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TeresaNjoroge_2017W-_我从冤狱的日子学到了什么_
When I heard those bars slam hard, 当我听到牢门 重重地关上,
slam:v.(使…)砰地关上; n.猛关(或推,摔,撞等);
I knew it was for real. 我知道这是真的发生了。
I feel confused . 我觉得很困惑。
confused:adj.困惑的; v.使糊涂; (confuse的过去分词和过去式)
I feel betrayed . 我觉得被背叛了。
betrayed:v.出卖;泄露机密;辜负;对…不忠;(betray的过去分词和过去式)
I feel overwhelmed . 我觉得无法招架。
overwhelmed:v.受打击,压倒;淹没;(overwhelm的过去分词和过去式)
I feel silenced. 我觉得被夺去了声音。
What just happened? 刚发生了什么事？
How could they send me here? 他们怎么能把我送到这里？
I don't belong here. 我不属于这里。
How could they make such a huge mistake without any repercussions whatsoever to their actions? 他们怎么可以犯这么大的错误 不计后果的做出这些行为？
repercussions:n.反响,影响(repercussion的复数形式); whatsoever:pron.无论什么;
I see large groups of women in tattered uniforms surrounded by huge walls and gates, enclosed by iron barbed wires, and I get hit by an awful stench , and I ask myself, how did I move 我看到一大群女人, 穿着破烂的制服, 周围都是高墙和大门, 被铁丝篱网包围着, 我闻到一阵恶臭, 我问我自己, 我是怎么从在
tattered:adj.破烂的,衣衫褴褛的;v.变破烂(tatter的过去分词); uniforms:n.制服;军服;军人;v.使穿制服;(uniform的复数第三人称单词) enclosed:adj.封闭的;附上的;v.把…围起来;围住;附上;(enclose的过去分词和过去式) barbed:adj.有倒钩的;挖苦的;伤人的;带刺的; stench:n.恶臭;臭气;vt.使…散发恶臭;vi.发恶臭;
from working in the respected financial banking sector , having worked so hard in school, to now being locked up in the largest correctional facility for women in Kenya? 原本被人景仰的金融银行部门工作, 并且在学校非常努力的过去, 沦落到被关在 肯亚最大的女子监狱？
financial:adj.金融的;财政的,财务的; sector:n.部门;扇形,扇区;象限仪;函数尺;vt.把…分成扇形; correctional:adj.矫正的;修正的; facility:n.设施;设备;特别装置;特色;场所;天资;
My first night at Langata Women Maximum Security Prison was the toughest. 我在兰加塔女子最高安全级别 监狱的第一个晚上, 是最难熬的。
Maximum:n.最大限度;最大量;最高限度;adj.最高的;最多的;最大极限的;
In January of 2009, 2009 年 1 月,
I was informed that I had handled a fraudulent transaction unknowingly at the bank where I worked. 我被通知我在我工作的银行里, 无心地经手了一项诈欺交易。
informed:adj.见多识广的; v.通知; (inform的过去分词和过去式) fraudulent:adj.欺骗性的;不正的; transaction:n.处理;业务;办理; unknowingly:adv.不知不觉地;
I was shocked, scared and terrified. 我很震惊、害怕、恐惧,
I would lose a career that I loved passionately . 我会失去我非常热爱的职業。
career:n.职业;事业;生涯;经历; passionately:adv.热情地;强烈地;激昂地;
But that was not the worst. 但那不是最糟的。
It got even worse than I could have ever imagined. 情况糟到我完全无法想像。
I got arrested, maliciously charged and prosecuted . 我被逮捕, 被恶意指控, 被起诉。
maliciously:adv.有敌意地,恶意地; prosecuted:v.起诉;控告;检举;(prosecute的过去式和过去分词)
The absurdity of it all was the arresting officer and the case would disappear . 最荒谬的是,逮捕我的警官 这样案子就会消失。
absurdity:n.荒谬;谬论;荒谬的言行; disappear:v.消失;失踪;不复存在;
I refused. 我拒绝了。
Two and a half years on, in and out of courts, fighting to prove my innocence . 之后两年半, 我不断进出法庭, 拼命证明我的无辜。
innocence:n.清白,无罪;天真无邪;
It was all over the media , in the newspapers, TV, radio. 媒体都在报导, 包括报纸、电视、广播。
media:n.媒体;媒质(medium的复数);血管中层;浊塞音;中脉;
They came to me again. 他们又来找我。
This time around, said to me, "If you give us 50,000 US dollars, the judgement will be in your favor," 这次,他们对我说: 「如果你给我们 $50,000 美金, 判决就会站在你这边。」
irrespective of the fact that there was no evidence whatsoever that I had any wrongdoing on the charges that I was up against. 即使没有任何证据显示 在我被指控的这件事中 我有做错任何事, 他们还是这样索求。
irrespective of:prep.不考虑;不管;不受…影响;adj.不顾;不考虑; evidence:n.证据,证明;迹象;明显;v.证明; wrongdoing:n.不法行为;坏事;作恶;欺骗行径;
I remember the events of my conviction six years ago as if it were yesterday. 我清楚记得 我六年前 被定罪的那个时刻, 彷佛昨天才发生。
conviction:n.判罪;定罪;坚定的看法(或信念);坚信;肯定;
The cold, hard face of the judge as she pronounced my sentence on a cold Thursday morning for a crime that I hadn't committed . 法官带着冷漠无情的面孔 宣布我的判刑, 在那个寒冷的星期二早上, 我因为我没犯的罪而被判刑。
committed:adj.坚信的; v.做出错事; (commit的过去分词和过去式)
I remember holding my three-month-old beautiful daughter whom I had just named Oma, which in my dialect means "truth and justice ," 我记得我抱着 三个月大的美丽女儿, 我刚幫她取名为欧玛, 在我的方言中,欧玛意谓着 「真相和正义」,
dialect:n.方言;地方话;土话; justice:n.公平;公正;司法制度;审判;
as that was what I had longed so much for all this time. 因为我在这段时间当中, 极度渴求的就是真相和正义。
I dressed her in her favorite purple dress, and here she was, about to accompany me to serve this one-year sentence behind bars . 我幫她穿上她最喜欢的紫色衣服, 她就在这里,准备要陪伴我 去服一年的刑,去坐牢。
purple:n.紫色;紫袍;v.变紫;使成紫色;adj.紫色的;华丽的文辞; accompany:v.陪同;陪伴;与…同时发生;为…伴奏; behind bars:坐牢;在狱中;在监狱服刑;铁窗之后;
The guards did not seem sensitive to the trauma that this experience was causing me. 警卫似乎对这次经验给我带来的伤害 没有任何敏感度。
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; trauma:n.[外科]创伤(由心理创伤造成精神上的异常);外伤;
My dignity and humanity disappeared with the admission process . 在入狱的过程中, 我的人性尊严消失殆尽。
dignity:n.尊严;高贵; humanity:n.人类;人道;仁慈;人文学科; disappeared:adj.消失的;消失了的;v.消失,失踪;(disappear的过去式和过去分词) admission:n.入场费;进入权;招供;门票费; process:v.处理;加工;列队行进;n.过程,进行;方法,adj.经过特殊加工(或处理)的;
It involved me being searched for contrabands , changed from my ordinary clothes to the prison uniform, forced to squat on the ground, a posture that I soon came to learn would form the routine of the thousands of searches, number counts, that lay ahead of me. 过程中我被搜身找有没有违禁品, 我平时的服装被换成了 监狱制服, 被迫蹲在地上, 我很快就学到,这个姿势 会是例行的动作, 将来我要面对的, 还有数千次的搜身, 以及报数。
involved:adj.有关的; v.涉及; (involve的过去式和过去分词) contrabands:n.非法买卖[运输];走私;(战时)禁运品;走私品;adj.禁运的; squat:v.蹲,蹲下;蹲坐;蹲伏;使蹲坐;n.蹲坐,蜷伏;adj.蹲着的;矮胖的; posture:n.姿势;态度;看法;立场;处理方式;v.故作姿态;装样子
The women told me, "You'll adjust to this place. 那里的女人告诉我: 「你会适应这个地方。
adjust:v.调整;调节;适应;习惯;
You'll fit right in." 你会融入的。」
I was no longer referred to as Teresa Njoroge. 我不再被称为泰瑞莎乔洛格。
referred:v.提到;引用;认为;指示;涉及;(refer的过去式和过去分词)
The number 415/11 was my new identity , and I soon learned that was the case with the other women who we were sharing this space with. 我的新身份是 415/11 号, 我很快就了解, 在这个地方的其他女子也都一样。
identity:n.身份;同一性,一致;特性;恒等式;
And adjust I did to life on the inside: the prison food, the prison language, the prison life. 我适应了监狱里的生活: 监狱食物、 监狱语言、 监狱人生。
Prison is certainly no fairytale world. 监狱肯定不是童话世界。
fairytale:adj.童话式的;童话中才有的;优美无比的;
What I didn't see come my way was the women and children whom we served time and shared space with, women who had been imprisoned for crimes of the system, the corruption that requires a fall guy , a scapegoat , so that the person who is responsible could go free, 我没料到会遇上的, 是女人和孩子, 我们一起服刑、共用空间, 女人被囚禁, 是因为体制的犯罪, 腐败贪汙需要有替死鬼, 代罪羔羊, 这么一来,该负责的人 才能逍遥法外,
imprisoned:v.监禁;关押;(imprison的过去分词和过去式) corruption:n.贪污,腐败;堕落; fall guy:n.替罪羊;代人受过者; scapegoat:n.替罪羊,替人顶罪者;替身;vt.使成为…的替罪羊; responsible:adj.负责的,可靠的;有责任的;
a broken system that routinely vilifies the vulnerable , the poorest amongst us, people who cannot afford to pay bail or bribes . 有问题的体制去诽谤脆弱的人, 是司空见惯的事, 受害的是最贫穷的人, 他们无法负担保释费用 或贿赂。
routinely:adv.例行公事地;老一套地; vilifies:v.说…的坏话;辱骂;贬低;使堕落;(vilifies是vilify的第三人称单数); vulnerable:adj.易受攻击的,易受…的攻击;易受伤害的;有弱点的; amongst:prep.在…之中;在…当中(等于among); afford:v.给予,提供;买得起; bail:n.保释金;保释;v.允许保释(某人);离开;与…搭讪; bribes:n.贿赂;v.向(某人)行贿;贿赂(bribe的第三人称单数和复数)
And so we moved on. 所以我们继续走下去。
As I listened to story after story of these close to 700 women during that one year in prison, 我倾听了近七百位女子 一个又一个的故事, 在监狱的一年中,
I soon realized that crime was not what had brought these women to prison, most of them, far from it. 我很快就了解到, 这些女人不是因为犯罪而入狱, 大部份女人不是, 且差得很远。
It had started with the education system, whose supply and quality is not equal for all; lack of economic opportunities that pushes these women to petty survival crimes; the health system, social justice system, the criminal justice system. 打从教育体制开始就有问题, 其供给和品质并非人人平等的; 缺乏经济机会, 逼着这些女子为了生存 去做小规模的犯罪; 健康体制、 社会正义体制、 刑事司法体制,
economic:adj.经济的,经济上的;经济学的; petty:adj.琐碎的;小气的;小规模的; survival:n.幸存,残存;幸存者,残存物;
If any of these women, who were mostly from poor backgrounds, fall through the cracks in the already broken system, the bottom of that chasm is a prison, period. 如果这些大多 来自贫穷背景的女子, 掉进已经出问题的体制细缝中, 那等在下面的,就是入狱, 就这样。
fall through the cracks:被忽视; chasm:n.峡谷;裂口;分歧;深坑;
By the time I completed my one-year sentence at Langata Women Maximum Prison, 我在兰加塔女子最高安全级别监狱 服完了一年的刑之后,
I had a burning conviction to be part of the transformation to resolve the injustices that I had witnessed of women and girls who were caught up in a revolving door of a life in and out of prison due to poverty . 我有着非常强烈的信念, 要成为转变的一部份, 去消除那些我目击的不公平, 有女人、有女孩, 她们被卷入了循环, 一生都在进出监狱, 只因为贫穷。
transformation:n.转变;(用于南非)民主改革; resolve:vt.决定; vi.解决; n.坚决; injustices:n.不公正;不讲道义; witnessed:v.当场看到,目击;见证;作证;(witness的过去式和过去分词) revolving door:n.旋转门;中转站(指人们进入后很快又离开的地方或机构); poverty:n.贫困;困难;缺少;低劣;
After my release , 我被释放后,
release:v.释放;发射;让与;允许发表;n.释放;发布;让与;
I set up Clean Start. 我成立了「Clean Start」 （清白的开始）。
Clean Start is a social enterprise that seeks to give these women and girls a second chance. 「Clean Start」是一间社会企業, 旨在给这些女子和女孩 第二次机会。
seeks:v.寻求;寻找;探索;搜索;
What we do is we build bridges for them. 我们所做的,是为她们搭起桥樑。
build bridges:建立桥梁;构建桥梁;建立纽带;
We go into the prisons, train them, give them skills, tools and support to enable them to be able to change their mindsets , their behaviors and their attitudes . 我们到监狱去训练她们, 给她们技能、工具、和支持, 让她们能够改变她们的心态、 她们的行为、她们的态度。
enable:v.使能够;使有机会;使成为可能;使可行; mindsets:n.心态;倾向;习惯;精神状态; attitudes:n.态度,看法(attitude复数);
We also build bridges into the prisons from the corporate sector -- individuals , organizations that will partner with Clean Start to enable us to provide employment , places to call home, jobs, vocational training, for these women, girls, boys and men, upon transition back into society. 我们也从企業部门 搭起进入监狱的桥樑, 和愿与「Clean Start」 合作的个人、组织结合, 让我们能提供工作机会、 可称为家的地方、 工作、职業训练, 给这些女人和女孩, 男孩和男人, 在转换回到社会时协助他们。
corporate:adj.公司的;组成公司(或团体)的;法人的;社团的; individuals:n.[经]个人;[生物]个体(individual的复数); organizations:n.组织,构造,有机体(organization的复数);组织机构; employment:n.使用;职业;雇用; vocational:adj.职业的,行业的; transition:n.过渡;转变;变革;变迁;v.经历转变过程;过渡;
I never thought that one day 我从来没有想过, 会有一天,
I would be giving stories of the injustices that are so common within the criminal justice system, but here I am. 我会在诉说故事, 揭露刑事司法体制中非常 常见的不公平, 但我就在这里了。
Every time I go back to prison, 每次我回到监狱,
I feel a little at home, but it is the daunting work to achieve the vision that keeps me awake at night, connecting the miles to Louisiana , which is deemed as the incarceration capital of the world, carrying with me stories of hundreds of women whom I have met within the prisons, 我有点回到家的感觉, 但,是为了达成 这个愿景的艰巨工作, 让我在夜间无法入眠, 连结通往路易斯安那的路程, 路易斯安那被视为是 世界的监禁首都, 我会带着这些故事, 它们来自我在监狱 遇见的数百位女子,
daunting:adj.令人生畏的:令人胆怯的:v.使胆怯:使失去信心;(daunt的现在分词) vision:n.视力;美景;幻象;想象力;v.想象;显现;梦见; Louisiana:n.美国路易斯安那州; deemed:v.认为;视为;相信;(deem的过去分词和过去式) incarceration:n.监禁;下狱;禁闭;
some of whom are now embracing their second chances, and others who are still on that bridge of life's journey . 其中有些人现在已在 拥抱她们的第二次机会, 其他人则仍然在 那人生旅程的桥樑上。
embracing:n.拥抱;v.拥抱,包含;(embrace的现在分词) journey:n.旅行;行程;vi.旅行;
I embody a line from the great Maya Angelou. 我在实践一句话, 这句话来自伟大的马娅安杰卢。
embody:v.具体表现,体现,代表(思想或品质);包括;
'"I come as one, but I stand as 10,000." 「我一个人来, 但我有一万人的力量。」
(Applause) （掌声）
For my story is singular , but imagine with me the millions of people in prisons today, yearning for freedom. 因为我的故事是单数, 但和我一起想像, 有数百万人 现在在监狱中, 渴求自由。
singular:adj.单数的;单一的;非凡的;异常的;n.单数; yearning:n.向往;渴望;adj.思慕的;渴望的;v.渴望;渴求;(yearn的现在分词)
Three years post my conviction and two years post my release, 我被定罪的三年后, 我被释放的两年后,
I got cleared by the courts of appeal of any wrongdoing. 上诉法庭还了我清白, 我没做错事。
appeal:n.上诉;吸引力;申诉;魅力;v.上诉;呼吁;申诉;恳求;
(Applause) （掌声）
Around the same time, 大约同时,
I got blessed with my son, whom I named Uhuru , which in my dialect means "freedom." 我有了个儿子, 我把他取名为乌乎鲁, 在我的方言中,意思是「自由」。
blessed:adj.神圣的; v.求上帝降福于; (bless的过去分词和过去式) Uhuru:n.自由;民族独立;int.乌呼噜;自由(非洲斯瓦希里语);
(Applause) （掌声）
Because I had finally gotten the freedom that I so longed for. 因为我终于得到了我如此 渴望的自由。
finally:adv.终于;最终;(用于列举)最后;彻底地;
I come as one, but I stand as 10,000, encouraged by the hard-edged hope that thousands of us have come together to reform and transform the criminal justice system, encouraged that we are doing our jobs as we are meant to do them. 我一个人来, 但我有一万人的力量, 被锋芒毕露的希望给鼓舞, 我们数以千计的人集合在一起, 要来改革和转变这个刑事司法体制, 被鼓舞要用我们必须的方式 来做我们的工作。
hard-edged:adj.有棱角的;锋芒毕露的; reform:v.改革;改进;改良;(使)悔改;n.改革;改良;改善;
And let us keep doing them with no apology. 让我们继续做下去, 没有辩解。
Thank you. 谢谢。
(Applause) （掌声）