewing machine. She started tailoring. And that turned into what she does now, which is to go into the secondhand clothing markets, and for about three dollars and 25 cents she buys an old ball gown. Some of them might be ones you gave. And she repurposes them with frills and ribbons, and makes these frothy confections that she sells to women for their daughter's Sweet 16 or first Holy Communion -- those milestones in a life that people want to celebrate all along the economic spectrum. And she does really good business. In fact, I watched her walk through the streets hawking. And before you knew it, there was a crowd of women around her, buying these dresses.
2001年是她生命的轉捩點 她的朋友跟她提起Jamii Bora信貸機構 該機構願意借錢給任何窮人 前提是借的錢不得多於現有存款 所以珍花一年存了50美金 便開始貸款,過一陣子她買了縫紉機 開始幫人做衣服 然後逐漸變成現在的工作 就是經營二手衣市場 她只花三塊多就可以買到舊的晚禮服 有些可能是各位捐的 她把禮服重新修改,加上緞帶和花邊 做成一件件蓬蓬的洋裝賣給其他婦女 供她們參加女兒的成年禮或聖餐禮穿 因為在這些人生的重要場合 即使是窮人也會想辦法盛裝慶祝 她的生意相當好 我看著她沿街叫賣沒多久 身旁就圍了一群婦女要買洋裝
And I reflected, as I was watching her sell the dresses, and also the jewelry that she makes, that now Jane makes more than four dollars a day. And by many definitions she is no longer poor. But she still lives in Mathare Valley. And so she can't move out. She lives with all of that insecurity, and in fact, in January, during the ethnic riots, she was chased from her home and had to find a new shack in which she would live.
我看著珍忙著賣衣服 還有親手做的首飾 我便想到,她現在一天賺超過4美金了 已不太符合「貧窮」的定義了 但她仍住在馬沙爾谷 無法搬離那裡 每天都得提心吊膽 今年一月的種族暴動 她從自家被趕出,只得另尋鐵皮屋 不然就無處可住
Jamii Bora understands that and understands that when we're talking about poverty, we've got to look at people all along the economic spectrum. And so with patient capital from Acumen and other organizations, loans and investments that will go the long term with them, they built a low-cost housing development, about an hour outside Nairobi central. And they designed it from the perspective of customers like Jane herself, insisting on responsibility and accountability. So she has to give 10 percent of the mortgage -- of the total value, or about 400 dollars in savings. And then they match her mortgage to what she paid in rent for her little shanty. And in the next couple of weeks, she's going to be among the first 200 families to move into this development.
Jamii Bora信貸機構很清楚這點 也知道所謂的貧窮 不能只靠收入來判斷 所以該機構和Acumen等組織合資 釋出長期貸款和投資方案 共同打造低價的住宅區 離奈洛比市區約一小時車程 此住宅區旳設計理念 是基於像珍這類客戶的需求 且堅守對客戶的責任和義務 珍得先付房貸的一成 大約是她存的四百美金 該機構會把房貸和原租金兩相對照 再過幾個禮拜,珍和她孩子 連同近200個家庭,將搬進此住宅區
When I asked her if she feared anything, or whether she would miss anything from Mathare, she said, "What would I fear that I haven't confronted already? I'm HIV positive. I've dealt with it all." And she said, "What would I miss? You think I will miss the violence or the drugs? The lack of privacy? Do you think I'll miss not knowing if my children are going to come home at the end of the day?" She said "If you gave me 10 minutes my bags would be packed." I said, "Well what about your dreams?" And she said, "Well, you know, my dreams don't look exactly like I thought they would when I was a little girl. But if I think about it, I thought I wanted a husband, but what I really wanted was a family that was loving. And I fiercely love my children, and they love me back." She said, "I thought that I wanted to be a doctor, but what I really wanted to be was somebody who served and healed and cured. And so I feel so blessed with everything that I have, that two days a week I go and I counsel HIV patients. And I say, 'Look at me. You are not dead. You are still alive. And if you are still alive you have to serve.'" And she said, "I'm not a doctor who gives out pills. But maybe me, I give out something better because I give them hope."
我問她心裡怕不怕 會不會想念馬沙爾 她說「我有什麼好怕 什麼大風大浪沒見過 我還患有愛滋,該吃的苦都吃過了」 她又說「有什麼好想念的? 難道我會想念暴力、毒品或缺乏隱私嗎? 難道我會想念老是擔心孩子安危的日子? 只要給我十分鐘 我立刻可以打包走人」 我問到她的夢想 她說「我的夢想 已經和小時候想的不太一樣了 現在仔細想想,我以前想嫁個老公 但其實是想組個充滿愛的家庭 我好愛我的孩子,他們也很愛我」 她還說「我以前想當醫生 但其實我真正想做的是服務人群 療癒別人的傷痛 所以我很感激現有的一切 我每星期輔導愛滋患者兩次 我對他們說「看看我,你還沒死 還活得好好的,那就要幫助別人」 「我雖然不是開藥的醫生 但我給的東西或許更有用 因為我給他們希望」
And in the middle of this economic crisis, where so many of us are inclined to pull in with fear, I think we're well suited to take a cue from Jane and reach out, recognizing that being poor doesn't mean being ordinary. Because when systems are broken, like the ones that we're seeing around the world, it's an opportunity for invention and for innovation. It's an opportunity to truly build a world where we can extend services and products to all human beings, so that they can make decisions and choices for themselves. I truly believe it's where dignity starts. We owe it to the Janes of the world. And just as important, we owe it to ourselves.
現在經濟不景氣 我們很容易就畏縮 但我覺得我們需要的是 學習珍的精神,幫助他人 要知道貧窮不代表甘於平凡 因為一旦制度上有缺失 就像現在世界各地的例子 反而給我們革新的機會 給我們改變世界的機會 將各種服務和產品 提供給全人類,如此一來 他們才能自己抉擇 我深信這是擁有尊嚴的第一步 這樣才算給處境跟珍相同的人一個交代 也算給自己一個交代
Thank you.
謝謝大家
(Applause)
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