VOA慢速英語:Rescuing Masai Girls From Early Marriage

This is the VOA Special English Education Report.

這里是美國之音慢速英語教育報(bào)道。

Priscilla Nangurai of Kajiado, Kenya, retired as a teacher in two thousand five. Today, at the age of sixty-two, she could be living a quiet life in retirement. Instead, she leads an organization at her home called GRACE -- the Girls' Rights, Attention, Care and Rescue Center. She tries to rescue Masai girls from early marriage and make sure they get an education.

肯尼亞卡吉亞多(Kajiado,地名)的普瑞希拉(Priscilla Nangurai)于2005年作為教師退休。今天，60歲的她本可以過著平靜的退休生活。然而，她在自己家鄉(xiāng)領(lǐng)導(dǎo)了一個(gè)名為《女童權(quán)利、關(guān)注、關(guān)懷和救援中心》(the Girls' Rights, Attention, Care and Rescue Center，以下簡稱GRACE)的組織。她試圖將馬薩伊女孩從早婚中營救出來，并確保她們獲得教育。

She has rescued more than seven hundred girls since nineteen eighty-six. She now has fifteen girls at her center, and she is building a dormitory to house up to eighty girls.

從1986年起，她已經(jīng)營救了七百多個(gè)女孩。她的救援中心目前有15個(gè)女孩，她正在建造一棟最多容納80個(gè)女孩的宿舍。

In the traditional culture of the Masai people, fathers often promise their young daughters in marriage to older men. Most girls are between the ages of twelve and fourteen, with some even younger. Their bodies are not ready for sex and childbirth. But that is not the only problem. Most of them must also leave school.

在馬薩伊人的傳統(tǒng)文化中，父親往往將自己年幼的女兒許配給老年男子。這些女孩大多在12到14歲，有些女孩甚至更小。她們的身體尚未做好性交與分娩的準(zhǔn)備。但這并非唯一的問題，她們中的大多數(shù)還必須離開學(xué)校。

Priscilla Nangurai's older sister was forced into marriage at a young age, but demanded that Priscilla receive an education. She says the problem begins when a girl gets "booked" when she is very young, or not even born yet.

普瑞希拉的姐姐在年輕時(shí)被迫結(jié)婚，但她要求普瑞希拉接受教育。她說，這個(gè)問題從女孩非常年幼或尚未出生時(shí)就被“預(yù)定(定親)”開始。

PRISCILLA NANGURAI: "Booking is when a parent or a man wants to marry from a certain family. So he can go to the family, and if there are little girls there, he will book. If one of the wives is expectant, he will say, 'I want something from this womb.' And he's allowed to do that."

普瑞希拉：“定親是家長或男性想要與一個(gè)特定家庭結(jié)親，他就可以去到這家，如果這家有小女孩，他就會(huì)預(yù)定。如果這家其中一名妻子懷孕了，他會(huì)說，‘我想要和這個(gè)未出生的孩子結(jié)婚。’他也可以這么做。”

A fourteen-year-old girl named Roseline has been at the rescue center since two thousand eight. At the age of four she was booked to a man who she thinks was about sixty to seventy years old.

一個(gè)名叫羅斯琳(Roseline) 的14歲女孩從2008年起就一直在這個(gè)救援中心。在四歲時(shí)她被一名男子定親，當(dāng)時(shí)她認(rèn)為那名男子大概是六七十歲。

ROSELINE: "Yes, I was booked. But when I knew the person that they booked me, I just talked to Ms. Nangurai. I told her the whole story."

羅斯琳：“是的，我被定親了。但當(dāng)我認(rèn)識(shí)預(yù)定我的那個(gè)人，我就和普瑞希拉女士交談。我告訴了她全部事情。”

Masai culture calls for the man who wants to marry a girl to start paying the girl's father once the booking has been made. Traditionally the payment is made with cows, but today money can also be exchanged.

馬薩伊文化要求希望娶一名女子的男性在一定親時(shí)就開始補(bǔ)償女孩父親。根據(jù)傳統(tǒng)補(bǔ)償一般是奶牛，但如今現(xiàn)金也可以交易。

When the marriage will soon take place, the girl must undergo a custom that some call female circumcision. Others denounce this practice followed in Masai and other cultures as female genital mutilation.

當(dāng)即將結(jié)婚時(shí)，女孩必須接受女性割禮這一傳統(tǒng)。他人都譴責(zé)馬薩伊和其它文化遵循的女性割除性器官的這種做法。

A thirteen-year-old girl also named Priscilla was brought to the center at the age of five. Her mother wanted her to be educated. The girl says she is thankful especially for health reasons that she did not have her sex organs cut. She worries that she could have gotten AIDS from unclean tools.

一個(gè)同樣名為普瑞希拉的13歲女孩在5歲時(shí)被帶到這個(gè)救援中心。她母親希望她能接受教育。這個(gè)女孩說，她特別感激，特別是由于健康原因，她沒有割除性器官。她擔(dān)心會(huì)因?yàn)楦疃Y使用的不干凈工具感染艾滋病。

PRISCILLA: "They don't circumcise one person with one razor blade. Maybe when we are two girls, they can use this one to the first girl and then they use it again to another one. So that's why I don't want that."

小普瑞希拉：“行割禮時(shí)并非一人用一個(gè)刀片?？赡軆蓚€(gè)女孩行割禮時(shí)都使用同一個(gè)刀片。所以這是我不想行割禮的原因。”