那時我的母親夢想我會變成一位很偉大的人。她在我十一歲時懷上她的第七個小孩。隨著她的肚子越來越大,她感到虛弱而且痛苦,但她說:“沒問題的,Hawa。一切都會好轉(zhuǎn)的。不論它(死亡)是透過暴力、疾病或甚至分娩迎向我們,那都不是我們故事的結(jié)局。你必須要堅(jiān)強(qiáng)起來并幫助那些需要你的人。”我成為一位醫(yī)生,因?yàn)樵谖夷赣H過世后我想要拯救其他人免于病痛。
The Somalia I grew up in was so much different than today. Mogadishu was the best place in all Africa. In the rural area, children had fresh milk, fresh meat, fresh air. Life was very beautiful, very simple and very peaceful.
我成長過程中的索馬里和今天大不相同。Mogadishu(索馬里第一大城)曾是整個非洲最棒的地方。在鄉(xiāng)村地區(qū),孩子們有新鮮牛奶、新鮮的肉、新鮮空氣。生活非常美好、非常簡單也非常平靜。
It started to go bad in 1988. When the government collapsed, more and more people came to us to escape the fighting. The Somali people have tradition of hospitality. When a traveler comes to you, you have to give him the best of what you have. It seems only natural that the problems we could solve, like giving someone a place to stay and the feeling of safety should be solved.
一切從1988年開始惡化。當(dāng)政府崩解后,越來越多的人來找我們以逃離斗爭。索馬里人有好客的傳統(tǒng)。當(dāng)旅人投靠你,你必須要給他你擁有的最好的東西。我們可以解決的問題應(yīng)該要被解決,像是提供某人住宿的地方以及安全感,這似乎就是自然而然的。
When space became full, families began to sleep under the trees. After more than twenty years, it became ninety thousand people. These people have become my family. Here we are all Somali. If you won't identity with your ground, you cannot stay.
當(dāng)空間人滿為患時,家家戶戶開始睡在樹下。在二十多年后,變成了九萬人。這些人變成我的家人。在這里我們?nèi)际撬黢R里人。如果你不認(rèn)同你的土地,你就不能留下來。
In time, my children become doctors, and now, we work together. Each crisis we face gives way to the next as a new group takes control of our area. Sometimes these children, with their guns, they told me, "You are an old woman. You cannot be in charge." I said, "And you are a strong young man, what have you done for these people?"
最后,我的孩子們都成了醫(yī)師,而現(xiàn)在,我們一同工作。當(dāng)一個新的組織控制我們這地區(qū)時,我們所面對的每個危機(jī)都會被下一次的危機(jī)取代。有時候這些孩子,拿著他們的槍,他們告訴我:“你是個老女人。你不能掌權(quán)。”我說:“而你是個強(qiáng)壯的年輕人,你為這些人們做過些什么?”
Whether for fighting or the famine, we have lost as many as fifty people per day. But we get up. We go on. And we help someone who needs us.
不論是斗爭或是饑荒,我們每天失去多達(dá)五十人。但我們振作起來。我們走下去。我們幫助某些需要我們的人。
Today our one-room clinic is a four hundred beds' hospital. I live for the hope that peace will come; that my children and my grandchildren will someday know the Somalia I loved. Until that time, they can build on what I have started.
今天我們那只有一間房的診所成了有四百張床的醫(yī)院。我活著是抱持著和平終會到來的希望;我的孩子和我的孫子們終有一天會了解我深愛的索馬里。到那時之前,他們可以在我著手建立的成果上發(fā)展。
I'm Dr. Hawa Abdi. This is my Vital Voice. Now, raise yours.
我是Hawa Abdi醫(yī)生。這是我的Vital Voice?,F(xiàn)在,發(fā)起你的(言論)吧。