Bandi Mbubi: Demand a fair trade cell phone

Translator: Joseph Geni Reviewer: Morton Bast

譯者: Lyra Wei-Chieh Wang 審譯者: Marssi Draw

I want to talk to you today

今天我想要談論的

about a difficult topic that is close to me,

是一個與我相關，但讓人感到為難的議題

and closer than you might realize to you.

而且也許比你所認為的更與你相關

21年前我來到英國

I came to the UK 21 years ago, as an asylum-seeker.

尋求政治避難

I was 21.

我當時21歲

我被迫離開剛果民主共和國

I was forced to leave the Democratic Republic of the Congo,

my home, where I was a student activist.

我在家鄉時是個學生社會運動參與者

我很希望

I would love my children to be able to meet my family in the Congo.

我的孩子能夠見見我在剛果的家人

But I want to tell you what the Congo has got to do with you.

但在這裡我想告訴你們：剛果究竟與你們有哪些關聯

But first of all, I want you to do me a favor.

首先，我想請你們幫我一個忙

Can you all please reach into your pockets and take out your mobile phone?

能不能請你們將手伸進口袋裡

並拿出你們的手機呢?

感覺一下那熟悉的重量

Feel that familiar weight ...

how naturally your finger slides towards the buttons.

你的手指在按鍵上的滑動時 感覺多麼自然啊

(Laughter)

(笑聲)

你能想像沒有手機的世界嗎？

Can you imagine your world without it?

手機讓我們與心愛的人

It connects us to our loved ones,

our family, friends and colleagues,

家人、朋友和同事們連結

at home and overseas.

不分國內外

手機象徵著一個相互連結的世界

It is a symbol of an interconnected world.

But what you hold in your hand leaves a bloody trail,

但是，你手上的手機其實滿是血印

這一切始於礦物「鉭」

and it all boils down to a mineral:

這種在剛果開採的礦稱為鈳鉭鐵礦

tantalum, mined in the Congo as coltan.

It is an anticorrosive heat conductor.

是一種具防腐蝕性的熱導體

It stores energy in our mobile phones, PlayStations and laptops.

用在手機、遊戲機或筆記型電腦時

可儲存電力

它也被運用在航空與醫療儀器上

It is used in aerospace and medical equipment as an alloy.

作為合金

It is so powerful that we only need tiny amounts.

它非常地有用

我們只需要極少量就夠了

It would be great if the story ended there.

如果故事能到此結束就很完美

Unfortunately, what you hold in your hand

不幸的是，你們手中握著的

並不只是促使科技有驚人的發展

has not only enabled incredible technological development

and industrial expansion,

工業擴張

but it has also contributed to unimaginable human suffering.

更導致了難以想像的

人類的苦難

Since 1996,

1996年後，已有超過五百萬人

over five million people have died in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

在剛果民主共和國死去

Countless women, men and children have been raped, tortured or enslaved.

數不清的女人、男人與孩子

被強暴、折磨或奴役

Rape is used as a weapon of war,

強暴被作為一種戰爭的武器

種下恐懼

instilling fear and depopulating whole areas.

並滅絕個地區的人口

The quest for extracting this mineral

對於這種礦物的需求

不但助長、更燃起了

has not only aided, but it has fueled

在剛果境內不斷延燒的戰火

the ongoing war in the Congo.

But don't throw away your phones yet.

不過先不要丟掉你的手機

Thirty thousand children are enlisted

三萬個孩子被徵召

被迫在武裝軍隊中戰鬥

and are made to fight in armed groups.

在健康與貧窮的世界排名中

The Congo consistently scores dreadfully

in global health and poverty rankings.

剛果一直位居末位

But remarkably,

但引人注目的是，聯合國環境署

the UN Environmental Programme has estimated the wealth of the country

估計這個國家的財富

超過24兆美元

to be over 24 trillion dollars.

政府管理的採礦展業已經瓦解

The state-regulated mining industry has collapsed,

而礦產的控制權

and control over mines has splintered.

已經分裂

Coltan is easily controlled by armed groups.

鈳鉭鐵礦輕易地被武裝份子掌控

最著名的非法交易路徑之一

One well-known illicit trade route is that across the border to Rwanda,

便是穿越邊境到盧安達

where Congolese tantalum is disguised as Rwandan.

在那兒剛果的鉭被偽裝成盧安達的礦產

不過先不要丟掉你的電話

But don't throw away your phones yet,

because the incredible irony

因為難以想像諷刺的是

is that the technology that has placed such unsustainable,

科技對剛果提出如此難以永續

devastating demands on the Congo

極具毀滅性的需求

同樣也是科技

is the same technology that has brought this situation to our attention.

引起我們對此情況的注意

我們得以知道這麼多

We only know so much about the situation in the Congo and in the mines

關於剛果和礦產的狀況

because of the kind of communication the mobile phone allows.

也是透過手機之賜

而得到的訊息

As with the Arab Spring,

隨著阿拉伯之春的爆發

during the recent elections in the Congo,

在最近剛果的選舉中

選民已經可以把地方投票所的訊息

voters were able to send text messages of local polling stations

傳送至位在首都金夏沙

to the headquarters in the capital, Kinshasa.

的總部

And in the wake of the result,

結果公佈後

the diaspora has joined with the Carter Center,

各地流散的居民聚集在卡特中心

羅馬教會以及其他選舉觀察員

the Catholic Church and other observers,

吸引大家關注此次不民主的結果

to draw attention to the undemocratic result.

手機之於全世界的人來說

The mobile phone has given people around the world

an important tool towards gaining their political freedom.

是得到政治自由的重要工具

It has truly revolutionized the way we communicate on the planet.

手機確實大大改變了

我們與地球上的人們溝通的方式

它促使重大政治改革

It has allowed momentous political change to take place.

發生

So, we are faced with a paradox.

所以

我們正面對一個進退兩難的問題

The mobile phone is an instrument of freedom

手機是促成自由的工具

and an instrument of oppression.

也是造成迫害的工具

TED總是

TED has always celebrated what technology can do for us,

讚揚科技能為我們帶來什麼好處

technology in its finished form.

科技成為了完美的存在

It is time to be asking questions about technology.

現在正是時候

對科技提出質疑

科技從哪裡來？

Where does it come from?

Who makes it?

誰創造了它？

為什麼存在？

And for what?

Here, I am speaking directly to you,

在這裡，我有話想直接對你們說

對TED社群

the TED community,

and to all those who might be watching on a screen,

也對所有可能透過電腦螢幕

on your phone, across the world,

手機觀看

in the Congo.

在世界各地、以及身在剛果的人們說

All the technology is in place for us to communicate,

所有的科技都是為了讓我們溝通

所有的科技也讓我們得以討論這個問題

and all the technology is in place to communicate this.

在這個時候

At the moment,

there is no clear fair-trade solution.

沒有明確促使公平交易的解決之道

But there has been a huge amount of progress.

但是關於此議題已經有很大的進步

The US has recently passed legislation

像是美國最近通過立法

to target bribery and misconduct in the Congo.

來解決剛果民主共和國的賄賂與管理不善的問題

Recent UK legislation could be used in the same way.

近來英國的立法機關也有類似的作法

In February, Nokia unveiled its new policy on sourcing minerals in the Congo,

二月時，諾基亞針對剛果的礦產資源

發佈新的政策

and there is a petition to Apple to make a conflict-free iPhone.

還有給蘋果公司的請願書

訴請蘋果製造零衝突的 iPhone手機

There are campaigns spreading across university campuses

也有遊行集會

宣傳於各大學校園

to make their colleges conflict-free.

訴求零衝突的校園

But we're not there yet.

但我們還沒有成功

We need to continue mounting pressure on phone companies

我們需要不斷地對手機廠商

施加壓力

to change their sourcing processes.

使他們改變開發原物料的程序

When I first came to the UK, 21 years ago,

當我21年前第一次來到英國時

I was homesick.

我很想家

I missed my family and the friends I left behind.

我想念留在家鄉的家人和朋友

Communication was extremely difficult.

而連繫在當時相當困難

Sending and receiving letters took months --

信件往返要花費好幾個月

if you were lucky.

假如你運氣好，信件還可能會被寄丟

Often, they never arrived.

就算我當時可以負擔

Even if I could have afforded the phone bills home,

打電話回家的通話費

like most people in the Congo,

就像剛果民主共和國的大多數人一樣

my parents did not own a phone line.

我爸媽並沒有電話

Today, my two sons --

今天，我的兩個兒子

大衛和丹尼爾

David and Daniel,

can talk to my parents and get to know them.

已經可以和我父母通話藉此了解他們

為什麼我們容許

Why should we allow

such a wonderful, brilliant and necessary product

如此美好、傑出，且不可缺少的產品

to be the cause of unnecessary suffering

成為製造人類不必要苦難的

for human beings?

始作俑者

We demand fair-trade food and fair-trade clothes.

我們要求公平交易的食物

以及公平交易的衣物

It is time to demand fair-trade phones.

現在是時候要求公平交易的手機了

This is an idea worth spreading.

這是一個值得分享的想法 謝謝

Thank you.

(鼓掌)

(Applause)