There's a group of people in Kenya. People cross oceans to go see them. These people are tall. They jump high. They wear red. And they kill lions. You might be wondering, who are these people? These are the Maasais. And you know what's cool? I'm actually one of them.
在肯亞有一群人 人們會飄洋過海來見他們 這些人很高 他們跳得高,他們穿紅色衣物。 他們還會獵殺獅子 你可能會想知道,他們到底是誰? 他們是馬賽族人 最酷的是,我也是其中一員呢!
The Maasais, the boys are brought up to be warriors. The girls are brought up to be mothers. When I was five years old, I found out that I was engaged to be married as soon as I reached puberty. My mother, my grandmother, my aunties, they constantly reminded me that your husband just passed by. (Laughter) Cool, yeah? And everything I had to do from that moment was to prepare me to be a perfect woman at age 12. My day started at 5 in the morning, milking the cows, sweeping the house, cooking for my siblings, collecting water, firewood. I did everything that I needed to do to become a perfect wife.
在馬賽族裡,男孩長大都要當戰士。 女孩長大則要當母親。 我五歲的時候, 我發現自己已經被配婚了 一旦到了青春期,我就要結婚 我媽媽、祖母和阿姨們 她們都會不斷的提醒我 妳丈夫剛剛從我們面前走過哎! (笑聲)很酷是吧? 從那個時候開始,我做的每一件事情 都是為了讓我在12歲可以成為一個完美女性的準備 我的一天從早上5點開始, 為牛擠奶、打掃房子、 為我的兄弟姊妹煮飯、挑水、收集柴枝 我做了所有必須的做的 讓我成為一位完美的妻子
I went to school not because the Maasais' women or girls were going to school. It's because my mother was denied an education, and she constantly reminded me and my siblings that she never wanted us to live the life she was living. Why did she say that? My father worked as a policeman in the city. He came home once a year. We didn't see him for sometimes even two years. And whenever he came home, it was a different case. My mother worked hard in the farm to grow crops so that we can eat. She reared the cows and the goats so that she can care for us. But when my father came, he would sell the cows, he would sell the products we had, and he went and drank with his friends in the bars. Because my mother was a woman, she was not allowed to own any property, and by default, everything in my family anyway belongs to my father, so he had the right. And if my mother ever questioned him, he beat her, abused her, and really it was difficult.
我去上學不是因為 馬賽族的女人或女孩子都會去上學。 而是因為我母親被剝奪了教育, 她就不斷地提醒我和我的兄弟姊妹們 她不想我們過她的過去的日子 為什麼她會這樣說呢? 我父親在城裡當警察 他每年回家一次 有時候,我們甚至兩年都見不到他 每次他回來,情況都不一樣 我媽媽在農莊裡勤奮地工作 種植作物好讓我們有得吃 她會餵牛和羊群 這樣地養育照顧我們 但是每次我爸爸回家,他便會把牛隻賣掉 變賣我們的產品, 然後去酒吧跟朋友喝酒 因為我媽媽是女性, 她不能擁有自己的財產 按照慣例,我們家裡面所有的東西都屬於我爸爸 所以他喜歡怎麼樣就怎麼樣 如果我媽向他提出意見的話 他會打她,虐待她,真的,那真的很糟
When I went to school, I had a dream. I wanted to become a teacher. Teachers looked nice. They wear nice dresses, high-heeled shoes. I found out later that they are uncomfortable, but I admired it. (Laughter) But most of all, the teacher was just writing on the board -- not hard work, that's what I thought, compared to what I was doing in the farm. So I wanted to become a teacher.
我在學校裡念書的時候,我有一個夢想 我希望成為一位老師 老師看來很不錯 他們都會穿好看的衣服,還有高跟鞋 雖然我後來發現它們其實不是很舒服,但我還是很喜歡 (笑聲) 但最重要的,老師們都只是在黑板上寫字 我想這工作不辛苦 跟我在農場做的比起來 所以,我想成為一位老師
I worked hard in school, but when I was in eighth grade, it was a determining factor. In our tradition, there is a ceremony that girls have to undergo to become women, and it's a rite of passage to womanhood. And then I was just finishing my eighth grade, and that was a transition for me to go to high school. This was the crossroad. Once I go through this tradition, I was going to become a wife. Well, my dream of becoming a teacher will not come to pass. So I talked -- I had to come up with a plan to figure these things out. I talked to my father. I did something that most girls have never done. I told my father, "I will only go through this ceremony if you let me go back to school." The reason why, if I ran away, my father will have a stigma, people will be calling him the father of that girl who didn't go through the ceremony. It was a shameful thing for him to carry the rest of his life. So he figured out. "Well," he said, "okay, you'll go to school after the ceremony."
我在學校裡很努力學習,但在我八年級的時候 發生了一件關鍵的事情 根據我們的傳統,有一個儀式 女孩必須經過才可以變成女人, 那是一個女性的成人禮 我當時即將要完成八年級, 接著我就要上高中 那是一個決定性的時刻 一旦完成這個傳統,我就會成為一名妻子 若是這樣的話,我想要成為老師的夢想便會無法實現。 於是,我必須有個計畫 處理這些事情 我找爸爸商量,我做了大部份女孩子永遠不會做的事情 我告訴爸爸:我不會完成這儀式 除非你讓我回學校” 我之所以這樣做,因為如果我逃跑, 我爸爸會蒙受恥辱,人們會叫他 沒完成儀式女孩的爸爸 他將終身背負這種恥辱 於是他想通了對我說 “好,可以" 儀式之後妳可以回去上學“
I did. The ceremony happened. It's a whole week long of excitement. It's a ceremony. People are enjoying it. And the day before the actual ceremony happens, we were dancing, having excitement, and through all the night we did not sleep. The actual day came, and we walked out of the house that we were dancing in. Yes, we danced and danced. We walked out to the courtyard, and there were a bunch of people waiting. They were all in a circle. And as we danced and danced, and we approached this circle of women, men, women, children, everybody was there. There was a woman sitting in the middle of it, and this woman was waiting to hold us. I was the first. There were my sisters and a couple of other girls, and as I approached her, she looked at me, and I sat down. And I sat down, and I opened my legs. As I opened my leg, another woman came, and this woman was carrying a knife. And as she carried the knife, she walked toward me and she held the clitoris, and she cut it off.
於是,我參加了這個儀式。 那是一整個星期的興奮 那是個儀式,大家都樂在其中 儀式舉行的前一天, 我們都很興奮地跳舞 徹夜不睡 那一天到來,我們走出我們跳舞的房子 是的,我們一直跳,一直跳 我們走到庭院,有一大群人在等待 他們圍了一個圈 我們繼續地跳啊跳 然後,我們來到這一群婦女的圈子裡, 那裡有男,有女,還有小孩,幾乎所有人都在那裡 有一個女人坐在中間 那個女人在等著我們 我是第一個。還有我妹妹和一些其他女孩子 當我靠近她 她看我,然後我坐下來 我坐下來並打開雙腳 當我打開雙腳的時候,另外一個女人進過來 這個女人帶著一把刀 她拿著刀走向我 她抓住我的陰蒂, 然後割下來
As you can imagine, I bled. I bled. After bleeding for a while, I fainted thereafter. It's something that so many girls -- I'm lucky, I never died -- but many die. It's practiced, it's no anesthesia, it's a rusty old knife, and it was difficult. I was lucky because one, also, my mom did something that most women don't do. Three days later, after everybody has left the home, my mom went and brought a nurse. We were taken care of. Three weeks later, I was healed, and I was back in high school. I was so determined to be a teacher now so that I could make a difference in my family.
你可以想像當時的情況,我一直流血 一直流 流血一陣子之後,我暈倒了 很多女孩子會就此死去, 我很幸運,沒有死 儀式就是這樣舉行,沒有麻醉,只用一把生鏽的舊刀 想起來,那真是很不容易渡過的。 我很幸運因為我的媽媽做了些事情 那是大部份的婦女都不會做的。 三天之後,當人們都離開了我們的房子, 我媽媽去請了一位護士來 我們被照料 三個星期之後,我康復了,也回到了高中 我非常堅決的要成為一位教師 這樣我可以對我的家庭有所作為
Well, while I was in high school, something happened. I met a young gentleman from our village who had been to the University of Oregon. This man was wearing a white t-shirt, jeans, camera, white sneakers -- and I'm talking about white sneakers. There is something about clothes, I think, and shoes. They were sneakers, and this is in a village that doesn't even have paved roads. It was quite attractive.
當我上了高中,又發生了一件事情 我遇見了一位來自我們村子的年輕的先生 他念過美國奧勒崗州大學 這個人穿白色T-shirt,牛仔褲,帶著照相機, 還有白色的運動鞋,白色運動鞋呢! 我想應該是衣服還有鞋子的關係 然而在這村裡 根本沒什麼鋪好的道路。所以鞋子蠻引人注目
I told him, "Well, I want to go to where you are," because this man looked very happy, and I admired that.
我告訴他:”我想去你所在的地方。“ 因為這個人看來很快樂,我很嚮往這個樣子
And he told me, "Well, what do you mean, you want to go? Don't you have a husband waiting for you?"
他告訴我,”喔, 妳想去,是什麼意思? 妳沒有丈夫在等妳嗎?“
And I told him, "Don't worry about that part. Just tell me how to get there."
我告訴他:”這你不用擔心 只要告訴我怎樣可以去你那個地方就行。“
This gentleman, he helped me. While I was in high school also, my dad was sick. He got a stroke, and he was really, really sick, so he really couldn't tell me what to do next. But the problem is, my father is not the only father I have. Everybody who is my dad's age, male in the community, is my father by default -- my uncles, all of them -- and they dictate what my future is.
這位先生幫了我。 我在念高中的時候,我爸爸病了 他中風,病得很嚴重,很嚴重 所以他沒辦法告訴我下一步應該怎做 問題是,我爸爸不是我唯一的父親 社區裡每個和我爸爸同年紀的男性 按照慣例都是我父親 還有我叔叔們,所有人,都可以主宰我的未來
So the news came, I applied to school and I was accepted to Randolph-Macon Woman's College in Lynchburg, Virginia, and I couldn't come without the support of the village, because I needed to raise money to buy the air ticket. I got a scholarship but I needed to get myself here. But I needed the support of the village, and here again, when the men heard, and the people heard that a woman had gotten an opportunity to go to school, they said, "What a lost opportunity. This should have been given to a boy. We can't do this."
然而消息傳來,我申請學校 我被美國維吉尼亞州林奇堡的蘭都爾夫女子學院錄取了 但是如果沒有村子的支持,我不可能前往 因為我得湊錢買機票 我拿到了獎學金,但是我需要自己想辦法來到這裡 我需要村子的支持, 當男性們聽到這個消息, 還有大家聽到一位女性得到去學校念書的機會 他們說:”多可惜啊, 這個機會應該留給男孩,我們不能這樣做。“
So I went back and I had to go back to the tradition. There's a belief among our people that morning brings good news. So I had to come up with something to do with the morning, because there's good news in the morning. And in the village also, there is one chief, an elder, who if he says yes, everybody will follow him. So I went to him very early in the morning, as the sun rose. The first thing he sees when he opens his door is, it's me.
於是,我知道,我必須要回到傳統。 我的族人有一個信念 早晨會帶來好消息 於是,我必須在早上做點事情 因為好消息都是發生在早上。 在村子裡,有一位長者領袖, 只要他同意,其他人都會跟隨他 所以在一大清早,太陽剛剛升起的時候去找他 讓他一打開門,第一個可以看見的就是我
"My child, what are you doing here?"
他問:“我的孩子,妳在這裡做什麼?”
"Well, Dad, I need help. Can you support me to go to America?" I promised him that I would be the best girl, I will come back, anything they wanted after that, I will do it for them.
我說:“父親,我需要幫忙。 你可以支持我去美國嗎?” 我答應他,我會是最好的女生, 我一定會回來,之後他們希望我做的事情 我都一定會去做。
He said, "Well, but I can't do it alone." He gave me a list of another 15 men that I went -- 16 more men -- every single morning I went and visited them. They all came together. The village, the women, the men, everybody came together to support me to come to get an education.
他說:“好!但是我不能一個人作主。“ 他給了我一份有十五個男性的名單 總共16個男人,我每天早上 逐一去拜訪了他們 然後,他們全部都聚集在一起。 村子、女人、男人,所有人都來了 支持我來這裡接受教育
I arrived in America. As you can imagine, what did I find? I found snow! I found Wal-Marts, vacuum cleaners, and lots of food in the cafeteria. I was in a land of plenty.
我到了美國。 你猜,我發現了什麼? 我發現了雪! 我發現了沃爾瑪超市,吸塵器, 還有學校餐廳裡的不同食物。 我在一片豐盛的土地上
I enjoyed myself, but during that moment while I was here, I discovered a lot of things. I learned that that ceremony that I went through when I was 13 years old, it was called female genital mutilation. I learned that it was against the law in Kenya. I learned that I did not have to trade part of my body to get an education. I had a right. And as we speak right now, three million girls in Africa are at risk of going through this mutilation. I learned that my mom had a right to own property. I learned that she did not have to be abused because she is a woman. Those things made me angry. I wanted to do something. As I went back, every time I went, I found that my neighbors' girls were getting married. They were getting mutilated, and here, after I graduated from here, I worked at the U.N., I went back to school to get my graduate work, the constant cry of these girls was in my face. I had to do something.
我很享受這裡的生活,但在這期間 我發現了很多事情 我知道了我十三歲所經歷的那個儀式 它被稱為女性割禮 我得知在肯亞是違法的 我得知了,其實我不需要用我的身體來作為接受教育 的交換條件。我有接受教育的權利 至今,在非洲有三百萬的女性 處於經歷這種割禮的威脅 我學到我媽媽有權去擁有自己的財物 我學到她不應該被虐待 只因為她是女性 這所有的事情都讓我很生氣憤怒。 我想做些什麼 我每一趟回去村裡, 都會發現我鄰居的女孩被安排結婚了 她們都經歷割禮, 我在這裡畢業後,我去了聯合國工作, 我回到學校裡去做碩士研究時, 我看見這些女孩子不斷在哭 我必須做些什麼
As I went back, I started talking to the men, to the village, and mothers, and I said, "I want to give back the way I had promised you that I would come back and help you. What do you need?"
我回去後,我開始跟男士們 跟村子,還有母親們說話,我說 ”我想尊守我的承諾, 我說我會回來幫忙,你需要什麼?“
As I spoke to the women, they told me, "You know what we need? We really need a school for girls." Because there had not been any school for girls. And the reason they wanted the school for girls is because when a girl is raped when she's walking to school, the mother is blamed for that. If she got pregnant before she got married, the mother is blamed for that, and she's punished. She's beaten. They said, "We wanted to put our girls in a safe place."
當我這樣跟婦女說,她們會告訴我, ”妳知道我們的需要什麼嗎? 我們很需要一所女子學校 因為那裡從沒有給女孩子的學校。 她們之所以想要一所女子學校 是因為當有女孩在上學途中被強暴 母親卻是被怪罪的一方 如果她在結婚前懷孕 母親會被責怪而她會被懲罰 她會被打。 她們會說:“我們需要把我們的女兒帶到一個安全的地方。”
As we moved, and I went to talk to the fathers, the fathers, of course, you can imagine what they said: "We want a school for boys."
然後我們搬了,我去跟父親們商量 理所當然 你可以猜他們說了什麼 我們要一所男子學校”
And I said, "Well, there are a couple of men from my village who have been out and they have gotten an education. Why can't they build a school for boys, and I'll build a school for girls?" That made sense. And they agreed. And I told them, I wanted them to show me a sign of commitment. And they did. They donated land where we built the girls' school. We have.
我說:“有些我們村子的男人 他們也出去接受教育了 為什麼他們不回來建立一所男子學校? 而我來建立一所女子學校?” 這個說法很合理。最後他們都同意了 我跟他們說,我希望他們可以對他們的承擔有所表示 然後,他們便捐出了一塊地讓我們建立一所女子學校 我們做到了。
I want you to meet one of the girls in that school. Angeline came to apply for the school, and she did not meet any criteria that we had. She's an orphan. Yes, we could have taken her for that. But she was older. She was 12 years old, and we were taking girls who were in fourth grade. Angeline had been moving from one place -- because she's an orphan, she has no mother, she has no father -- moving from one grandmother's house to another one, from aunties to aunties. She had no stability in her life. And I looked at her, I remember that day, and I saw something beyond what I was seeing in Angeline. And yes, she was older to be in fourth grade. We gave her the opportunity to come to the class. Five months later, that is Angeline. A transformation had begun in her life. Angeline wants to be a pilot so she can fly around the world and make a difference. She was not the top student when we took her. Now she's the best student, not just in our school, but in the entire division that we are in. That's Sharon. That's five years later. That's Evelyn. Five months later, that is the difference that we are making.
我想讓妳見一見學校裡的一名女生。 Angeline來學校報讀, 可是,她不具備任何我們要求的條件 她是一個孤兒。沒錯,我們可以因此讓她入學 但她比其他同學年長, 當時她十二歲 我們收的是四年級學生。 Angeline曾經經歷了無數的搬遷 因為她是孤兒,沒有母親,也沒有父親 所以,她只能從一個祖母的房子搬到另一個, 從一位阿姨家再搬到另一個阿姨家。她沒有安定的生活 我記得那一天,我看著她, 我看到了一個超越了我所能看見的Angeline 對,她進四年級稍嫌大了點 我們給她機會來上學 五個月之後,這個是Angeline。 她的生命開始有了轉變 Angeline希望能成為一飛行員,讓她可以飛往全世界 影響世界 當我們錄取她的時候,她並不是最頂尖的學生 現在她是最優秀的學生,不只是在我們的學校, 而是在我們整個地區 這就是莎崙。這是五年後的照片。 這是Evelyn。 這是五個月後,這都是我們在做的改變。
As a new dawn is happening in my school, a new beginning is happening. As we speak right now, 125 girls will never be mutilated. One hundred twenty-five girls will not be married when they're 12 years old. One hundred twenty-five girls are creating and achieving their dreams. This is the thing that we are doing, giving them opportunities where they can rise. As we speak right now, women are not being beaten because of the revolutions we've started in our community.
一到新曙光出現在我們學校 一個嶄新的開始 此時此刻,有125個女生將永遠不會經歷割禮。 有125個女生不會在她們十二歲時被強迫結婚 有125個女生正在創造並完成她們的夢想 這是我們正在做的事情。 讓她們有機會發光發熱 此時此刻,女性不再被打 因為我們在社區裡開始進行的改革
(Applause)
(掌聲)
I want to challenge you today. You are listening to me because you are here, very optimistic. You are somebody who is so passionate. You are somebody who wants to see a better world. You are somebody who wants to see that war ends, no poverty. You are somebody who wants to make a difference. You are somebody who wants to make our tomorrow better. I want to challenge you today that to be the first, because people will follow you. Be the first. People will follow you. Be bold. Stand up. Be fearless. Be confident. Move out, because as you change your world, as you change your community, as we believe that we are impacting one girl, one family, one village, one country at a time. We are making a difference, so if you change your world, you are going to change your community, you are going to change your country, and think about that. If you do that, and I do that, aren't we going to create a better future for our children, for your children, for our grandchildren? And we will live in a very peaceful world. Thank you very much.
今天,我想挑戰你們 你們在這裡聆聽我,是因為你們在這裡 你們都是非常樂觀的人 你們都是充滿激情的人 你們都想見到一個更美好的世界。 你們都是想看見戰事結束,不再有貧窮 你們都是想做些改變的人 你們都希望可以讓明天變的更好 今天我想挑戰你成為第一個採取行動的人 因為其他人會追隨你。 成為第一個採取行動的人。 人們會追隨你的 要放膽,站起來。要無懼,有信心。 出去吧,因為你可以改變你的世界, 改變你的社群, 因為我們相信,我們同時在改變一個女孩,一個家庭 一個村子,一個國家 我們在改變,所以如果你想要改變你的世界, 你也在改變你的社群, 你也在改變你的國家, 試想一下,如果你在做,我也做, 我們不是就在一起創造一個更好的將來給我們的下一代 你的孩子,給我們的子孫嗎? 那麼我們就可以活在一個和平的世界裡了。感謝大家!
(Applause)
(掌聲)