Award-winning Ugandan education activist Beatrice Ayuru says thousands of girls have reached her dream of a good education for Ugandan children. But she says the struggle to guarantee schooling for all is far from over.
获奖的乌干达教育活动家Beatrice Ayuru表示,她希望乌干达儿童能够接受良好教育,而数千名少女实现了她的这一梦想。但她表示,确保所有人接受教育的斗争远未结束。
Ms. Ayuru spoke to VOA before appearing at a TEDx event in Geneva, Switzerland. TED is a nonprofit group that works to share information and ideas by organizing short, public speeches.
Ayuru女士在出席瑞士日内瓦举行的TEDx活动前接受了美国之音的采访。TED是一家致力于通过组织简短的公开演讲来分享信息和观点的非盈利性组织。
For her TED talk, Ms. Ayuru discussed her long and successful struggle to establish a school in a rural area of northern Uganda.
Ayuru女士在TED演讲中谈到了她在乌干达北部农村地区建立学校的长期和成功的斗争。
In 2000, she opened Lira Integrated School in a poor area of the city of Lira. At the time, the rebel Lord's Resistance Army was terrorizing the area's population with murder, torture and child kidnappings.
2000年,她在里拉市的贫困地区开办了里拉综合学校。当时,乌干达叛军圣灵抵抗军以谋杀、拷打和儿童绑架来威胁当地民众。
The story of Ms. Ayuru's activism begins in own childhood. She was one of 16 children in a polygamous family. Her father valued education and supported her desire for it. But she said the poverty and cultural barriers affecting women in her society worked against her.
Ayuru女士的积极精神的故事始于其儿童时期。她是一个一夫多妻家庭中的一员。她的父亲重视教育,而且支持她接受教育。但她表示,她周围受贫穷和文化障碍影响的妇女和她作对。
"I would say the environment shaped me a lot. Even while I felt I was going through hard moments, but others girls were worse than me. They were forced into early marriages. They were not given opportunity to be in school. It was a very painful life."
“我想说环境很大程度上影响了我。尽管我觉得我经历了艰难时刻,但别的女孩的情况比我还严重。她们被迫早婚。她们没有机会上学。这种生活非常痛苦。”
She graduated from high school to become the first student from her school to gain admission to a national university. After completing a degree from Makerere University she began teaching.
她从高中毕业并成为了她学校第一位进入国立大学的学生。她在麦克雷雷大学完成学位后开始任教。
At age 19, Ms. Ayuru had just become the mother of the second of her six children. She had no money. But her father gave her land. She says it was the need to support her children that made her work hard.
19岁那年,Ayuru女士成为了她六个孩子的第二任妈妈。她当时没有钱,但她父亲给了她土地。她说,她必须抚养她的孩子,这迫使她努力工作。
"I realized what I had was land. I am already teaching, but I am not earning salary, so I started with planting cassava. That was all I could afford, using my energy because I could not employ people to do anything."
“我认识到我只有土地。我已经在教书,但我不挣工资。所以我开始种植木薯。我只能靠自己的力气。因为我雇不起人做事。”
Later, she opened some small businesses. Money from those and the cassava crop helped her build the school in 2000. But continuing attacks from the Lord's Resistance Army threatened the school.
后来她开办了一些小企业。来自这些企业和木薯作物的资金帮助她在2000年建立了这所学校。但是圣灵抵抗军的持续袭击威胁了这所学校。
"During the war, we would always run with the children from school to the town to hide them. Then, during the day we collected them from town again to come and have lessons."
“在战争期间,我们总是陪孩子们从学校跑到镇上把他们藏起来。到了白天我们再把他们从镇上接回来上课。”
In 2007, the LRA lost its fight for control of northern Uganda and fled the area. Beatrice Ayuru's school has been doing well ever since. It teaches 1,500 students from nursery through high school. The cost to attend is about 90 dollars a year. Many parents cannot pay. So the school gives financial help to 100 children who lack money but show promise.
2007年,圣灵抵抗军在控制乌干达北部的战斗中败北。自此以后Ayuru女士的学校一直运行正常。该校教授了从幼儿园到高中的1500名学生。每年学费为90美元。许多家长交不起钱。所以这所学校给100名缺钱但有潜力的学生提供资金援助。
Lira Integrated School accepts both girls and boys. Ms. Ayuru says having both sexes study together is important because it helps boys to respect girls.
里拉综合学校同时接收男生和女生。Ayuru女士说,男、女生一起上学很重要,因为这有助于男生尊重女生。
In 2009, the school founder took steps toward building a university. Beatrice Ayuru says she is getting closer to reaching her dream.
2009年,这位学校创办人迈出了建设一所大学的步伐。Ayuru女士表示她越来越接近于实现她的梦想。
I'm Jeri Watson.
我是杰里·沃森(Jeri Watson)。
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