Librarian Uses Donkey Cart to Bring Books to Rural Ethiopian Children
埃塞俄比亚乡间驴背移动图书馆
Literacy is coming to some rural Ethiopian children on a donkey's back. VOA's Peter Heinlein visited the Ethiopian town of Awassa, to meet an Ethiopian-American man who returned to the land of his birth to Make a Difference with youngsters hungry for learning.
在埃塞俄比亚的乡间，一辆驴车把知识带给了这里的孩子们。记者海因莱因在埃塞俄比亚一个叫做阿瓦萨的小镇上，遇到了一名埃塞俄比亚裔的美国人。这位埃裔美国人回到自己的出生地，把读书的乐趣带给那里渴求知识的孩子们。
It is school-closing time in Awassa. A donkey-drawn wagon trundles into a public square and children come.
阿瓦萨镇的学校正在放假，一辆驴车来到一个公共广场，停靠在树荫下，一群孩子围拢了过来。
Donkey carts are common here. But a cart filled with tales of fantasy and faraway lands is unique. It's the Donkey Mobile Library, bringing books to children who have none.
在这个地方，驴车是很常见的，但是这辆驴车却不同。它满载著神奇和遥远的童话故事，这就是驴背移动图书馆，它让这些没有书看的孩子们能够有书读。
Donkey library founder Yohannes Gebregiorgis holds his young audience captive with his readings. Yohannes emigrated to the United States half a lifetime ago. He became an American citizen. But he came back, giving up a comfortable life as a children's librarian in San Francisco, because it bothered him that while Ethiopian kids may go to school, they have no books.
驴背图书馆的创办人加布雷基奥尔基斯的高声朗读。吸引了孩子的注意。三十年前，加布雷基奥尔基斯移民到美国，原因之一就是寻求教育机会。他后来入了美国籍，但他还是放弃了在旧金山儿童图书馆工作的舒适生活，回到他的家乡。因为有一件事一直在困扰著他：虽然埃塞俄比亚的孩子们可以到学校上学，但是他们却没有书本。
"Most schools don't have libraries. Basically, that makes it very difficult for kids to get reading material," Yohannes said.
他说：“这里的学校大都没有图书馆，孩子们很难有书读。”
The main reason there are no libraries is there are almost no children's books in any of Ethiopia's many languages.
没有儿童图书馆的主要原因是，埃塞俄比亚国内有八十种语言，竟没有以其中任何一种语言写出的儿童读物。
"Most kids we have noticed holding a book upside down. We have taken pictures of those kids," he said. "But later on we find out that those kids learn how to use the book, how to flip the pages and how to look at the pictures and then gradually to read the stories in the book."
加布雷基奥尔基斯说，即使在校学生也对书本感到陌生。“我们看到大部分孩子把书倒著拿，后来孩子们慢慢学习会如何使用图书，如何翻书页，看里面的图画，渐渐开始阅读书中的故事。”
Admasu Apuye grew up in Awassa. He never had a book. Now he brings his two and a half year old son Meseker to listen, and to learn about the world inside those pages, a world Admasu never knew as a boy.
With financing from American civic groups, more donkey libraries are planned. Donated English-language books are arriving. Meanwhile, Yohannes has established a publishing house to produce books in languages local kids can read.
由于美国民间团体的资助，加布雷基奥尔基斯逐渐扩大了他的驴背图书馆。他还成立了一个名叫“埃塞俄比亚读书”的出版社，用当地孩子们看得懂的文字出版图书。
His first effort, in three languages, was a re-creation of an old folk tale about, what else, a boy and his donkey.
他出版的第一个本书，就是改编于一个男孩和他的驴子的民间故事。
"I grew up hearing this story," Yohannes recalls. "So, when I first started this organization, I wrote this story and we published it and this became really a fundraiser for us. (It is) Still sold in the United States."
“我是听着这个故事长大的，所以当我刚刚成立这个出版社时，就写下了这个故事，并将它出版。这本书竟然为我们筹集到了很多资金。”
Oh, and the donkeys. Originally, they were a big part of drawing kids to the mobile library. But Yohannes discovered, much to his delight, that it wasn't the donkeys that excited the kids. It was the books.
"And they come really to read and they sit with books even if they don't know how to read they open the book and see the pictures and just enjoy the pictures," he said.
Yohannes dreams about taking his donkey mobile libraries to more Ethiopian towns and villages. After all, there are millions of eager children. The donkeys may be resting now, but there's plenty of work to be done.
加布雷基奥尔基斯的梦想，是带著他的驴背图书馆到埃塞俄比亚更多的城镇和乡村去。毕竟，那里有成百上千万渴望知识的孩子，还有许多事需要他去完成。
