演讲MP3+双语文稿:对塞拉利昂未来的展望

听力课堂TED音频栏目主要包括TED演讲的音频MP3及中英双语文稿，供各位英语爱好者学习使用。本文主要内容为演讲MP3+双语文稿:对塞拉利昂未来的展望 ，希望你会喜欢！

【演讲者及介绍】Julius Maada Bio

作为塞拉利昂总统，朱利叶斯·马艾达·比奥(Julius Maada Bio)寻求让进步发生的方法——而不是停留在阻碍进步的障碍上。

【演讲主题】 对塞拉利昂未来的展望

A vision for the future of Sierra Leone

【中英文字幕】

翻译者 Wanting Zhong 校对者 Yu Xie

00:00

On Tuesday, January 16, 1996, I walked into the office of the president as head of state of the Republic of Sierra Leone. I had not been elected. Four years earlier, I was one of 30 heavily armed military officers, all in our 20s, who had driven from the war front into the capital city, Freetown. We had only one objective: to overthrow a corrupt, repressive and single-party dictatorship that had kept itself in power for over 25 years. But in the end, it wasn't a violent coup. After we fired a few shots and seized the radio station, hundreds of thousands of citizens jumped onto the streets to welcome us as liberators. If you are thinking this seems like a movie script, I'm with you.

在1996年1月16日，这是一个周二，我作为塞拉利昂共和国的领导人 走进了总统办公室。我并不是被选举出来的。在四年前，我是30名全副武装 的军官中的一员，我们都20多岁，从战争前线驱车 进入首都弗里敦。我们只有一个目标： 推翻一个已经掌权超过25年的，充斥着腐败、压迫、 一党专制的独裁政府。但最终，它没有成为一场暴力政变。我们开了几枪，占领了电台，成千上万的市民涌上街头，把我们当做解放者欢迎。如果你觉得这像是电影剧本，我同意你的看法。

01:12

I was part of the ruling military government, and I served in several roles. Our goal was always to return the country to democratic civilian rule. But after four years, those multiparty democratic elections had still not happened. Citizens were beginning to lose faith in our promise. But you know what? I like to keep my promises.

我曾是执政军事政府的一员，并担任过若干职务。我们的目标始终是让国家 恢复民主的文明统治。但是四年过去了，多党民主选举依旧没有举行。公民开始对我们的承诺失去信心。但你知道吗? 我是一个信守诺言的人。

01:40

Some of my comrades and I staged another military coup, and this time, against our own head of state and commander. Again, it was a bloodless coup. That is how I became the new military head of state on January 16, 1996. I was still only 31 years old.

我和一些同志 发动了另一场军事政变，这次是针对我们自己 的国家元首和指挥官。这依然是一次不流血的政变。这就是我在1996年1月16日 成为新的军事国家元首的过程。那时我才31岁。

02:03

Of course, power was sweet. I felt invulnerable. I had thousands of heavily armed men and aircraft at my command. I was heavily protected, and I lived in luxury. But my obligations to my nation were always superior. Millions of fellow citizens were either displaced or fleeing the violence and pillage of war. So I engaged in a series of diplomatic activities right across the subregion and convinced the reclusive rebel leader to initiate peace talks for the very first time. I also called a national consultative conference of civil society organizations and stakeholders to advise on the best way forward. In both cases, I shared with them what I believed in then and now: that Sierra Leone is bigger than all of us, and that Sierra Leone must be a secure, peaceful and just society where every person can thrive and contribute to national development. And so, I initiated peace talks with the rebels. I organized the first multiparty democratic elections in nearly 30 years.

当然，权力的滋味是非常甜美的。我觉得自己无懈可击。数千荷枪实弹的士兵和飞机 都听令于我。我被严密保护，并过着奢侈的生活。但是我对国家的义务 总是高于一切。数百万同胞要么流离失所，要么逃离暴力和战争掠夺。因此，我在该区域进行了 一系列外交活动，第一次说服了那位隐居的叛军领袖 发起和平谈判。我还召集了一个 由公民社会组织和利益攸关方 组成的全国协商会议，就国家未来发展方向提出指导。这两次，我都与他们分享了 我当时和到现在仍然坚持的信念： 塞拉利昂（的未来） 比我们每个人都重要，塞拉利昂必须是一个 安全、和平和公正的社会，每个人都能安居乐业，为国家发展做出贡献。因此，我启动了与叛军的和平谈判。我组织了近30年来的 第一次多党民主选举。

03:36

(Applause)

(掌声)

03:42

I handed over power to the newly elected president, I retired from the army, and I left my country for the United States of America to study -- all in three months.

我把权力移交给 新当选的总统，然后我从军队退役，离开我的国家，到美利坚合众国 进行了 三个月的学习。

03:56

(Applause)

(掌声)

04:00

In many a long walk, I wondered how we could get it right again as a nation.

在许多漫长的旅程中，我想知道作为一个国家，我们如何才能再次走上正轨。

04:09

More than 20 years later, in April 2018, with a few more wrinkles and grey hair, I was again head of state. But guess what? This time I have been democratically elected.

20多年后的 2018年4月，伴随着新增的皱纹与白发，我再次成为国家元首。但你猜怎么着？ 这次我是民主选举出来的。

04:25

(Applause)

(掌声)

04:31

At the polling stations last year, my three-year-old daughter, Amina, was in my arm. She insisted on holding on to my ballot paper with me. She was intent and focused. At that moment, with my ballot papers in both our hands, I fully understood the one priority for me if I was elected president of the Republic of Sierra Leone; that is: How could I make the lives of Amina and millions of other young girls and boys better in our country? See, I believe that leadership is about creating possibilities that everyone, especially the young people, can believe in, own, work to actualize, and which they can actively fight to protect.

去年在投票站，我三岁的女儿阿米娜 在我的臂弯里。她执意要和我一起 拿着我的选票。她是那么的认真与专注。在那一刻，我们双手拿着这张选票，我完全明白了 如果我当选塞拉利昂共和国总统，我的首要任务是什么。那就是：我怎样才能让阿米娜 和我们国家成千上万的男孩女孩 生活得更好？ 我相信，领导力就是 创造各种可能性，让每个人，尤其是年轻人，都能相信、 拥有、 争取使之成为现实，并且他们能通过积极奋斗 保卫这些机会。

05:29

The pathway to power and leadership can be littered with impediments, but more often, with funny questions that may seemingly defy answers: How does one take on the unique challenges of a country like Sierra Leone? We had mined mineral resources for over a hundred years, but we still are poor. We had collected foreign aid for 58 years, but we are still poor.

通往权力和领导地位的道路 充满了阻碍，但更常见的是 看似无法回答的问题： 如何应对像塞拉利昂一类国家 所面临的独特挑战？ 我们开采矿产资源已有一百多年了，但我们仍然贫穷。我们已经接受外国援助58年了，但我们仍然贫穷。

05:57

The secret to economic development is in nature's best resource: skilled, healthy and productive human beings. The secret to changing our country lay in enhancing and supporting the limitless potential of the next generation and challenging them to change our country. Human capital development was the key to national development in Sierra Leone. As a candidate, I met with and listened to many young men and women right across the country and in the diaspora that were feeling disconnected from political leadership and cared little about the future of our country. How could we engage them and make them believe that the answers to transforming our nation was right in their hands?

经济发展的秘诀在于 一个国家所拥有的最佳资源： 即熟练、健康、高效的人类生产力。改变我们国家的关键 在于提升和支持 下一代的无限潜力，并鼓励他们来改变我们的国家。人力资本发展是塞拉利昂 国家发展的关键。作为一名候选人，我会见了全国各地的 以及旅居海外的 许多青年男女，并听取了他们的意见，他们感觉政治领导与他们无关，并对我们国家的未来漠不关心。我们怎样才能让他们参与，并让他们相信，他们手中掌握着 可以改变国家的答案？

06:56

Immediately after becoming president, I appointed some of Sierra Leone's brightest young people as leaders, with responsibility to realize our shared vision of transforming Sierra Leone. I am grateful many of them said yes. Let me give you a few examples. Corruption had been endemic in governance, institutions and in public life in Sierra Leone, undermining public trust and the country's international reputation. I appointed a young attorney as Commissioner for the Anti-Corruption Commission. In less than a year, he had a hundred percent conviction rate and recovered over 1.5 million dollars of stolen money. That is seed money for building the country's first-ever national medical diagnostic center in Sierra Leone.

于是当选总统后，我立即任命塞拉利昂一些 最聪颖的年轻人担任领袖，担负起实现我们改变塞拉利昂 的共同愿景的责任。我很感激他们中的许多人 接下了委任。让我给你们举几个例子。塞拉利昂的腐败 在地方政府、机构、 以及公共生活中长期滋生，破坏了公众的信任 和国家的国际声誉。我任命一位年轻的律师 为反腐败委员会委员。在不到一年的时间里，他的定罪率达到了100%，并追回了150多万美元的赃款。这笔钱最后被用于建设塞拉利昂 第一个国家医疗诊断中心。

07:54

(Applause)

（掌声）

07:58

The Millennium Challenge Corporation recently gave us a green scorecard for the Control of Corruption indicator, and multilateral development partners that had left Sierra Leone are now beginning to return. We are determined to break a culture of corruption and the culture of impunity that is associated with corruption.

千年挑战公司 【注：美国独立的对外援助机构】 最近就防贪腐指标 给了我们绿色记分卡，而先前离开塞拉利昂 的多边发展伙伴 现在正逐步返回。我们有决心消除腐败 以及对待腐败 有罪不罚的传统。

08:22

Before I became president, I met a skinny, dreadlocked MIT/Harvard-trained inventor in London. Over coffee, I challenged him to think and plan along with me how innovation could help to drive national development in the areas of governance, revenue mobilization, health care, education, delivering public services and supporting private sector growth. How could Sierra Leone participate in the digital economy and become an innovation hub? Guess what? He left his cozy job at IBM, and he now leads a team of young men and women within the newly established Directorate of Science, Technology and Innovation in my own office.

在我成为总统之前，我在伦敦遇到了一位 身材瘦削、留着脏辫的发明家，他曾在麻省理工和哈佛进修过。喝咖啡时，我向他发起挑战，让他同我思考并计划 创新如何才能驱动国家 在治理、税收、医疗、 教育、公共服务 以及支持私营部门成长 等领域有所发展。塞拉利昂该如何参与到数字经济 并成为创新中心？ 你猜怎么着？ 他辞去了 IBM 舒适的工作，现在他在我的办公室，在我们新近成立的科学、 技术和创新理事会 带领一支由年轻男女组成的团队。

09:18

(Applause)

（掌声）

09:23

That young man is right in here.

那个年轻人今天就坐在这里。

09:26

I challenged another young Sierra Leonean woman to set up and lead the new Ministry of Planning and Economic Development. She consulted widely with Sierra Leoneans and produced, in record time, the medium-term national development plan, titled, "Education For Development." We now have our national development needs in easily understandable clusters, and we can now plan our budgets, align development partner contributions and measure our own progress.

我同时也任命了另一位 年轻的塞拉利昂女性，成立并带领新的 规划和经济发展部。她广泛征求塞拉利昂人民的意见，并在创纪录的时间内 制定了题为“发展教育”的 中期国家发展计划。我们的国家发展战略需要分成 易于理解的模块，我们现在可以规划预算，协调发展伙伴的贡献，衡量我们自己的进展。

10:01

But the story of my government's flagship program is even more daring, if I can call it that. Today, three out of five adults in Sierra Leone cannot read or write. Thousands of children were not able to go to school or had dropped out of school because their parents could just not afford the $20 school fees per year. Women and girls, who constitute 51 percent of our population, were not given equal opportunity to be educated. So the obvious answer is to put in place free, quality education for every Sierra Leonean child, regardless of gender, ability or ethnicity.

但我的政府旗舰计划的进程 甚至更为大胆，请允许我这么来形容它。如今，塞拉利昂五分之三 的成年人不会阅读和写字。成千上万的孩子无法上学 或已经辍学，因为他们的父母无法支付 哪怕每年只有20美元的学费。在我国总人口中，51%是妇女和儿童，但是他们却没有得到 平等的受教育机会。因此，显而易见的答案是： 为每一个塞拉利昂儿童 提供免费、优质的教育，不论其性别、能力或种族。

10:48

(Applause)

（掌声）

10:55

Great idea you've clapped for. Right? But the only problem is we had no money to start the program.

你们对此鼓掌称赞。对吧？ 但唯一的问题是： 我们没有钱启动这个项目。

11:03

(Laughter)

(笑声)

11:04

Absolutely nothing. Development partners wanted to see data before associating with my vision. Of course, political opponents laughed at me. But I campaigned that a nation that invests in human capital development through free, quality education, affordable and high-quality health care services and food security will accelerate its national development program.

一分钱都没有。发展伙伴希望在参与计划 之前先查看数据。当然，政治对手嘲笑我。但我在竞选时表示， 一个国家通过免费优质的教育、 负担得起的高质量医疗服务 和粮食保障 对人力资本发展投资，将加速其国家发展计划。

11:35

I argued that for Sierra Leone to produce a highly skilled, innovative and productive workforce fit for the 21st century global economy, we needed to invest heavily in human capital development in Sierra Leone. But we had no money, because the previous government had virtually emptied the coffers.

我认为，要使塞拉利昂生产出 适应21世纪全球经济的 高技术、创新、高效的劳动力，我们需要对塞拉利昂的 人力资本发展进行大量投资。但我们没有钱，因为上届政府几乎掏空了国库。

11:58

We clamped down on corruption, closed up the loopholes for fraud and waste, and we watched the money build up. We successfully launched a free, quality education program in August last year, four years, four months later. Today, two million children are going to school.

我们严厉打击腐败，堵塞欺诈和浪费的漏洞，看着钱越积越多。去年8月，即四年零四个月后，我们成功地启动了 免费、优质的教育项目。如今，200万儿童将会 获得受教育的机会。

12:22

(Applause)

（掌声）

12:28

Twenty-one percent of the national budget supports free, quality education. In close collaboration and in partnership with development partners, we have now provided teaching and learning materials, safe spaces for girls, and started implementing school feeding programs across the entire country. We have even paid backlogs of salaries for teachers. Any girl admitted to university to study science, technology, engineering, mathematics and other related disciplines receives a full scholarship in Sierra Leone today.

我们将21%的国家预算用于 支持免费的素质教育。通过与发展伙伴的密切合作，我们现在提供了教学和学习材料，女孩的安全空间，并开始在整个国家 实施学校供餐计划。我们甚至还为教师 支付了拖欠已久的薪水。今天，任何一个被大学录取 学习科学、技术、 工程、数学等相关学科的女孩 都获得了塞拉利昂 的全额奖学金。

13:08

(Applause)

（掌声）

13:12

And here is why this matters: in a few years, we will have a healthier, better educated and highly skilled young population that will lead and drive the country's national development. They will be well-equipped to deploy science, technology and innovation. Then we'll attract investment in diversified areas of our economy, from tourism to fisheries and from renewable energy to manufacturing. That is my biggest bet.

这样做很重要的原因在于： 几年后，我们将拥有一个 更健康、受教育程度更高、 高技术的年轻人口，他们将领导和推动国家的发展。他们将有足够的技能，做好科技创新部署。然后，我们将在经济 的多元化领域吸引投资，从旅游业到渔业，从可再生能源到制造业。 这是我最大的赌注。

13:47

In my mind, this is what leadership is all about: a mission to listen with empathy to the craziest of ideas, the hopes and aspirations of a younger generation, who are just looking for a chance to be better and to make our country better. It is about letting them know that their dreams matter. It is about standing with them and asking, "Why not?" when they ask seemingly impossible questions. It is about exploring, making and owning a shared vision.

在我看来，这就是领导力 的全部意义所在: 我的使命是以同理心倾听 最疯狂的想法，年轻一代的希望和抱负，他们只是在寻找机会 让我们的国家变得更好。领导力的意义在于让他们知道 他们的梦想很重要； 也在于当他们问一些 看似不可能的问题时，站在他们面前，告诉他们，“大胆地试一试吧。”； 更在于探索、创造 并拥有一个共同的愿景。

14:30

The most audacious and nation-changing events or policies or even personal choices happen when we ask, "Why not?" then make bold choices and ensure those bold choices happen.

当我们问“为什么不？”时，最大胆、最能改变国家 的事件、政策甚至个人 的机会就会诞生，然后要做出大胆选择，并确保这些可能的发生。

14:47

I wake up every day believing that our country should no longer be defined by the stigma of the past. The future offers hope and opportunity for all. It matters to me that young men and women right across the country can imagine for themselves that they, too, can be and are part of the story of our nation. I want to challenge them to build a nation where three-year-olds like my daughter, Yie Amie, can grow up in good governance, quality education, health care and good infrastructure. I want our children to become young men and women who can continue nourishing the trees that will grow from the seeds that we are planting today.

我每天醒来都相信，我们的国家不应该 再被过去的耻辱所定义。未来为所有人提供了希望和机会。对我来说很重要的是，全国各地的年轻男女都可以想象，他们自己也可以成为，并且本来就是，我们国家历史的一部分。我想挑战他们，建设这个国家，让像我女儿叶艾米 这样的三岁孩子可以在 良好的社会环境、 优质的教育、 医疗保健和 良好的基础设施中成长。我希望我们的孩子们 成长为年轻的男性女性，他们能够继续滋养那些 从我们今天播种的种子中 生长出来的树木。

15:40

Now can someone tell me why we should not dare imagine that future in Sierra Leone?

现在谁能告诉我 为何我们不敢想象 塞拉利昂能有那般未来?

15:50

Thank you.

谢谢大家！

15:52

(Applause)

（掌声）