(Arabic) I seek refuge in Allah from cursed Satan. In the Name of Allah, the most Gracious, the most Merciful.
我尋求真主保護, 以防受詛咒的惡魔干擾。 奉至仁至慈的真主之名。(阿拉伯文)
(English) I was born in a middle class family. My father was five years old when he lost his father, but by the time I was born, he was already a businessman. But it didn't make a difference to him if his children were going to be a boy or a girl: they were going to go to school. So I guess I was the lucky one.
我生於一個中產階級家庭。 我的父親於五歲時失怙, 但在我出生時, 他已經是個生意人。 但是他不會對孩子有差別待遇, 無論孩子是男還是女: 他們都會去上學。 所以我猜我很幸運。
My mother had 16 pregnancies. From 16 pregnancies, five of us are alive. You can imagine as a child what I went through. Day to day, I watched women being carried to a graveyard, or watched children going to a graveyard. At that time, when I finished my high school, I really wanted to be a doctor. I wanted to be a doctor to help women and children. So I completed my education, but I wanted to go to university. Unfortunately, in my country, there wasn't a dormitory for girls, so I was accepted in medical school, but I could not go there. So as a result, my father sent me to America.
我母親懷過 16 胎。 這 16 胎中,五個活了下來。 你可以想像一下我童年的經歷。 每天,我都會看到女人 被抬到墓園, 或看著兒童走到墓園。 我高中畢業時, 我真的很想當醫生。 我想當醫生幫助婦女及小孩。 我完成高中學業, 但是我想去念大學。 很可惜,我的國家沒有女生宿舍, 所以雖然我被醫學院錄取, 但是我不能去念。 如此一來, 我父親只好送我到美國。
I came to America. I completed my education. While I was completing my education, my country was invaded by Russia. And do you know that at the time I was completing my education, I didn't know what was going on with my family or with my country. There were months, years, I didn't know about it. My family was in a refugee camp. So as soon as I completed my education, I brought my family to America. I wanted them to be safe.
我來到美國。 完成學業。 在我念書其間, 我的祖國被俄羅斯侵略。 你知道嗎?在我念書的時後, 我一點都不知道 我家或我的祖國情況如何。 有好幾個月、好幾年音信全無。 我的家人在難民營避難。 所以我一完成學業, 就把家人接到美國。 我想讓他們安全。
But where was my heart? My heart was in Afghanistan. Day after day, when I listened to the news, when I followed what was going on with my country, my heart was breaking up. I really wanted to go back to my country, but at the same time I knew I could not go there, because there was no place for me. I had a good job. I was a professor at a university. I earned good money. I had a good life. My family was here. I could live with them. But I wasn't happy. I wanted to go back home. So I went to the refugee camp. And when I went to the refugee camp in Pakistan, there were 7.5 million refugees. 7.5 million refugees. About 90 percent of them were women and children. Most of the men have been killed or they were in war. And you know, in the refugee camp, when I went day-to-day to do a survey, I found things you never could imagine. I saw a widow with five to eight children sitting there and weeping and not knowing what to do. I saw a young woman have no way to go anywhere, no education, no entertainment, no place to even live. I saw young men that had lost their father and their home, and they are supporting the family as a 10-to-12-year old boy -- being the head of the household, trying to protect their sister and their mother and their children.
但是我的心在哪裡? 我的心在阿富汗。 日復一日,當我聽新聞, 關心祖國的情況時, 我的心都碎了。 我真的想回到我的祖國, 但同時我也知道我不能去, 因為那裡沒有我容身之處。 我有個好工作。 我在大學裡當教授。 我薪資優渥。 我過得很好。 我的家人都在這裡。 我可以與他們同住。 但是我不開心。 我想回家。 所以我跑去難民營。 我跑去在巴基斯坦的難民營, 那裡有 750 萬難民。 750 萬難民。 其中約 90% 是婦女與小孩。 大部分的男人都已喪命, 或還在打仗。 你知道,在難民營裡, 我每天去做調查時, 我發現一些 你永遠無法想像的情況。 我看到一位 有五到八歲小孩的寡婦 坐在那裡哭泣, 不知道該怎麼辦。 我看到一位年輕婦女無處可去, 沒有受教育,沒有娛樂, 甚至沒地方住。 我看見年輕人失怙、無家可歸, 他們還要養家, 還只是個 10 到 12 歲的男孩, 就要當一家之主, 試著保護自己的姊妹、 母親及小孩。
So it was a very devastating situation. My heart was beating for my people, and I didn't know what to do. At that moment, we talk about momentum. At that moment, I felt, what can I do for these people? How could I help these people? I am one individual. What can I do for them?
所以那真的是非常慘的狀況。 我的心為我的同胞鼓動不已, 而我卻不知道該怎麼辦。 那個當下—— 現在我們在這裡談動力—— 那個當下,我的感覺好像, 我該為這些人做什麼? 我要怎麼幫助這些人? 我只是一芥小民。 我能為他們做些什麼?
But at that moment, I knew that education changed my life. It transformed me. It gave me status. It gave me confidence. It gave me a career. It helped me to support my family, to bring my family to another country, to be safe. And I knew that at that moment that what I should give to my people is education and health, and that's what I went after.
但是那個當下,我知道 教育改變了我的一生。 它改造了我。它給了我地位。 它給了我信心。它給了我職業。 它幫助我養家, 把家人接到另一個國家, 讓他們安全無虞。 我知道在那個當下, 我應該要給我的同胞的 是教育及健康, 那就是我當時追求的。
But do you think it was easy? No, because at that time, education was banned for girls, completely. And also, by Russia invading Afghanistan, people were not trusting anyone. It was very hard to come and say, "I want to do this." Who am I? Somebody who comes from the United States. Somebody who got educated here. Did they trust me? Of course not.
但是你以為那很容易嗎? 一點也不,因為那個時候, 女生完全不准受教育。 而且,因為俄國侵略阿富汗, 大家誰也不信任誰。 你很難突然出現然後說: 「我想做這個。」 我是誰? 某個從美國來的人。 某個在這裡受教育的人。 他們會信任我嗎?當然不。
So I really needed to build the trust in this community. How am I going to do that? I went and surveyed and looked and looked. I asked. Finally, I found one man. He was 80 years old. He was a mullah. I went to his tent in the camp, and I asked him, "I want to make you a teacher." And he looked at me, and he said, "Crazy woman, crazy woman, how do you think I can be a teacher?" And I told him, "I will make you a teacher." Finally, he accepted my offer, and once I started a class in his compound, the word spread all over. In a matter of one year, we had 25 schools set up, 15,000 children going to school, and it was amazing.
所以我真的需要 在這個社區建立信任關係。 我要怎麼做呢? 我就去難民營做調查, 這裡看看那裡看看。 我到處問。 最後,我找到一個人。 他八十歲了。 他是位穆拉(伊斯蘭教士)。 我去他的難民營帳篷拜訪他, 然後我問他: 「我想讓你當老師。」 然後他看看我, 他說:「瘋女人, 瘋女人,你看我能當老師嗎?」 我告訴他: 「我會讓你當老師。」 最後,他接受了這個職位, 而且我才開始 在他的營地開課, 話就傳開了。 在一年之內, 我們開了 25 間學校, 一萬五千名兒童就學, 真是不得了。
(Applause)
(掌聲)
Thank you. Thank you.
謝謝。 謝謝。
But of course, we're doing all our work, we were giving teacher training. We were training women's rights, human rights, democracy, rule of law. We were giving all kinds of training. And one day, I tell you, one day I was in the office in Peshawar, Pakistan. All of a sudden, I saw my staff running to rooms and locking the doors and telling me, "Run away, hide!" And you know, as a leader, what do you do? You're scared. You know it's dangerous. You know your life is on the line. But as a leader, you have to hold it together. You have to hold it together and show strength. So I said, "What's going on?" And these people were pouring into my office. So I invited them to the office. They came, and there were nine of them -- nine Taliban. They were the ugliest looking men you can ever see.
當然,我們包辦一切事務, 我們要培訓老師。 我們培訓女權、人權、 民主及法治。 我們給予各式訓練。 有一天,我跟你們說, 有一天我在巴基斯坦 柏夏瓦的辦公室裡。 突然,我看到職員 在房內東奔西跑、關門鎖門, 還跟我說:「快逃!躲起來!」 你知道,身為領導者, 你會怎麼做? 你嚇死了,你知道情況很危險。 你知道你的生死就在一線之間。 但是身為領袖,你會強自鎮定。 你會鎮定,展現力量。 所以我說:「怎麼了?」 然後一些人湧入我的辦公室。 我就邀請他們進來。 他們進來了,總共九個人。 九個塔利班。 他們是你見過最醜的人。
(Laughter)
(笑聲)
Very mean-looking people, black clothes, black turban, and they pour into my office. And I invited them to have a seat and have tea. They said no. They are not going to drink tea. And of course, with the tone of voice they were using, it was very scary, but I was really shaking up. But also I was strong, holding myself up. And, of course, by that time, you know how I dress -- I dress from head to toe in a black hijab. The only thing you could see, my eyes. They asked me, "What are you doing? Don't you know that school is banned for girls? What are you doing here?" And you know, I just looked at them, and I said, "What school? Where is the school?"
非常壞的臉, 黑袍子、黑頭巾, 他們湧入我的辦公室。 我邀請他們坐下喝杯茶。 他們說不。他們不要喝茶。 當然,他們說話的語氣 會讓你嚇死, 但是我真的抖的要命, 但是我也很堅強,強自鎮定。 當然,那個時後, 你知道我的穿著, 我從頭到腳 穿著黑色的希賈布。 你唯一能看見的東西 就是我的眼睛。 他們問我:「妳在這裡搞什麼? 難道妳不知道女生禁止上學嗎? 妳在這裡搞什麼?」 你知道,我就看著他們, 我說:「什麼學校?哪裡有學校?」
(Laughter)
(笑聲)
(Applause)
(掌聲)
And they look at my face, and they said, "You are teaching girls here." I said, "This is a house of somebody. We have some students coming, and they are all learning Koran, Holy Book. And you know, Koran says that if you learn the Holy Book, the woman, they can be a good wife, and they can obey their husband."
他們看著我的臉,說: 「妳在這裡教女學生。」 我說:「這是某人的房子。 我們有學生來這裡, 他們都在學聖書《可蘭經》。 你也知道,可蘭經上說 如果你學經上的話語,女人, 她們就會成為賢妻, 她們就會順服丈夫。」
(Laughter)
(笑聲)
And I tell you one thing: that's the way you work with those people, and you know --
讓我告訴你們一件事: 這就是你跟這些人斡旋的方法, 你也知道——
(Laughter)
(笑聲)
So by that time, they started speaking Pashto. They talked to each other, and they said, "Let's go, leave her alone, she's OK." And you know, this time, I offered them tea again, and they took a sip and they left. By that time, my staff poured into my office. They were scared to death. They didn't know why they didn't kill me. They didn't know why they didn't take me away. But everybody was happy to see me. Very happy, and I was happy to be alive, of course.
所以那個時候,他們開始 說起阿富汗普什圖語。 他們之間說了幾句話, 然後他們說: 「走吧!不要管她,她沒問題。」 你知道,這次我再請他們喝茶, 他們就喝了,而且笑了起來。 到那個時後, 我的職員都衝進我的辦公室。 他們都嚇死了。 他們不知道 為什麼這些人沒殺了我。 他們不知道 為什麼這些人沒把我抓走。 但是每個人都很高興 還能看到我。 非常高興, 當然我也很開心自己還活著,
(Laughter)
(笑聲)
Of course, I was happy to be alive. But also, as we continuously gave training during the fall of the Taliban -- of course during the Taliban there is another story. We went underground and we provided education for 80 schoolgirls, 3,000 students underground, and continuously we trained.
當然,我很開心自己還活著。 但是,因為我們在塔利班 垮台期間不斷給予訓練—— 當然在塔利班政權期間 還有另一個故事。 我們開辦地下學校, 提供教育給 80 個女學童, 我們在地下學校 持續訓練了三千名學生。
With the fall of the Taliban, we went into the country, and we opened school after school. We opened women's learning center. We continuously opened clinics. We worked with mothers and children. We had reproductive health training. We had all kinds of training that you can imagine. I was very happy. I was delighted with the outcome of my work. And one day, with four trainers and one bodyguard, I was going up north of Kabul, and all of a sudden, again, I was stopped in the middle of the road by 19 young men. Rifles on their shoulders, they blocked the road. And I told my driver, "What's going on?" And the driver said, "I don't know." He asked them. They said, "We have nothing to do with you." They called my name. They said, "We want her." My bodyguard got out, said, "I can answer you. What do you want?" They said, "Nothing." They called my name. And by that time, the women are yelling and screaming inside the car. I am very shaken up, and I told myself, this is it. This time, we all are going to be killed. There is no doubt in my mind. But still, the moment comes, and you take strength from whatever you believe and whatever you do. It's in your heart. You believe in your worth, and you can walk on it.
隨著塔利班垮台, 我們進入阿富汗, 開辦了一間又一間學校。 我們開辦婦女學習中心。 我們也不斷開辦診所。 我們與母親及孩童合作。 我們有生育健康訓練。 我們有各種你能想到的訓練。 我很開心。 我很高興看到自己工作的成果。 然後有一天, 我與四名訓練人員及一名保鏢 進入阿富汗首都喀布爾北邊, 突然間,又來了, 我被 19 個年輕人 擋在路中間。 他們肩上荷著來福槍, 把路擋著。 我問我的司機:「怎麼了?」 司機回說:「我不知道。」 他問這些人。他們說: 「這裡沒你的事。」 他們叫我的名字, 他們說:「我們要找她。」 我的保鏢下車說: 「我可以回答你們的問題。 你們要什麼?」 他們說:「沒什麼。」 然後他們叫我的名字。 那個時候, 車上的婦女都開始大喊尖叫, 我又抖的要命, 我對自己說,這次真的完了。 這次,我們都要殺頭了。 我的心裡一點都不懷疑。 儘管如此,在那一刻到來的時候, 你要向你所相信的、 你所做的一切支取力量。 那是你心所愛。 你相信你的價值, 你能為之作見證。
So I just hold myself on the side of the car. My leg was shaking, and I got outside. And I asked them, "What can I do for you?" You know what they said to me? They said, "We know who you are. We know where you are going. Every day you go up north here and there. You train women, you teach them and also you give them an opportunity to have a job. You build their skills. How about us?"
所以我就在扶著車邊, 試著鎮定自己。 我的腿抖動著,走到車外。 我問他們:「有什麼事嗎?」 你知道他們對我說什麼嗎? 他們說:「我們知道妳是誰。 我們知道妳在搞什麼。 每天妳都到北邊這裡和那裡。 妳訓練女人,妳教她們, 而且妳還給她們機會找工作。 妳讓她們培養專長。那我們呢?」
(Laughter)
(笑聲)
(Applause)
(掌聲)
"And you know, how about us? What are we going to do?" I looked at them, and I said, "I don't know."
「妳知道的啊?那我們呢? 我們怎麼辦?」 我看著他們, 我說:「我不知道。」
(Laughter)
(笑聲)
They said, "It's OK. The only thing we can do, what we know, from the time we're born, we just hold the gun and kill. That's all we know." And you know what that means. It's a trap to me, of course. So I walk out of there. They said, "We'll let you go, go." And so I walked into the car, I sit in the car, and I told the driver, "Turn around and go back to the office." At that time, we only were supporting girls. We only had money for women to train them, to send them to school, and nothing else.
他們說:「沒關係。 我們唯一會做的,我們知道的, 我們從出生起,就是拿槍殺人。 我們只知道這些。」 你們都知道這是什麼意思。 那當然是挖陷阱給我跳。 所以我就走開。他們說: 「我們會放妳走。走吧!」 所以我走進車裡,坐在裡面, 然後我告訴司機: 「掉頭回辦公室。」 那時,我們只援助女生。 我們的錢只能訓練婦女, 送她們去學校,沒別的了。
By the time I came to the office, of course my trainers were gone. They ran away home. Nobody stayed there. My bodyguard was the only one there, and my voice was completely gone. I was shaken up, and I sat on my table, and I said, "What am I going to do?" How am I going to solve this problem? Because we had training going on up north already. Hundreds of women were there coming to get training.
但是我回到辦公室時, 當然我的訓練人員都走了。 他們都逃回家。 沒有人待在那裡。 我的保鏢是唯一還待著的人, 我完全發不出聲音。 我嚇壞了,我坐在桌上, 然後我說:「我要怎麼辦?」 我要怎麼解決這個問題? 因為我們已經在北邊開始訓練。 數百位婦女都會去那裡接受訓練。
So I was sitting there, all of a sudden, at this moment, talking about momentum, we are, at that moment, one of my wonderful donors called me about a report. And she asked me, "Sakena?" And I answered her. She said, "It's not you. What's wrong with you?" I said, "Nothing." I tried to cover. No matter what I tried to do, she didn't believe me, and she asked me again. "OK, tell me what's going on?" I told her the whole story. At that time, she said, "OK, you go next time, and you will help them. You will help them." And when, two days later, I went the same route, and do you know, they were not in here, they were a little back further, the same young men, standing up there and holding the rifle and pointing to us to stop the car. So we stopped the car. I got out. I said, "OK, let's go with me." And they said, "Yes." I said, "On one condition, that whatever I say, you accept it." And they said, yes, they do. So I took them to the mosque, and to make a long story short, I told them I'd give them teachers. Today, they are the best trainers. They learn English, they learn how to be teachers, they learn computers, and they are my guides. Every area that is unknown to us in the mountain areas, they go with me. They are ahead, and we go. And they protect us. And --
所以我坐在那裡, 突然—— 現在我們在這談動力, 而在那個當下, 有一位超棒的贊助人 打電話給我討論一份報告。 她問我:「莎肯娜?」 我回了她。 她說:「這不像妳。妳怎麼啦?」 我說:「沒事」。我試著回神。 不管我怎麼試,她都不相信我, 所以她又問我一次。 「好吧?告訴我怎麼了?」 我就跟她說事情的來龍去脈。 那時她說: 「好,下次妳去,妳去幫助他們。 妳會幫助他們。」 二天之後, 我又走在同樣一條路上, 你們知道嗎, 他們不在原來的地方, 他們在前面一點的地方, 同樣一批年輕人, 站在那裡荷著來福槍, 槍口指著我們要我們停車。 所以我們停下車。 我下車說:「好,跟我一起去。」 他們說:「好。」 我說:「只有一個條件, 無論我說什麼你們都要聽。」 他們說好,他們會。 所以我帶他們到清真寺, 長話短說, 我告訴他們我會給他們找老師。 今天,他們是我最棒的訓練人員。 他們學英文, 他們學當老師, 他們學電腦, 而且他們是我的嚮導。 山區裡我們不知道的地方, 他們都帶我去。 他們走在前面,我們跟著。 他們還保護我們。 而且——
(Applause)
(掌聲)
Thank you.
謝謝。
(Applause)
(掌聲)
That tells you that education transforms people. When you educate people, they are going to be different, and today all over, we need to work for gender equality. We cannot only train women but forget about the men, because the men are the real people who are giving women the hardest time.
這告訴你們教育會使人轉變。 當你教育大家, 他們會有所不同, 今天在各地, 我們需要教育兩性平等。 我們不能只訓練婦女, 但忘了男人, 因為男人才是給女人 找最多麻煩的人。
(Laughter)
(笑聲)
So we started training men because the men should know the potential of women, know how much these potential men has, and how much these women can do the same job they are doing. So we are continuously giving training to men, and I really believe strongly. I live in a country that was a beautiful country. I just want to share this with you. It was a beautiful country, beautiful, peaceful country. We were going everywhere. Women were getting education: lawyer, engineer, teacher, and we were going from house to house. We never locked our doors. But you know what happened to my country. Today, people cannot walk out of their door without security issues. But we want the same Afghanistan we had before. And I want to tell you the other side. Today, the women of Afghanistan are working very, very hard. They are earning degrees. They are training to be lawyers. They are training to be doctors, back again. They are training to be teachers, and they are running businesses. So it is so wonderful to see people like that reach their complete potential, and all of this is going to happen.
所以我們開始訓練男人, 因為男人應該知道 女性的潛能, 知道男人的潛能有多少, 知道女人也可以 跟男人做同樣的事。 所以我們不斷訓練男人, 我真的堅信。 我所住的國家 原本是個美麗的國家。 我只想與大家分享這點。 她原本是個美麗的國家, 美麗又和平的國家。 我們能四處去。 女人能受教育: 當律師、工程師、老師, 我們能出門串門子。 我們以前從不鎖門。 但是你們都知道 我的國家發生了什麼。 今天,大家不能 在戶外安全無虞的走路。 但是我們想要以前那個阿富汗。 我想告訴大家故事的另一面。 今天,阿富汗女人 非常非常努力工作。 她們獲取學位。 她們受訓練成為律師。 她們受訓練成為醫師, 像以前一樣。 她們受訓成為老師, 她們還經商。 這真的非常棒, 能看到大家 像那樣完全發揮潛能, 這些都要實現。
I want to share this with you, because of love, because of compassion, and because of trust and honesty. If you have these few things with you, you will accomplish. We have one poet, Mawlānā Rūmī. He said that by having compassion and having love, you can conquer the world. And I tell you, we could. And if we could do it in Afghanistan, I am sure 100 percent that everyone can do it in any part of the world.
我想跟大家分享這點, 因為愛, 因為憐憫, 因為信任及誠實。 如果你有這幾項特質, 你就能完成使命。 我們有位波斯詩人,魯米。 他曾說有了憐憫、 有了愛,你就能征服全世界。 而我告訴大家,我們可以。 如果我們在阿富汗做得到, 我百分百確定每一個人都能在 世界的任何一個角落做到。
Thank you very, very much.
謝謝。萬分感激。
(Applause)
(掌聲)
Thank you. Thank you.
謝謝。謝謝。
(Applause)
(掌聲)