Ted英语演讲：贫困，金钱与爱byJessicaJackleydoc.doc

1、 国际海员服务中心网 http:/ 国际海员服务中心网 http:/ Ted 英语演讲：贫困，金钱与爱 by Jessica Jackley你是怎么看待穷人的呢？也许杰西卡的经历证明：穷人需要的仅是我们的滴水之恩。KIVA网站创始人讲述了，她对穷人态度的改变和她在小额贷款方面所做的努力。这些努力给生活质量徘徊在贫困线的人们带来了新的力量。Jessica Jackley: Poverty, money - and love 英语演讲稿：The stories we tell about each other matter very much. The stories we tell oursel

2、ves about our own lives matter. And most of all, I think the way that we participate in each others stories is of deep importance. I was six years old when I first heard stories about the poor. Now I didnt hear those stories from the poor themselves, I heard them from my Sunday school teacher and Je

3、sus, kind of via my Sunday school teacher. I remember learning that people who were poor needed something material - food, clothing, shelter - that they didnt have. And I also was taught, coupled with that, that it was my job - this classroom full of five and six year-old children - it was our job,

4、apparently, to help. This is what Jesus asked of us. And then he said, “What you do for the least of these, you do for me.“ Now I was pretty psyched. I was very eager to be useful in the world - I think we all have that feeling. And also, it was kind of interesting that God needed help. That was new

5、s to me, and it felt like it was a very important thing to get to participate in.国际海员服务中心网 http:/ 国际海员服务中心网 http:/ But I also learned very soon thereafter that Jesus also said, and Im paraphrasing, the poor would always be with us. This frustrated and confused me; I felt like I had been just given a

6、 homework assignment that I had to do, and I was excited to do, but no matter what I would do, I would fail. So I felt confused, a little bit frustrated and angry, like maybe Id misunderstood something here. And I felt overwhelmed. And for the first time, I began to fear this group of people and to

7、feel negative emotion towards a whole group of people. I imagined in my head, a kind of long line of individuals that were never going away, that would always be with us. They were always going to ask me to help them and give them things, which I was excited to do, but I didnt know how it was going

8、to work. And I didnt know what would happen when I ran out of things to give, especially if the problem was never going away. In the years following, the other stories I heard about the poor growing up were no more positive. For example, I saw pictures and images frequently of sadness and suffering.

9、 I heard about things that were going wrong in the lives of the poor. I heard about disease, I heard about war - they always seemed to be kind of related. And in general, I got this sort of idea that the poor in the world lived lives that were wrought with suffering and sadness, devastation, hopeles

10、sness.And after a while, I developed what I think many of us do, is this predictable response, where I started to feel bad every time I heard about them. I started to feel guilty for my own relative wealth, because I wasnt doing more, apparently, to make things better. And I even felt a sense of sha

11、me because of that. And so 国际海员服务中心网 http:/ 国际海员服务中心网 http:/ naturally, I started to distance myself. I stopped listening to their stories quite as closely as I had before. And I stopped expecting things to really change. Now I still gave - on the outside it looked like I was still quite involved. I

12、 gave of my time and my money, I gave when solutions were on sale. The cost of a cup of coffee can save a childs life, right. I mean who can argue with that? I gave when I was cornered, when it was difficult to avoid and I gave, in general, when the negative emotions built up enough that I gave to r

13、elieve my own suffering, not someone elses. The truth be told, I was giving out of that place, not out of a genuine place of hope and excitement to help and of generosity. It became a transaction for me, became sort of a trade. I was purchasing something - I was buying my right to go on with my day

14、and not necessarily be bothered by this bad news. And I think the way that we go through that sometimes can, first of all, disembody a group of people, individuals out there in the world. And it can also turn into a commodity, which is a very scary thing. So as I did this, and as I think many of us

15、do this, we kind of buy our distance, we kind of buy our right to go on with our day. I think that exchange can actually get in the way of the very thing that we want most. It can get in the way of our desire to really be meaningful and useful in another persons life and, in short to love.Thankfully

16、, a few years ago, things shifted for me because I heard this gentleman speak, Dr. Muhammad Yunus. I know many in the room probably know exactly who he is, but to give the shorthand version for any who have not heard him speak, Dr. Yunus won the Nobel Peace Prize a few years ago for his work 国际海员服务中

17、心网 http:/ 国际海员服务中心网 http:/ pioneering modern microfinance. When I heard him speak, it was three years before that. But basically, microfinance - if this is new to you as well - think of that as financial services for the poor. Think of all the things you get at your bank and imagine those products a

18、nd services tailored to the needs of someone living on a few dollars a day. Dr. Yunus shared his story, explaining what that was, and what he had done with his Grameen Bank. He also talked about, in particular, microlending, which is a tiny loan that could help someone start or grow a business. Now,

19、 when I heard him speak, it was exciting for a number of reasons. First and foremost, I learned about this new method of change in the world that, for once, showed me, maybe, a way to interact with someone and to give, to share of a resource in a way that wasnt weird and didnt make me feel bad - tha

20、t was exciting. But more importantly, he told stories about the poor that were different than any stories I had heard before. In fact, those individuals he talked about who were poor was sort of a side note. He was talking about strong, smart, hardworking entrepreneurs who woke up every day and were

21、 doing things to make their lives and their familys lives better. All they needed to do that more quickly and to do it better was a little bit of capital. It was an amazing sort of insight for me.And I, in fact, was so deeply moved by this - its hard to express now how much that affected me - but I

22、was so moved that I actually quit my job a few weeks later, and I moved to East Africa to try to see for myself what this was about. For the first time, actually, in a long time I wanted to meet those individuals, I 国际海员服务中心网 http:/ 国际海员服务中心网 http:/ wanted to meet these entrepreneurs, and see for my

23、self what their lives were actually about. So I spent three months in Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania interviewing entrepreneurs that had received 100 dollars to start or grow a business. And in fact, through those interactions, for the first time, I was starting to get to be friends with some of those p

24、eople in that big amorphous group out there that was supposed to be far away. I was starting to be friends and get to know their personal stories. And over and over again, as I interviewed them and spent my days with them, I did hear stories of life change and amazing little details of change.So I w

25、ould hear from goat herders who had used that money that they had received to buy a few more goats. Their business trajectory would change. They would make a little bit more money; their standard of living would shift and would get better. And they would make really interesting little adjustments in

26、 their lives, like they would start to send their children to school. They might be able to buy mosquito nets. Maybe they could afford a lock for the door and feel secure. Maybe it was just that they could put sugar in their tea and offer that to me when I came as their guest and that made them feel

27、 proud. But there were these beautiful details, even if I talked to 20 goat herders in a row, and some days thats what happened - these beautiful details of life change that were meaningful to them. That was another thing that really touched me. It was really humbling to see for the first time, to r

28、eally understand that even if I could have taken a magic wand and fixed everything, I probably would have gotten a lot wrong. Because the 国际海员服务中心网 http:/ 国际海员服务中心网 http:/ best way for people to change their lives is for them to have control and to do that in a way that they believe is best for them

29、. So I saw that and it was very humbling.Anyway, another interesting thing happened while I was there. I never once was asked for a donation, which had kind of been my mode, right. Theres poverty, you give money to help - no one asked me for a donation. In fact, no one wanted me to feel bad for them

30、 at all. If anything, they just wanted to be able to do more of what they were doing already and to build on their own capabilities. So what I did hear, once in a while, was that people wanted a loan - I thought that sounded very reasonable and really exciting. And by the way, I was a philosophy and

31、 poetry major in school, so I didnt know the difference between profit and revenue when I went to East Africa. I just got this impression that the money would work. And my introduction to business was in these $100 little infuses of capital. And I learned about profit and revenue, about leverage, al

32、l sorts of things, from farmers, from seamstresses, from goat herders. So this idea that these new stories of business and hope might be shared with my friends and family, and through that, maybe we could get some of the money that they needed to be able to continue their businesses as loans, thats

33、this little idea that turned into Kiva.A few months later, I went back to Uganda with a digital camera and a basic website that my partner, Matthew, and I had kind of built, and took pictures of seven of my new friends, posted their stories, these stories of entrepreneurship, 国际海员服务中心网 http:/ 国际海员服务

34、中心网 http:/ up on the website, spammed friends and family and said, “We think this is legal. Havent heard back yet from SEC on all the details, but do you say, do you want to help participate in this, provide the money that they need?“ The money came in basically overnight. We sent it over to Uganda.

35、 And over the next six months, a beautiful thing happened; the entrepreneurs received the money, they were paid, and their businesses, in fact, grew, and they were able to support themselves and change the trajectory of their lives. In October of 05, after those first seven loans were paid, Matt and

36、 I took the word beta off of the site. We said, “Our little experiment has been a success. Lets start for real.“ That was our official launch. And then that first year, October 05 through 06, Kiva facilitated $500,000 in loans. The second year, it was a total of 15 million. The third year, the total

37、 was up to around 40. The fourth year, we were just short of 100. And today, less than five years in, Kivas facilitated more than 150 million dollars, in little 25-dollar bits, from lenders and entrepreneurs - more than a million of those, collectively in 200 countries.So thats where Kiva is today,

38、just to bring you right up to the present. And while those numbers and those statistics are really fun to talk about and theyre interesting, to me, Kivas really about stories. Its about retelling the story of the poor, and its about giving ourselves an opportunity to engage that validates their dign

39、ity, validates a partnership relationship, not a relationship thats based on the traditional sort of donor beneficiary weirdness that can happen. But instead a relationship that can promote respect and hope and this optimism that together 国际海员服务中心网 http:/ 国际海员服务中心网 http:/ we can move forward. So wha

40、t I hope is that, not only can the money keep flowing forth through Kiva - thats a very positive and meaningful thing - but I hope Kiva can blur those lines, like I said, between the traditional rich and poor categories that were taught to see in the world, this false dichotomy of us and them, have

41、and have not. I hope that Kiva can blur those lines. Because as that happens, I think we can feel free to interact in a way thats more open, more just and more creative, to engage with each other and to help each other.Imagine how you feel when you see somebody on street who is begging and youre abo

42、ut to approach them. Imagine how you feel; and then imagine the difference when you might see somebody who has a story of entrepreneurship and hard work who wants to tell you about their business. Maybe theyre smiling, and they want to talk to you about what theyve done. Imagine if youre speaking wi

43、th somebody whos growing things and making them flourish, somebody whos using their talents to do something productive, somebody whos built their own business from scratch, someone who is surrounded by abundance, not scarcity, whos in fact creating abundance, somebody with full hands with something

44、to offer, not empty hands asking for you to give them something. Imagine if you could hear a story you didnt expect of somebody who wakes up every day and works very, very hard to make their life better. These stories can really change the way that we think about each other. And if we can catalyze a

45、 supportive community to come around these individuals and to participate in their story by 国际海员服务中心网 http:/ 国际海员服务中心网 http:/ lending a little bit of money, I think that can change the way we believe in each other and each others potential.Now for me, Kiva is just the beginning. And as I look forwar

46、d to what is next, its been helpful to reflect on the things Ive learned so far. The first one is, as I mentioned, entrepreneurship was a new idea to me. Kiva borrowers, as I interviewed them and got to know them over the last few years, have taught me what entrepreneurship is. And I think, at its c

47、ore, its deciding that you want your life to be better. You see an opportunity and you decide what youre going to do to try to seize that. In short, its deciding that tomorrow can better than today and going after that. Second thing that Ive learned is that loans are a very interesting tool for conn

48、ectivity. So theyre not a donation. Yeah, maybe it doesnt sound that much different. But in fact, when you give something to someone and they say, “Thanks,“ and let you know how things go, thats one thing. When you lend them money, and they slowly pay you back over time, you have this excuse to have an ongoing dialogue. This continued attention - this ongoing attention - is a really big deal to build differ