Thank you. Two years ago, I stood on the TED stage in Arusha, Tanzania. I spoke very briefly about one of my proudest creations. It was a simple machine that changed my life.
谢谢大家 两年之前我站在坦桑尼亚阿鲁沙的TED讲台上 我先简要的说明一下我这个产品的创意 这个简单的机器改变了我的生活
Before that time, I had never been away from my home in Malawi. I had never used a computer. I had never seen an Internet. On the stage that day, I was so nervous. My English lost, I wanted to vomit. (Laughter) I had never been surrounded by so many azungu, white people. (Laughter)
在我发明它之前 我从来没有离开过 我在马拉维的家 那时,我即没有用过电脑 也没有网络 上次我站在讲台的时候很紧张 我英语说的很逊 逊到连我都想呕吐 (笑声) 我从来没有被这么多 白人包围过 (笑声)
There was a story I wouldn't tell you then. But well, I'm feeling good right now. I would like to share that story today. We have seven children in my family. All sisters, excepting me. This is me with my dad when I was a little boy. Before I discovered the wonders of science, I was just a simple farmer in a country of poor farmers. Like everyone else, we grew maize.
本来这个故事我不是很想讲出来 但我现在感觉良好 于是决定将它给讲出来 我们家有七个孩子 除了我之外都是女孩 这是我和我父亲小时候的相片 在我还没有发现奇妙的科学之前 我也是一个农民 一个贫穷国家的农民 和其他家庭一样,我们也种玉米
One year our fortune turned very bad. In 2001 we experienced an awful famine. Within five months all Malawians began to starve to death. My family ate one meal per day, at night. Only three swallows of nsima for each one of us. The food passes through our bodies. We drop down to nothing.
有一年我们的收成非常差 那是2001年,我们遭受了可怕的饥荒 持续5个月的全国性饥荒导致很多人饿死 我家只在每晚吃一顿饭 每人每天只能吃三口饭 食物完全被身体吸收 以至于没有排泄物
In Malawi, the secondary school, you have to pay school fees. Because of the hunger, I was forced to drop out of school. I looked at my father and looked at those dry fields. It was the future I couldn't accept.
马拉维的中学 是需要缴费的 因为饥荒,我辍学了 我看着父亲 又看着干涸的土地 我无法接受眼前这一切
I felt very happy to be at the secondary school, so I was determined to do anything possible to receive education. So I went to a library. I read books, science books, especially physics. I couldn't read English that well. I used diagrams and pictures to learn the words around them.
我非常喜欢在学校学习的日子 所以我决定要尽我一切努力去学习 去接受知识 于是我去了图书馆 看了各类科学方面的图书,尤其是和物理有关的 我英语不是很好 我利用书中的图表和图片 来学习那些词汇的含义
Another book put that knowledge in my hands. It said a windmill could pump water and generate electricity. Pump water meant irrigation, a defense against hunger, which we were experiencing by that time. So I decided I would build one windmill for myself. But I didn't have materials to use, so I went to a scrap yard where I found my materials. Many people, including my mother, said I was crazy. (Laughter)
而其中的一本书改变了我 这本书上说风车可以抽水和发电 抽水意味着灌溉 这就是抵御饥饿的方法 那段时间我们开始做实验 于是我决定为我们家建造一座风车 但巧妇难为无米之炊 然而,幸运的是我在废品站找到了 所需的材料 很多人包括我母亲 都说我疯了 (笑声)
I found a tractor fan, shock absorber, PVC pipes. Using a bicycle frame and an old bicycle dynamo, I built my machine. It was one light at first. And then four lights, with switches, and even a circuit breaker, modeled after an electric bell. Another machine pumps water for irrigation.
我找到了一个拖拉机风扇 减震器还有PVC管 以及用一个自行车骨架 和一个旧自行车发电机 就这样,我造好了 起初只有一个点火器 到后来发展到四个 有开关还有断路器 从而要付电费 另一个机器作为抽水机 用来灌溉
Queues of people start lining up at my house (Laughter) to charge their mobile phone. (Applause) I could not get rid of them. (Laughter) And the reporters came too, which lead to bloggers and which lead to a call from something called TED. I had never seen an airplane before. I had never slept in a hotel. So, on stage that day in Arusha, my English lost, I said something like, "I tried. And I made it."
人们在我家门前排着队 (笑声) 来为他们的手机充电 (鼓掌) 我赶不走他们 (笑声) 新闻记者来我这里报道 然后在博客上传播 然后我就来到了这个叫TED的大会 以前我从没有见过飞机 也没有睡过宾馆 那天在阿鲁沙的讲台上 我的英语说不好 我这样说过: (很不流利的说)我试过,我成功了
So I would like to say something to all the people out there like me to the Africans, and the poor who are struggling with your dreams. God bless. Maybe one day you will watch this on the Internet. I say to you, trust yourself and believe. Whatever happens, don't give up. Thank you. (Applause)
我觉得我应为哪些像我一样的人 以及贫苦的非洲人 说些什么 那些为梦想奋斗的人们 上帝保佑你 也许有天你会在网上看到这段视频 我要告诉你,要相信自己 永不放弃 谢谢大家 (鼓掌)