Jacqueline Novogratz on an escape from poverty

譯者: Bu-sheng Lin 審譯者: Sammy Lee

I've been working on issues of poverty for more than 20 years,

我研究貧窮的問題二十多年了

and so it's ironic that the problem that and question that I most grapple with

諷刺的是，我覺得最困難之處

is how you actually define poverty. What does it mean?

在於如何界定貧窮，貧窮所指為何？

So often, we look at dollar terms --

通常我們會用收入衡量

people making less than a dollar or two or three a day.

窮人就是一天賺不到兩三塊美金的人

And yet the complexity of poverty really has to look at

但貧窮牽涉的層面很多

income as only one variable.

收入只是其中之一

Because really, it's a condition about choice,

因為貧窮代表無力選擇

and the lack of freedom.

以及缺乏個人自由

And I had an experience that really deepened and elucidated for me

而某次經歷讓我更瞭解貧窮

the understanding that I have.

以及其背後的真義

It was in Kenya, and I want to share it with you.

那時我人在肯亞，在此和各位分享

I was with my friend Susan Meiselas, the photographer,

我和攝影師朋友蘇珊

in the Mathare Valley slums.

前往馬沙爾谷的貧民窟

Now, Mathare Valley is one of the oldest slums in Africa.

它是非洲歷史最久的貧民窟之一

It's about three miles out of Nairobi,

大約離奈洛比五公里

and it's a mile long and about two-tenths of a mile wide,

佔地約1.5公里長，300公尺寬

where over half a million people

卻住了超過50萬人

live crammed in these little tin shacks,

全擠在小小的鐵皮屋裡

generation after generation, renting them,

一代代就這麼租著鐵皮屋

often eight or 10 people to a room.

一間屋子塞八到十人

And it's known for prostitution, violence, drugs:

在那裡賣淫、暴力和毒品猖獗

a hard place to grow up.

成長環境非常艱辛

And when we were walking through the narrow alleys,

我們穿越一條條窄巷

it was literally impossible not to step in the

腳下踩著的都是

raw sewage and the garbage alongside the little homes.

小屋旁的骯髒穢物和垃圾

But at the same time it was also

然而於此同時

impossible not to see the human vitality,

我也見到了人的生命力

the aspiration and the ambition of the people who live there:

以及心懷理想和抱負的居民

women washing their babies, washing their clothes, hanging them out to dry.

許多婦女在替孩子洗澡、洗晾衣物

I met this woman, Mama Rose,

我遇到一位叫蘿絲的媽媽

who has rented that little tin shack for 32 years,

她租小鐵皮屋已有32年之久

where she lives with her seven children.

和七個孩子同住

Four sleep in one twin bed,

其中四個擠在一張床上

and three sleep on the mud and linoleum floor.

三個睡在滿是泥巴的油地氈上

And she keeps them all in school by selling water from that kiosk,

七個孩子都有上學，全靠她在那個小亭子賣水

and from selling soap and bread from the little store inside.

還有在裡面那家小商店賣肥皂和麵包

It was also the day after the inauguration,

那天剛好是歐巴馬就職的隔天

and I was reminded how Mathare is still connected to the globe.

我發現馬沙爾並未和世界脫軌

And I would see kids on the street corners,

因為一些街上的小朋友

and they'd say "Obama, he's our brother!"

會對我說「歐巴馬是我們同胞耶！」

And I'd say "Well, Obama's my brother, so that makes you my brother too."

我便答「他也是我的同胞，所以我們大家都是同胞」

And they would look quizzically, and then be like, "High five!"

他們先一臉疑惑，然後開心地要跟我擊掌

And it was here that I met Jane.

我就是在這裡遇到了珍

I was struck immediately by the kindness and the gentleness in her face,

她臉上溫柔親切的神情立刻打動了我

and I asked her to tell me her story.

我便請她跟我分享她的故事

She started off by telling me her dream. She said, "I had two.

她先從她的兩個夢想說起

My first dream was to be a doctor,

第一個夢想是當醫生

and the second was to marry a good man

第二個是嫁給好男人

who would stay with me and my family,

「一個能長伴我和家人左右的男人」

because my mother was a single mom,

「由於我母親是單親媽媽」

and couldn't afford to pay for school fees.

「付不起學費」

So I had to give up the first dream, and I focused on the second."

「所以我只得放棄第一個夢，努力實現另一個夢」

She got married when she was 18, had a baby right away.

珍在18歲時結婚，很快生了個小孩

And when she turned 20, found herself pregnant with a second child,

她20歲時發現自己懷第二胎

her mom died and her husband left her -- married another woman.

母親卻在這時過世，先生也另娶新歡

So she was again in Mathare, with no income, no skill set, no money.

她待在馬沙爾，毫無收入或一技之長

And so she ultimately turned to prostitution.

最後只好選擇出賣肉體

It wasn't organized in the way we often think of it.

賣淫並非如我們想像得那麼容易

She would go into the city at night with about 20 girls,

她晚上和大約20個女子一起進城

look for work, and sometimes come back with a few shillings,

努力拉客，有時一晚才賺幾角美金

or sometimes with nothing.

有時一毛錢都賺不到

And she said, "You know, the poverty wasn't so bad. It was the humiliation

她說「其實窮倒還好，出賣肉體受的屈辱

and the embarrassment of it all."

才是最令人難受的事

In 2001, her life changed.

2001年是她生命的轉捩點

She had a girlfriend who had heard about this organization, Jamii Bora,

她的朋友跟她提起Jamii Bora信貸機構

that would lend money to people no matter how poor you were,

該機構願意借錢給任何窮人

as long as you provided a commensurate amount in savings.

前提是借的錢不得多於現有存款

And so she spent a year to save 50 dollars,

所以珍花一年存了50美金

and started borrowing, and over time she was able to buy a sewing machine.

便開始貸款，過一陣子她買了縫紉機

She started tailoring.

開始幫人做衣服

And that turned into what she does now,

然後逐漸變成現在的工作

which is to go into the secondhand clothing markets,

就是經營二手衣市場

and for about three dollars and 25 cents she buys an old ball gown.

她只花三塊多就可以買到舊的晚禮服

Some of them might be ones you gave.

有些可能是各位捐的

And she repurposes them with frills and ribbons,

她把禮服重新修改，加上緞帶和花邊

and makes these frothy confections that she sells to women

做成一件件蓬蓬的洋裝賣給其他婦女

for their daughter's Sweet 16 or first Holy Communion --

供她們參加女兒的成年禮或聖餐禮穿

those milestones in a life that people want to celebrate

因為在這些人生的重要場合

all along the economic spectrum.

即使是窮人也會想辦法盛裝慶祝

And she does really good business. In fact, I watched her

她的生意相當好

walk through the streets hawking. And before you knew it,

我看著她沿街叫賣沒多久

there was a crowd of women around her, buying these dresses.

身旁就圍了一群婦女要買洋裝

And I reflected, as I was watching her sell the dresses,

我看著珍忙著賣衣服

and also the jewelry that she makes,

還有親手做的首飾

that now Jane makes more than four dollars a day.

我便想到，她現在一天賺超過4美金了

And by many definitions she is no longer poor.

已不太符合「貧窮」的定義了

But she still lives in Mathare Valley.

但她仍住在馬沙爾谷

And so she can't move out.

無法搬離那裡

She lives with all of that insecurity,

每天都得提心吊膽

and in fact, in January, during the ethnic riots,

今年一月的種族暴動

she was chased from her home and had to find a new shack

她從自家被趕出，只得另尋鐵皮屋

in which she would live.

不然就無處可住

Jamii Bora understands that and understands

Jamii Bora信貸機構很清楚這點

that when we're talking about poverty,

也知道所謂的貧窮

we've got to look at people all along the economic spectrum.

不能只靠收入來判斷

And so with patient capital from Acumen and other organizations,

所以該機構和Acumen等組織合資

loans and investments that will go the long term with them,

釋出長期貸款和投資方案

they built a low-cost housing development,

共同打造低價的住宅區

about an hour outside Nairobi central.

離奈洛比市區約一小時車程

And they designed it from the perspective of

此住宅區旳設計理念

customers like Jane herself,

是基於像珍這類客戶的需求

insisting on responsibility and accountability.

且堅守對客戶的責任和義務

So she has to give 10 percent of the mortgage --

珍得先付房貸的一成

of the total value, or about 400 dollars in savings.

大約是她存的四百美金

And then they match her mortgage to what she paid in rent for her little shanty.

該機構會把房貸和原租金兩相對照

And in the next couple of weeks, she's going to be

再過幾個禮拜，珍和她孩子

among the first 200 families to move into this development.

連同近200個家庭，將搬進此住宅區

When I asked her if she feared anything,

我問她心裡怕不怕

or whether she would miss anything from Mathare,

會不會想念馬沙爾

she said, "What would I fear

她說「我有什麼好怕

that I haven't confronted already?

什麼大風大浪沒見過

I'm HIV positive. I've dealt with it all."

我還患有愛滋，該吃的苦都吃過了」

And she said, "What would I miss?

她又說「有什麼好想念的？

You think I will miss the violence or the drugs? The lack of privacy?

難道我會想念暴力、毒品或缺乏隱私嗎？

Do you think I'll miss not knowing if my children are going to come home

難道我會想念老是擔心孩子安危的日子？

at the end of the day?" She said "If you gave me 10 minutes

只要給我十分鐘

my bags would be packed."

我立刻可以打包走人」

I said, "Well what about your dreams?"

我問到她的夢想

And she said, "Well, you know,

她說「我的夢想

my dreams don't look exactly like I thought they would when I was a little girl.

已經和小時候想的不太一樣了

But if I think about it, I thought I wanted a husband,

現在仔細想想，我以前想嫁個老公

but what I really wanted was a family

但其實是想組個充滿愛的家庭

that was loving. And I fiercely love my children, and they love me back."

我好愛我的孩子，他們也很愛我」

She said, "I thought that I wanted to be a doctor,

她還說「我以前想當醫生

but what I really wanted to be was somebody

但其實我真正想做的是服務人群

who served and healed and cured.

療癒別人的傷痛

And so I feel so blessed with everything that I have,

所以我很感激現有的一切

that two days a week I go and I counsel HIV patients.

我每星期輔導愛滋患者兩次

And I say, 'Look at me. You are not dead.

我對他們說「看看我，你還沒死

You are still alive. And if you are still alive you have to serve.'"

還活得好好的，那就要幫助別人」

And she said, "I'm not a doctor who gives out pills.

「我雖然不是開藥的醫生

But maybe me, I give out something better

但我給的東西或許更有用

because I give them hope."

因為我給他們希望」

And in the middle of this economic crisis,

現在經濟不景氣

where so many of us are inclined to pull in

我們很容易就畏縮

with fear, I think we're well suited to

但我覺得我們需要的是

take a cue from Jane and reach out,

學習珍的精神，幫助他人

recognizing that being poor doesn't mean being ordinary.

要知道貧窮不代表甘於平凡

Because when systems are broken,

因為一旦制度上有缺失

like the ones that we're seeing around the world,

就像現在世界各地的例子

it's an opportunity for invention and for innovation.

反而給我們革新的機會

It's an opportunity to truly build a world

給我們改變世界的機會

where we can extend services and products

將各種服務和產品

to all human beings, so that they can

提供給全人類，如此一來

make decisions and choices for themselves.

他們才能自己抉擇

I truly believe it's where dignity starts.

我深信這是擁有尊嚴的第一步

We owe it to the Janes of the world.

這樣才算給處境跟珍相同的人一個交代

And just as important, we owe it to ourselves.

也算給自己一個交代

Thank you.

謝謝大家

(Applause)

(掌聲)