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OryOkolloh_2007G-_成为一个行动派_
So what's image got do with it? 形象的意义在哪里?
And I must say I think Emeka is trying to send a lot of of subliminal messages because I'm going to keep harping on some of the issues that have come up. 我必须指出我认为Emeka试着传递 很多潜意识的信息 因为我将要反复说一些 已经提出过的话题
subliminal:adj.[生理]阈下的;潜在意识的;微小得难以察觉的;n.潜意识;阈下意识; harping:n.反复述说;唠唠叨叨地反复讲;v.弹竖琴;反复的谈论;(harp的现在分词) issues:n.重要议题;争论的问题;v.宣布;公布;发出;(issue的第三人称单数和复数)
But I'm going to try and do something different and try and just close the loop with some of my personal stories, and try and put a face to a lot of the issues that we've been talking about. 但我想尝试下做些不同的事 试着串联下我的个人故事 能带出这些讨论过的话题 新的一个方向
loop:n.循环;回路;环路;圈;v.使成环;使绕成圈;成环形移动; personal:adj.个人的;身体的;亲自的;n.人事消息栏;人称代名词;
So, Africa is a complex continent full of contradictions as you can see . 好了,非洲是一个充满矛盾的复杂的大洲 正如你所看到的一样
complex:adj.复杂的;合成的;n.复合体;综合设施; continent:n.大陆,洲,陆地;adj.自制的,克制的; contradictions:n.不一致,矛盾,对立;反驳;驳斥;(contradiction的复数) as you can see:正如你所看到的;你是知道的;
We're not the only ones. 但并不是只有我们是这样的。
(Laughter) （笑）
(Applause) （掌声）
And you know, it's amazing. 你知道,这很让人吃惊
I mean, we need a whole conference just devoted to telling the good stories about the continent. 我是说,我们需要整个会议的时间 去讲有关这个大陆的好的故事
conference:n.会议;研讨会;商讨会;体育协会(或联合会) devoted:adj.专心致志; v.献身; (devote的过去分词和过去式)
Just think about that, you know? 想象一下
And this is typically what we've been talking about, the role that the media plays in focusing just on the negative stuff . 这正是我们平常所说的: 媒体的焦点总是集中在 负面的消息上
typically:adv.代表性地;作为特色地; media:n.媒体;媒质(medium的复数);血管中层;浊塞音;中脉; negative:adj.[数]负的;消极的;否定的;阴性的;n.否定;负数;[摄]底片;v.否定;拒绝; stuff:n.东西:物品:基本特征:v.填满:装满:标本:
Now, why is that a problem? 那么,为什么这是个问题呢
A typical disaster story: disease , corruption , poverty . 一个典型的灾难性故事 疾病 腐败 贫穷
disaster:n.灾难,灾祸;不幸; disease:n.病,[医]疾病;弊病;vt.传染;使…有病; corruption:n.贪污,腐败;堕落; poverty:n.贫困;困难;缺少;低劣;
And some of you might be standing here thinking, saying, OK, you know, Ory, you're Harvard-educated, and all you privileged people come here saying, forget the poor people, let's focus on business and the markets, and whatever. 你们中的一些人或许想 说, Ory, 你是哈佛毕业的 然后所有有特权的人来这儿说 忘掉那些贫穷的人吧 让我们聚焦到商业和市场,或者别的一些什么
privileged:adj.有特权的; v.给予特权; (privilege的过去式和过去分词) on business:为了公事,出差;
And there are all, there's the 80 percent of Africans who really need help. 这些就是全部了, 有百分之八十的非洲人是这样的 谁真正需要帮助呢
And I want to tell you that this is my story, OK? 接下来我想讲的是我的故事
And it's the story of many of the Africans who are here. 也是许多在场的非洲人的故事
We start with poverty. 我们从贫穷说起吧
I didn't grow up in the slums or anything that dire , but I know what it is to grow up without having money, or being able to support family. 我并不是生长在贫民窟或类似悲惨的地方 但我知道没有钱长大会怎样 或者你必须养活全家
slums:n.贫民,[经]贫民区(slum的复数); v.到贫民窟去; dire:adj.可怕的;悲惨的;极端的;
Euvin was talking about bellwether signs. Euvin讲过预兆
bellwether:n.前导;领导者;系铃的公羊;群众的首领;
The bellwether for whether our family was broke or not was breakfast. 看这个家有没有破产,看他们的早饭就可以了
You know, when things were good we had eggs and sausages . 日子好的时候我们有鸡蛋有香肠
sausages:香肠,腊肠(sausage的复数)
When things were bad we had porridge . 日子不好的时候我们只有粥了
porridge:n.麦片粥;面糊
And like many African families, my parents could never save because they supported siblings , cousins, you know, their parents, and things were always dicey . 像很多非洲家庭一样 我的父母也从来没有积蓄 因为他们要帮助兄弟姐妹,堂兄弟姐妹,还有他们的父母 一切向来都是这么不确定的
siblings:n.兄;弟;姐;妹;(sibling的复数) dicey:adj.不确定的;冒险性的;认命的;危险的;
Now when I was born, they realized they had a pretty smart kid, and they didn't want me to go to the neighborhood school, which was free. 当我出生的时候,他们意识到他们有了个漂亮聪明的小孩 他们不想我去邻近的学校读书 那是免费的
neighborhood:n.附近;地区;街坊;adj.附近的;
And they adopted a very interesting approach to education, which was they were going to take me to a school that they can barely afford . 他们采用了一种非常有趣的 教育方法 他们打算让我读一所他们能勉强支付的学校
adopted:adj.被收养的;被采用的;v.采用;接受;(adopt的过去式和过去分词); approach:n.方法;路径;v.接近;建议;着手处理; barely:adv.仅仅,勉强;几乎不;公开地;贫乏地; afford:v.给予,提供;买得起;
So they took me to a private, Catholic Elementary School , which set the foundation for what ended up being my career . 所以他们带我到一家私立的天主教会学校 也正是这样,奠定了我事业的基础
Catholic:adj.天主教的;宽宏大量的;n.天主教徒;罗马天主教; Elementary School:小学; foundation:n.基础;地基;基金会;根据;创立; career:n.职业;事业;生涯;经历;
And what happened was, because they could afford it sometimes, sometimes not, 接下来发生了什么呢 由于他们有时付得起,有时付不起
I got kicked out pretty much every term. 我在每个学期的时候很多次被逐出学校
You know, someone would come in with a list of the people who haven't paid school fees, and when they started getting pretty strict, you had to leave until your school fees could be paid. 你知道的,某人会带着张表格进来 上面写了那些付不起学费的人 当父母收入不好的时候 你只能辍学直到学费付清了
And I remember thinking, I mean, why don't these guys just take me to a cheap school? 我一直在想 为什么他们要带我去读一所便宜的学校
Because you know, as a kid you're embarrassed and you're sensitive , and everyone knows you guys don't have money. 你知道的 小孩子是很尴尬的 也很敏感 当每个人直到我们没有钱
embarrassed:adj.尴尬的;窘迫的;v.使...局促不安;(embarrass的过去分词和过去式) sensitive:adj.敏感的;感觉的;易受影响的;n.敏感的人;有灵异能力的人;
But they kept at it, and I now understand why they did what they did. 但是我父母坚持这么做 直到现在我才明白他们这么做的原因
They talk about corruption. 讲到腐败
In Kenya we have an entrance exam to go into high school. 在肯尼亚我们上高中有个入学考试
And there's national schools, which are like the best schools, and provincial schools. 国立学校是最好的学校 省立的也是
provincial:adj.省的;地方性的;偏狭的;n.粗野的人;乡下人;外地人;
My dream school at that time was Kenya High School, a national school. 我那时梦想的学校是肯尼亚高中 一所国立学校
I missed the cutoff by one point. 我比录取线少了一分
cutoff:n.切掉;中断;捷径;adj.截止的;中断的;
And I was so disappointed, and I was like, oh my God, you know, what am I going to do? 我非常失望 就像不知道接下来该干什么一样
And my father said, OK, listen, let's go and try and talk to the headmistress . 我爸爸说,好吧 试看看去和女校长谈谈吧
headmistress:n.女校长;
You know, it's just one point. I mean, maybe she'll let you in if that slot 's still there. 只差了一分而已 如果还有空位的话,也许她会让你进的
slot:n.位置;狭槽;水沟;硬币投币口;v.跟踪;开槽于;
So we went to the school, and because we were nobodies, and because we didn't have privilege, and because my father didn't have the right last name , he was treated like dirt . 因此我们去了学校 因为我们只是贫民,因为我们没有特权 因为我父亲的姓表明了我们的身份的低下 他被歧视了
last name:n.姓;姓氏; treated:v.以…态度对待;把…看作;(treat的过去分词和过去式) dirt:n.污垢;尘土;下流话;
And I sat and listened to the headmistress talk to him saying, you know, who do you think you are? 我坐着,听到那个女校长对我父亲说 你认为你是谁啊
And, you know, you must be joking if you think you can get a slot. 如果你认为你能得到那个空位 真是太好笑了
And I had gone to school with other girls who were kids of politicians and who had done much, much worse than I did, and they had slots there. 如果我不得不和那些高官的女孩们 成绩非常差 却拥有位子
politicians:n.政治家;(蔑)政客;(美)政治贩;(politician的复数) slots:n.插槽;老虎机(slot的复数);
And there's nothing worse than seeing your parent being humiliated in front of you, you know? 最糟糕的莫过于看见自己的父亲 在面前被别人羞辱
humiliated:v.羞辱;使丧失尊严;(humiliate的过去分词和过去式)
And we left, and I swore to myself, 然后我们离开了,我暗暗发誓说
I'm never ever going to have to beg for anything in my life. 我今生决不 为任何事情去乞求别人
They called me two weeks later, they're like, oh yeah, you can come now. And I told them to stuff it. 两周后,学校叫我去读书 他们轻描淡写的说,你可以来了。被我一口拒绝了
(Laughter) (Applause) （笑） （掌声）
Final story, and I sort of have to speak quickly. 最后一则故事
Disease. 是关于疾病的
My father, who I've been talking about, died of AIDS in 1999. 我父亲患艾滋病于1999年死亡
He never told anyone that he had AIDS, his fear of the stigma was so strong. 他从来没和别人讲过他得了艾滋病 他害怕耻辱的感觉是如此强烈
stigma:n.[植]柱头;耻辱;污名;烙印;特征;
And I'm pretty much the one who figured it out because I was a nerd . 以至于我是自己努力想出来的
nerd:n.呆子;讨厌的人;
And I was in the States at the time, and they called me, he was very sick, the first time he got sick. 那时我还在美国 他们打电话告诉我他生病了,这是他第一次生病
And he had Cryptococcal Meningitis . 他得了隐球菌脑膜炎
Cryptococcal:隐球菌的; Meningitis:n.脑膜炎;
And so I went on to Google , Cryptococcal Meningitis, you know. 于是我上谷歌搜索隐球菌脑膜炎
Google:谷歌;谷歌搜索引擎;
Because of doctor-patient privilege, they couldn't really tell us what was going on. 由于医患特权 医生不能确切告诉我们发生了什么
doctor-patient:医患;
But they were like, you know, this is a long-term thing. 他们就像,你知道的,说这是件长期的事情
long-term:adj.长期的;从长远来看;
And when I went online and read about the disease, 当我上网 查到这个疾病的时候
I pretty much realized what was going on. 我差不多意识到有事发生了
The first time he got sick he recovered. 第一次的病,他恢复了
But what happened was that he had to be on medication that at that time, Diflucan, which in the States is used for yeast infections , cost 30 dollars a pill . 但他需要继续药物治疗 那时在美国,氟康唑 是用于治疗真菌感染,每片要卖30美元
medication:n.药;药物; yeast:n.酵母;泡沫;酵母片;引起骚动因素; infections:n.传染病;口腔病害(infection复数形式); pill:n.[医]药丸;药品;
He had to be on that pill for the rest of his life. 他不能不依靠那个药片持续余生
You know, so money ran out. 你知道的,钱花完了
He got sick again. 他的病又发作了
And up until that time he had a friend who used to travel to India, and he used to get him a generic version of it. 就在那个时候,他有个在印度旅游的朋友 他能给父亲 拿到氟康唑的一种纺仿制品
generic:adj.类的;一般的;属的;非商标的;
And that kept him going. 这让父亲生存了下来
But the money ran out. 可是钱很快又花完了
He got sick again. He got sick on a Friday. 他的病再次发作了,在某一个星期五
At that time there was only one bank that had ATMs in Kenya, and we could not get cash, the family couldn't get cash for him to start the treatment until Monday. 那时肯尼亚只有一家银行有ATM机 但我们没有现金,整个家庭在周一前都拿不到现金 用来付父亲的初期治疗费用
ATMs:abbr.高级文本管理系统(AdvancedTerminalManagementSystem); treatment:n.治疗;疗法;对待;处理;讨论;
The hospital put him on a water drip for three days. 医院把我父亲安排在水槽旁三天
drip:n.滴落;滴落(的液体);水滴;v.(液体)滴下;
And finally we figured, well, OK, we'd better just try and take him to a public hospital. 终于,我们决定,好吧 我们还是试着把他送到公立医院吧
finally:adv.终于;最终;(用于列举)最后;彻底地;
At least he'll get treated while we try to figure out the money situation. 那样至少他能得到治疗 当我们试着想办法筹钱的时候
And he died when the ambulance was coming to the hospital to take him. 他死了,当时救护车正要 载他去医院
ambulance:n.救护车;
And, you know, now imagine if, and I could go on and on , imagine if this is all you know about me. 好吧,想象一下, 这是你们知道的有关我的所有事情
on and on:继续不停地;
How would you look at me? 你们会怎么看我？
With pity, you know. Sadness. 同情,怜悯
And this is how you look at Africa. 这就是你们对非洲的看法
This is the damage it causes. 这也带来了伤害
You don't see the other side of me. 你们不了解我的另一面
You don't see the blogger , you don't see the Harvard-educated lawyer, the vibrant person, you know? 你们看不到博客 你们不知道我是哈佛毕业的律师 一个精力充沛的人
blogger:n.写博客的人;博客使用者; vibrant:adj.振动的;充满生气的;响亮的;战栗的;
And I just wanted to personalize that. 我只想把非洲人的形象更私人化
personalize:v.在…上标明主人姓名;为个人特制(或专设);个人化;
Because we talk about it in big terms, and you wonder, you know, so what? 因为我们经常用非洲人这个大概念加到所有的非洲人身上 你会想,这又怎么样？
But it's damaging. 但这是很伤人的
And I'm not unique , right? 而且我不是唯一一个
unique:adj.独特的,稀罕的;[数]唯一的;n.独一无二的人或物;
Imagine if all you knew about William was the fact that he grew up in a poor village. 想象一下,如果你们只知道William 在一个穷乡村长大
And you didn't know about the windmill , you know? 而且你们不知道风车
windmill:n.风车;风车房;旋转玩具;直升飞机;vt.使旋转;vi.作风车般旋转;
And I was just moved -- 我刚刚却被感动了
I was actually crying during his presentation . 我在他的演讲的时候哭了起来
presentation:n.展示;描述,陈述;介绍;赠送;
He was like, I try and I make. 他就像,我做了,我成功了
I was like Nike should hire him, you know, "Just do it!" 我觉得Nike应该雇佣他,‘想做就做！’
(Laughter) （笑）
And this is again the point I'm trying to make. 这也正是我想说的
When you focus just on the disasters -- 如果你聚焦在一个人的不幸上
disasters:n.灾难(disaster的复数);
(Laughter) (Applause) （笑）（掌声）
- we're ignoring the potential . 我们很有可能忽略了他的潜能
ignoring:v.忽略,忽视;(ignore的现在分词); potential:n.潜能;可能性;[电]电势;adj.潜在的;可能的;势的;
So what is to be done? 那么,应该怎么做呢？
First of all , 首先
First of all:adv.首先;
Africans, we need to get better at telling our stories. 非洲人们,我们应该更擅于将自己的故事
We heard about that yesterday. 昨天我们听到了一些事
We had some of them this morning. 今天就可以把它们写出来
You know, blogging is one way of doing that. 你知道的 写博客就是其中一个方法
blogging:v.写网志;写博客(blog的现在分词)
Afrigator is an aggregator of African blogs that was developed in South Africa. Afrigator是非洲人博客的总站 是在南非开发的
aggregator:n.聚合器,整合者;汇集者,聚合; blogs:n.网志;博客;v.写网志;写博客;(blog的第三人称单数和复数)
So we need to start getting better. 所以我们需要变得更好
If no one else will tell our stories, let's do it. 如果没人讲我们的故事,那么我们自己讲
And going back to the point I was trying to make -- this is the Swahili Wikipedia . 回到刚才我想要说的 这是斯瓦西里的维基百科
Wikipedia:维基百科;
Swahili is spoken by about 50 million people in East Africa. 斯瓦西里是东非一个5千万人的国家
It only has five contributors . 它只有5个投稿人
contributors:n.贡献者;参与者;编著者(contributor的复数形式);
Four of them are white males -- non-native speakers. 其中4个是白人男性,母语不是斯瓦西里
non-native:adj.非本地;非原生;n.外乡人;
The other person is -- Ndesanjo, if you're here stand up -- is a Tanzanian -- first Swahili blogger. 还有一个是Ndesanjo,如果你在这儿就站起来一下 他是坦桑尼亚人,第一个斯瓦西里的博主
He's the only African who's contributing to this. 他也是唯一一个非洲投稿人
contributing:v.捐献,捐赠(尤指款或物);捐助;增加;增进;(contribute的现在分词)
People, please -- we can't whine and complain the West is doing this. 人们呐,我们不能抱怨控诉说 为什么西方人在做这件事
whine:v.发牢骚;哭诉;发呜呜声;n.抱怨;牢骚;哀鸣; complain:v.投诉;发牢骚;诉说;
What are we doing? 我们在干什么呢？
Where are the rest of the Swahili speakers? 其他的斯瓦西里人在干什么？
Why are we not generating our own content ? 我们为什么不自己更新内容？
generating:v.产生;引起;(generate的现在分词) content:n.内容,目录;满足;容量;adj.满意的;vt.使满足;
You know, it's not enough to complain. We need to act. 仅仅抱怨是不够的,我们需要行动起来
Reuters now integrates African blogs into their coverage of Africa. 路透社现在正把非洲的博客并入到 他们对非洲的报道中
integrates:v.(使)结合;(使)一体化;(使)合并(integrate的第三人称单数形式); coverage:n.覆盖,覆盖范围;
So that's a start, and we've heard of all their other initiatives . 这是一个好的开始 我们也听到有一些别的行动
initiatives:n.积极性;主动权(initiative的复数);创始;
The cheetah generation. 他们是猎豹一代
The aid approach, you know, is flawed . 这种帮助手段是有缺陷的
flawed:adj.有缺陷的;有瑕疵的;有裂纹的;
And after all the hoopla of Live 8, we're still not anywhere in the picture. Live 8 台的大力宣传过后 我们还是没有得到更多的关注
hoopla:n.投环套物游戏;喧闹;
No, you're not. 是的,你们没有
(Laughter) （笑）
But the point I'm trying to make, though, is that it's not enough for us to criticize . 但我还是想说 仅仅批评是不够的
criticize:v.批评;批判;挑剔;指责;评论;评价;
And for those of you in the diaspora who are struggling with where should I be, should I move back, should I stay? 对于那些在国外散居的人们 和我一样挣扎着一些事 我应该搬回来吗? 还是留下来？
diaspora:n.离散的犹太人;犹太人的离散;
You know, just jump. 行动吧
The continent needs you. 非洲需要你
And I can't emphasize that enough, you know. 这点怎么强调都不够
emphasize:v.强调;重视;着重;使突出;
I walked away from a job with one of the top firms in DC, 我从DC的一家顶级公司辞职
Covington and Burling, six figures. 科文顿伯林律师事务所
Covington:n.卡温顿(美国肯塔基州北部城市);
With two paychecks , or three paychecks , 2个月或3个月的工资就有6位数
paychecks:n.付薪水的支票,薪水;((paycheck的复数)
I could solve a lot of my family's problems. 这样的高收入可以解决我家很多问题
But I walked away from that because my passion was here. 但我还是辞职了,因为我的热情在这里
passion:n.激情;热情;酷爱;盛怒;
And because I wanted to do things that were fulfillling. 因为我想要实现个人抱负
And because I'm needed here, you know? 因为这儿需要我
I probably can win a prize for the most ways to use a Harvard Law School Degree because of all the things I'm doing. 利用哈佛法学院的头衔 我很有可能因为正在做的这些事 获得各种奖励
Harvard:n.哈佛大学;哈佛大学学生;
One is because I'm pretty aggressive , and I try and find, you know, opportunities. 其中一个原因是我敢作敢为 我尽一切努力寻找机会
aggressive:adj.侵略性的;好斗的;有进取心的;有闯劲的;
But there is such a need, you know? 但这儿有个需求
I'm a corporate lawyer most of the time for an organization called Enablis that supports entrepreneurs in South Africa. 我大部分时间在Enablis组织 做执业律师 支持南非的企业家
corporate:adj.公司的;组成公司(或团体)的;法人的;社团的; organization:n.组织;机构;体制;团体; entrepreneurs:n.企业家;(entrepreneur的复数)
We're now moving into East Africa. 我们现在搬到了东非
And we give them business development services, as well as financing loan and equity . 我们提供商业开发服务 金融贷款和股票权益
as well as:也;和…一样;不但…而且; equity:n.公平,公正;衡平法;普通股;抵押资产的净值;
I've also set up a project in Kenya, and what we do is we track the performance of Kenyan MPs. 我在肯尼亚还建立了一个项目 我们所做的就是记录 肯尼亚国会议员的表现
track:n.小道;足迹;车辙;轨道;v.追踪;跟踪; performance:n.性能;表现;业绩;表演;
My partner, M, who's, like, a tech guru , hacked WordPress. 我的合伙人M,高科技专家,创建了WordPress博客平台
guru:n.古鲁(指印度教等宗教的宗师或领袖);领袖;专家; hacked:v.砍;劈;猛踢;非法侵入(hack的过去分词和过去式)
It costs us, like, 20 dollars a month just for hosting . 这一个月要花我20美元
hosting:v.主办,主持;主持;做东;(host的现在分词)
Everything else on there is a labor of love. 其他的劳力付出都是出于爱
We've manually entered all the data there. 我们几乎手动输入了所有的数据
manually:adv.手动地;用手;
And you can get profiles of each MP, questions they've asked in parliament . 你们可以找到所有议员的履历 他们在国会上问过的问题
profiles:n.配置文件; v.扼要描述; parliament:n.议会,国会;
We have a comment function where people can ask their MPs questions. 网站有留言功能 人们可以问议员问题
There are some MPs who participate and come back and ask. 其中一些议员会参与这个项目 他们会回答,提问
participate:v.参加;参与;
And basically we started this because we were tired of complaining about our politicians. 我们建立这个项目是因为我们厌倦了 抱怨我们的政治家
basically:adv.主要地,基本上; complaining:adj.抱怨的;v.抱怨;控诉;(complain的现在分词)
You know, I believe that accountability stems from demand. 我相信责任来源于需求
accountability:n.有义务;有责任;可说明性; stems:n.花草的茎或梗; v.阻止; (stem的第三人称单数和复数)
You're not just going to be accountable out of the goodness of your heart. 你不仅仅出于善良 而负责
accountable:adj.有责任的;有解释义务的;可解释的;
And we as Africans need to start challenging our leaders. 我们非洲人需要挑战我们的领导人
What are they doing? 他们在做什么？
You know, they're not going to change just out of nowhere . 他们是不会无缘无故 改变什么的
nowhere:v.无处; n.无处; adj.不存在的;
So we need new policies , we need -- where's that coming from, you know? 所以我们需要新的政策,我们需要 这些能从哪儿来？
policies:n.政策;方针;原则;为人之道;保险单(policy的复数)
Another thing is that these leaders are a reflection of our society. 另一件事是这些领导人 是我们社会的反射
reflection:n.反映;沉思;映像;深思;
We talk about African governments like they've been dropped from Mars , you know? 我们讨论非洲政府 就像他们从火星上掉下来
Mars:n.火星
They come from us. 其实,他们也来自我们普罗大众
And what is it about our society that is generating leaders that we don't like. 如果产生的领导是我们不喜欢的呢？
And how can we change that? 我们怎样才能改变？
So Mzalendo was one small way we thought we could start inspiring people to start holding their leaders accountable. 所以Mzalendo是一种我们认为可以试试的方法 这能促进领导人让他们负责
inspiring:adj.鼓舞人心的;灌输的;v.鼓舞;激发;使感悟;(inspire的现在分词)
Where do we go from here? 我们还可以做些什么？
I believe in the power of ideas. 我相信思想意识的力量
I believe in the power of sharing knowledge. 我相信分享知识的力量
And I'd ask all of you, when you leave here please just share, and keep the ideas that you've gotten out of here going, because it can make a difference . 我想请求你们离开的时候能分享这儿的一切 并保留这些新的思想 因为这关系重大
make a difference:有影响,有关系;
The other thing I want to urge you to do is take an interest in the individual . 还有一件我想要鼓励你们做的是 保留自我的兴趣
individual:n.个人;有个性的人;adj.单独的;个别的;
I've had lots of conversations about things I think need to be happening in Africa. 我讨论过很多 非洲必须做的事
People are like -- OK, if you don't do aid -- 人们就像,如果你不帮忙
I'm a bleeding heart liberal , what can I do? 我就是个心肠过软的自由主义者。我还能怎么做？
bleeding heart:荷包牡丹; liberal:adj.宽宏大度的; n.理解且尊重他人意见的人;
And when I talk about my ideas they're like, but it's not scalable , you know. 当我谈到自己的想法时 他们就退缩
scalable:adj.可攀登的;可去鳞的;可称量的;
Give me something I can do with Paypal. 给我一些帮助,我可以处理Paypal
It's not that easy, you know? 这并不简单
And sometimes just taking an interest in the individual, in the fellows you've met, and the businesspeople you've met, it can make a huge difference, especially in Africa, because usually the individual in Africa carries a lot of people behind them. 有时 你遇到的同事或商人 这有时很重要,特别是在非洲 因为通常一些在非洲的人 背后有很多帮助他的人
businesspeople:商人; especially:adv.尤其;特别;格外;十分;
Practically . I mean, when I was a first-year student in law school, my mom's business had collapsed , so I was supporting her. 实际上,当我在法律学校读第一年时 我妈妈的生意破产了,所以我资助她
Practically:adv.实际地;几乎;事实上; collapsed:v.倒塌,坍塌;倒下,昏倒;坐下;(collapse的过去分词和过去式)
My sister was struggling to get through undergrad . 我的妹妹挣扎着读完本科
undergrad:n.大学肄业生;adj.大学生的(等于undergraduate);
I was helping her pay her tuition . 我也帮她付学费
tuition:n.指导;(尤指大专院校的)学费;
My cousin ran out of school fees, and she's really smart. 我的表妹付不起学费,她真的很聪明
I was paying her school fees. 我帮她付了
A cousin of mine died of AIDS, left an orphan , so we said, well, what are we going to do with her? 我的一个表亲死于艾滋病,他的孩子成了孤儿 那我们该怎么处理这件事呢
orphan:adj.孤儿的;无双亲的;n.孤儿;vt.使成孤儿;
You know, she's now my baby sister. 她现在成了我的小孩
And because of the opportunities that were afforded to me 因为那些提供给我的机会
afforded:vt.给予,提供;买得起;
I am able to lift all those people. 我能帮助他们所有人
So don't underestimate that. 所以不要低估了这点
underestimate:v.低估;看轻;n.低估;
An example. This man changed my life. 举个例子。有个男人改变了我的生活
He's a professor, he's now at Vanderbilt, he's an undergrad professor, Mitchell Seligson. 他是个教授,在Vanderbilt工作 他教本科生,Mitchell Seligson
And because of him I got into Harvard Law School. 因为他,我才能考进哈佛法学院
And because he took an interest. 因为他关注我
I was taking a class of his and he was just like, this is an overeager student, which we don't normally get in the United States, because everyone else is cynical and jaded . 我上过他的一节课 他发现可我这个过于渴望的学生 这在美国可不常见 其他人都愤世嫉俗或厌倦了
overeager:adj.过于热切的,过于渴望的; normally:adv.正常地;通常地,一般地; United:adj.联合的; v.联合,团结; (unite的过去分词和过去式) cynical:adj.愤世嫉俗的;冷嘲的; jaded:adj.厌倦的;疲倦不堪的;v.厌倦(jade的过去分词);变得疲倦;精疲力竭;
He called me to his office and said, what do you want to do when you grow up? 他叫我去他的办公室,并问我 你长大了想做什么
I said, I want to be a lawyer. 我说我想当一个律师
And he was like, why? You know, we don't need another lawyer in the United States. 他问为什么 美国并不缺少律师
And he tried to talk me out of it, but it was like, OK, I know nothing about applying to Law School, 他试着让我放弃想法 但这就像,好吧,虽然我不知道怎么申请法学院
applying:v.申请,请求;使用;应用;(apply的现在分词)
I'm Poli Sci PhD. 我是个政治科学的博士
But, you know, let's figure out what I need you to do, what I need to do to help you out. 让我们找找我需要你做什么 我需要做什么才能帮助你
It was like, where do you want to go? 为什么你要去那儿?
And to me at that time university -- 对我来说,那是在大学里
I was at University of Pitts for Undergrad, and that was like heaven, OK, because compared to what could have been in Kenya. 我在Pitts大学读本科 那儿就像天堂 和肯尼亚的一些大学比较来说
compared:adj.比较的,对照的; v.相比; (compare的过去式和过去分词)
So I'm like, yeah, I'm just applying to Pitt for Law School. 所以我就申请了Pitt的法学院
He was like, why? You know, you're smart, you have all these things going for you. 他就问为什么,他说你很聪明 你有足够好的条件
And I'm like, because I'm here and it's cheap, and you know, I kind of like Pittsburgh . 我在这儿因为这儿便宜 而且我也喜欢匹兹堡
Pittsburgh:n.匹兹堡(美国一座城市);
Like, that's the dumbest reason I've ever heard for applying to law school. 这可能是我听过申请法学院 最愚蠢的原因
dumbest:哑的;蠢的(dumb的最高级);
And, you know, so he took me under his wing, and he encouraged me. 他帮助我,鼓励我
And he said, look, you can get into Harvard, you're that good, OK? 他说我可以进哈佛 他说我足够的好
And if they don't admit you, they're the ones who are messed up. 如果哈佛不录取我,他们就错了
messed:v.使不整洁;弄脏;弄乱;随地便溺(mess的过去分词和过去式)
And he built me up, you know? 是他帮助我振作了起来
And this is just an illustration . 这是个很好的例子
illustration:n.插图;图解;示例;图示;
You can meet other individuals here. 你们也可能在这儿遇到一些重要的人
individuals:n.[经]个人;[生物]个体(individual的复数);
We just need a push. 我们需要的仅仅是一个动力
That's all I needed was a push to go to the next level. 要进入下一个阶段我需要的就是一个动力
Basically I want to end with my vision for Africa, you know? 基本上我将以我对非洲的愿景结束演讲了
vision:n.视力;美景;幻象;想象力;v.想象;显现;梦见;
A gentleman spoke yesterday about the indignity of us having to leave the continent so that we can fulfilll our potential. 一位绅士昨天讲了 我们不得不离开非洲 才能去追求自己的未来的愤慨。
indignity:n.侮辱;轻蔑;有伤尊严;无礼举动;
You know, my vision is that my daughter, and any other African child being born today, can be whoever they want to be here, without having to leave. 我的愿景是我的女儿 和其他现在出生的非洲小孩 能成为他们自己想做的人 而不用离开非洲
whoever:任何人:无论是谁:
And they can have the possibility of transcending the circumstances under which they were born. 他们有可能 超越他们出生时的环境
transcending:v.超出,超越(通常的界限);(transcend的现在分词) circumstances:n.情况;环境;情形;(circumstance的复数)
That's one thing you Americans take for granted , you know? 这一点是美国人认为理所当然的
take for granted:认为…理所当然;
That you can grow up, you know, not so good circumstances, and you can move -- 生在不是很好的环境里, 你也可以搬家
Just because you are born in rural Arkansas, whatever, that doesn't define who you are. 仅仅由于你生在阿肯色州的乡村 无论如何,这都不会影响你能成为什么
rural:adj.农村的,乡下的;田园的,有乡村风味的; define:v.定义;使明确;规定;
For most Africans today, where you live, or where you were born, and the circumstances under which you were born, determine the rest of your life. 对大多数现在的非洲人来说,你住在哪儿,或你出生于哪儿 或你出生的环境怎么样 决定了你未来的生活
determine:v.决定;确定;测定;查明;形成;影响;裁决;安排;
I would like to see that change, and the change starts with us. 我想看到这些改变 而且这些改变从我们开始
And as Africans we need to take responsibility for our continent. 作为非洲人,我们需要为我们的非洲负责
Thank you. 谢谢
(Applause) （掌声）