Memory Banda: A Warrior’s Cry Against Child Marriage | TED

翻译人员: Quyu Kong 校对人员: Yinchun Rui

I'll begin today

我将与大家分享一首诗，

by sharing a poem

来开始今天的演讲。

written by my friend from Malawi,

这首诗是我在马拉维的朋友，

Eileen Piri.

Eileen Piri写的。

Eileen is only 13 years old,

Eileen只有十三岁，

but when we were going through the collection of poetry that we wrote,

但是我们曾一起阅读

我们自己写的诗集。

I found her poem so interesting,

我发现她的诗不仅很有趣，

so motivating.

还很能激励他人。

So I'll read it to you.

所以我在这里把这首诗读给你们听。

She entitled her poem "I'll Marry When I Want."

她把这首诗叫做

《只有当我想结婚时，我才会结婚》

(Laughter)

（众人笑。）

"I'll marry when I want.

“只有当我想结婚时，我才会结婚。

My mother can't force me to marry.

我的母亲不能强迫我结婚，

My father cannot force me to marry.

我的父亲也不能强迫我结婚。

My uncle, my aunt,

无论是我的叔叔阿姨，

my brother or sister,

还是兄弟姐妹，

cannot force me to marry.

都不能强迫我结婚。

No one in the world

世界上没有任何一个人

can force me to marry.

能强迫我结婚。

I'll marry when I want.

只有当我只有当我想结婚时，我才会结婚。

Even if you beat me,

哪怕你殴打我，

even if you chase me away,

哪怕你驱赶我，

even if you do anything bad to me,

哪怕你对我做任何坏事，

I'll marry when I want.

只有当我想结婚时，我才会结婚。

I'll marry when I want,

只有当我想结婚时，我才会结婚，

but not before I am well educated,

但不是在我接受过良好教育之前结婚，

and not before I am all grown up.

也不是在我完全长大之前结婚。

I'll marry when I want."

只有当我想结婚时，我才会结婚。”

This poem might seem odd,

这首由13岁女孩写的诗，

written by a 13-year-old girl,

也许看起来很奇怪。

but where I and Eileen come from,

但是在我和Eileen的家乡，

this poem, which I have just read to you,

这首我刚刚都给你们听的诗，

is a warrior's cry.

是一种勇士的痛诉。

I am from Malawi.

我来自马拉维。

Malawi is one of the poorest countries,

马拉维是世界上最穷的国家之一，

very poor,

真的非常穷。

where gender equality is questionable.

在这里，性别平等是备受质疑的想法。

Growing up in that country,

在那样的国家长大，

I couldn't make my own choices in life.

我不能为我自己的人生做选择。

I couldn't even explore

我甚至不能探索

personal opportunities in life.

人生中属于我自己的机会。

I will tell you a story

我给大家讲一个故事，

of two different girls,

一个两个不同女孩的故事，

two beautiful girls.

两个美丽女孩的故事。

These girls grew up

这两个女孩成长

under the same roof.

在同一屋檐下。

They were eating the same food.

她们吃着同样的食物。

Sometimes, they would share clothes,

有时，她们分享衣服，

and even shoes.

甚至鞋子。

But their lives ended up differently,

但她们的人生

in two different paths.

走向了截然不同的道路。

The other girl is my little sister.

一个女孩是我的妹妹。

My little sister was only 11 years old

当我妹妹怀孕时，

when she got pregnant.

她只有11岁。

It's a hurtful thing.

只是一个很伤人的事。

Not only did it hurt her, even me.

这件事不止伤害了她，甚至伤害到了我。

I was going through a hard time as well.

我也为此经历了很艰难的时光。

As it is in my culture,

在我们的文化中，

once you reach puberty stage,

当你到了青春期，

you are supposed to go to initiation camps.

你就应该参加启蒙营。

In these initiation camps,

在这些启蒙营中，

you are taught how to sexually please a man.

你会被教导如何以性取悦男人。

There is this special day,

在营中，有一个特殊的日子，

which they call "Very Special Day"

营里的人叫它“非常特别的一天”。

where a man who is hired by the community

在这一天一个被社区雇佣的男人，

comes to the camp

来到营中，

and sleeps with the little girls.

和这些小女孩睡觉。

Imagine the trauma that these young girls

想象一下这些年轻的姑娘每天

go through every day.

都承受着怎样的伤害。

Most girls end up pregnant.

许多女孩最后都怀孕了。

They even contract HIV and AIDS

她们甚至感染了HIV和艾滋病，

and other sexually transmitted diseases.

以及其他性传染病。

For my little sister, she ended up being pregnant.

而我的妹妹最后怀孕了。

Today, she's only 16 years old

今天，妹妹只有16岁，

and she has three children.

但她有三个孩子。

Her first marriage did not survive,

她的第一次婚姻和第二次婚姻

nor did her second marriage.

都以离婚告场。

On the other side, there is this girl.

但另一方面，那另一个女孩，

She's amazing.

是令人称奇的。

(Laughter)

（众人笑。）

(Applause)

（掌声）

I call her amazing because she is.

我之所以说她令人称奇，

She's very fabulous.

是因为她真的很棒。

That girl is me. (Laughter)

另一个女孩就是我。（众人笑。）

When I was 13 years old,

当我13岁时，

I was told, you are grown up,

我被告知，我已经长大了，

you have now reached of age,

已经到了那个年纪了，

you're supposed to go to the initiation camp.

应该去那个启蒙营了。

I was like, "What?

我大概是这样回答的，“什么！

I'm not going to go to the initiation camps."

我是不会去启蒙营的。“

You know what the women said to me?

你知道那个女人对我说了什么吗？

"You are a stupid girl. Stubborn.

她说，“你是个蠢姑娘。顽固的家伙。

You do not respect the traditions of our society, of our community."

你不尊重我们社会，我们社区的传统。”

I said no because I knew where I was going.

我说不，因为我知道我的路在哪。

I knew what I wanted in life.

我知道我在生活中想要什么。

I had a lot of dreams as a young girl.

作为一个年轻的女孩，我有许多梦想。

I wanted to get well educated,

我想接受良好的教育，

to find a decent job in the future.

以便在未来找到体面的工作。

I was imagining myself as a lawyer,

我想象我作为一个律师，

seated on that big chair.

坐在一个大椅子上。

Those were the imaginations that

这些想象每天都会在我心中浮现。

were going through my mind every day.

And I knew that one day,

我知道总有一天，

I would contribute something, a little something to my community.

我会为我的社区贡献一点东西。

But every day after refusing,

但每天，我拒绝那个女人后，

women would tell me,

那个女人都会对我说，

"Look at you, you're all grown up. Your little sister has a baby.

“看看你，你已经长大了。

你的妹妹都有孩子了，

What about you?"

而你呢？”

That was the music that I was hearing every day,

那就是我每天听到的曲子，

and that is the music that girls hear every day

也是当女孩们没有做社区所要求的事时

when they don't do something that the community needs them to do.

她们每天听到的曲子。

When I compared the two stories between me and my sister,

当我比较着我和我妹妹这两个不同的故事时，

I said, "Why can't I do something?

我想，为什么我不能做些什么呢？

Why can't I change something that has happened for a long time

为什么我不能改变我们社区中

in our community?"

这一直发生的状况呢？"

That was when I called other girls

这时，我召集了其他女孩，

just like my sister, who have children,

像我的妹妹那样都有孩子的女孩。

who have been in class but they have forgotten how to read and write.

她们上过学但已经忘记了怎样读书写字。

I said, "Come on, we can remind each other

我说，“来吧，我们可以互相提醒，

how to read and write again,

怎样再次阅读与书写，

how to hold the pen, how to read, to hold the book."

怎样握笔，怎样朗读，怎样拿书。”

It was a great time I had with them.

我和她们度过了愉快的时光。

Nor did I just learn a little about them,

我不止是对她们多了一点肤浅了解，

but they were able to tell me their personal stories,

而是我从她们那听到了她们自己的故事，

what they were facing every day

以及作为年轻的母亲每天所面对的事。

as young mothers.

That was when I was like,

那时我想，

'Why can't we take all these things that are happening to us

”为什么我们不能把发生在我们身上的事

and present them and tell our mothers, our traditional leaders,

讲述给我们的母亲听，我们传统的领导人听。

that these are the wrong things?"

告诉他们这些事是错的呢？”

It was a scary thing to do,

这样做还是挺恐怖的，

because these traditional leaders,

因为那些传统的领导人

they are already accustomed to the things

已经习惯了这样的事。

that have been there for ages.

这样的事也发生了很多年了。

A hard thing to change,

确实是很难改变，

but a good thing to try.

但是不妨一试。

So we tried.

于是我们尝试了。

It was very hard, but we pushed.

这确实很艰难，但我们挺过去了。

And I'm here to say that in my community,

我在这里可以告诉大家，

it was the first community after girls

我们的社区是第一个在

pushed so hard to our traditional leader,

女孩们不断对这些传统领导人努力后，

and our leader stood up for us and said no girl has to be married

领导人站在了我们这边，并宣布

before the age of 18.

没有女孩必须在18岁前结婚。

(Applause)

（掌声）

In my community,

在我的社区中，

that was the first time a community,

第一次定下了地方性地法规。

they had to call the bylaws,

the first bylaw that protected girls

是第一个在我们社区中

in our community.

保护女孩的地方法规。

We did not stop there.

我们并没有在此止步。

We forged ahead.

我们更进一步。

We were determined to fight for girls not just in my community,

我们坚信为女孩而战不只限于我的社区，

but even in other communities.

而应该也在其他社区中这样做。

When the child marriage bill was being presented in February,

在2月份，当童婚法案被提出后时，

we were there at the Parliament house.

我们就待在国会大厦。

Every day, when the members of Parliament were entering,

每天，当议会成员进入，

we were telling them, "Would you please support the bill?"

我们就请求他们，“能请你支持这一法案吗？”

And we don't have much technology like here,

我们那没有高科技，

but we have our small phones.

但我们有自己的小手机。

So we said, "Why can't we get their numbers and text them?"

于是我们想，为什么我们不能得到他们的号码

并向他们发短信呢？

So we did that. It was a good thing.

于是我们那样做了。结果很好。

(Applause)

（掌声）

So when the bill passed, we texted them back,

所以当法案通过时，我们也再发短信，

"Thank you for supporting the bill."

“感谢您对法案的支持。”

(Laughter)

（众人笑。）

And when the bill was signed by the president,

当法案由总统签署，

making it into law, it was a plus.

变成法律时，就又是一个进步。

Now, in Malawi, 18 is the legal marriage age, from 15 to 18.

现在，在马维拉，18周岁时法定结婚年龄。

是从15周岁改进到18周岁的。

(Applause)

（掌声）

It's a good thing to know that the bill passed,

知道这法案通过是很令人高兴的，

but let me tell you this:

但让我告诉你，

There are countries where 18 is the legal marriage age,

在那些18周岁是法定结婚年龄的国家，

but don't we hear cries of women and girls every day?

难道我们没有听到女性和女孩每天的啜泣吗？

Every day, girls' lives are being wasted away.

每天，女孩的生活都被浪费。

This is high time for leaders to honor their commitment.

现在到了领导人们尊重这一事业的时候了。

In honoring this commitment,

尊重这一事业，

it means keeping girls' issues at heart every time.

意味着每一次都把女孩们的问题放在心上。

We don't have to be subjected as second,

我们不想被当作二等公民对待。

but they have to know that women, as we are in this room,

但他们应该知道，就像这一屋子中的女人一样，

we are not just women, we are not just girls,

我们不只是女人，不只是女孩。

we are extraordinary.

我们不同凡响。

We can do more.

我们能做到更多。

And another thing for Malawi,

另一件事是，

and not just Malawi but other countries:

对于马拉维和其他国家来说，

The laws which are there,

法律是在那里的。

you know how a law is not a law until it is enforced?

但没有被执行的法律就不是法律。

The law which has just recently passed

这刚刚被通过的童婚法，

and the laws that in other countries have been there,

和其他国家已有的法律

they need to be publicized at the local level,

需要在地方级，在社区级，

at the community level,

在这些女孩面对的问题突出的地方，

where girls' issues are very striking.

广而告之，不断宣传。

Girls face issues, difficult issues, at the community level every day.

女孩每天都在社区中面对着很艰难的问题。

So if these young girls know that there are laws that protect them,

如果这些女孩知道有法律保护着她们，

they will be able to stand up and defend themselves

她们就会站起身来，为自己辩护。

because they will know that there is a law that protects them.

因为她们知道有法律能保护她们。

And another thing I would say is that

我想说的另一件事是，

girls' voices and women's voices

女孩和女性的声音

are beautiful, they are there,

是美妙的，就在哪。

but we cannot do this alone.

但我们不能只是这样听。

Male advocates, they have to jump in,

男性中的支持者也应该站出来，

to step in and work together.

一起为此努力。

It's a collective work.

这是一个集体性的工作。

What we need is what girls elsewhere need:

我们需要的也是其他地方女孩需要的：

good education, and above all, not to marry whilst 11.

好的教育，以及最重要的，不在11岁就结婚。

And furthermore,

更进一步的是，

I know that together,

我知道我们一起，

we can transform the legal,

能够改变法律，

the cultural and political framework

改变文化和改变政治框架。

that denies girls of their rights.

这些否认女孩权利的东西。

I am standing here today

我今天站在这，告知大家，

and declaring that we can end child marriage in a generation.

我们在一代人的时间里就能禁止童婚。

This is the moment

而那时，

where a girl and a girl, and millions of girls worldwide,

就是全球数以亿计的女孩，

will be able to say,

能够说出，

"I will marry when I want."

“只有当我想结婚时，我才会结婚。”

(Applause)

（掌声）

Thank you. (Applause)

谢谢大家。（掌声）