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The global challenge that I want to talk to you about today
我今天要跟大家談的全球性挑戰
rarely makes the front pages.
很少出現在頭版頭條
It, however, is enormous
但是，它影響之廣，之深，
in both scale and importance.
都不可小視。
Look, you all are very well traveled;
這里是TED全球論壇；
this is TEDGlobal after all.
相信在座各位一定去過很多地方。
But I do hope to take you to some places
但我仍希望帶你們去一些地方，
you've never been to before.
那是你們一定從沒有去過的
So, let's start off in China.
我們從中國出發
This photo was taken two weeks ago.
這張照片攝于兩周前。
Actually, one indication is that little boy on my husband's shoulders
這個騎在我丈夫肩膀上的小男孩
has just graduated from high school.
其實剛高中畢業。
But this is Tiananmen Square.
這是在天安門廣場。
Many of you have been there. It's not the real China.
你們中很多人應該都去過那兒。但那并非真正的中國。
Let me take you to the real China.
我要帶你們去看看真正的中國。
This is in the Dabian Mountains
這是在大別山，
in the remote part of Hubei province in central China.
中國中部湖北省的偏遠山區。
Dai Manju is 13 years old at the time the story starts.
故事開始的時候，戴曼君才13歲。
She lives with her parents,
她和父母一起生活，
her two brothers and her great-aunt.
還有她的兩個弟弟，和她的大姨。
They have a hut that has no electricity,
他們所住的茅屋沒有電，
no running water,
也沒有自來水，
no wristwatch, no bicycle.
沒有手表，沒有自行車。
And they share this great splendor
他們和一頭很壯實的豬，
with a very large pig.
一起住在這棟豪宅里。
Dai Manju was in sixth grade when her parents said,
戴曼君讀六年級時，她父母說：
"We're going to pull you out of school
“我們想讓你退學，
because the 13-dollar school fees are too much for us.
學費要13塊美金，對我們來說太貴了。
You're going to be spending the rest of your life in the rice paddies.
你反正要在稻田度過一生，
Why would we waste this money on you?"
我們又何必在你身上浪費錢？”
This is what happens to girls in remote areas.
偏遠山區的女孩子們處境都類似。
Turns out that Dai Manju was
事實是，
the best pupil in her grade.
戴曼君是全年級最棒的學生。
She still made the two-hour trek to the schoolhouse
每一天，她跋涉兩個小時去學校，
and tried to catch every little bit of information
恨不得抓住每一點每一滴
that seeped out of the doors.
從門縫里滲出的知識。
We wrote about her in The New York Times.
我寫了篇關于她的文章，刊登在紐約時報上。
We got a flood of donations --
捐款像洪水一般涌來--
mostly 13-dollar checks
大部分是13美金的支票，
because New York Times readers are very generous
因為紐約時報的讀者們
in tiny amounts
在小錢上特別慷慨。
but then, we got a money transfer
但是有一天，我們收到了一筆
for $10,000 --
一萬美金的轉賬--
really nice guy.
真是個善良的讀者。
We turned the money over to that man there, the principal of the school.
我們后來把錢給了那所學校的校長。
He was delighted.
他很高興。
He thought, "Oh, I can renovate the school.
他想，“我可以翻修學校了。
I can give scholarships to all the girls,
我還可以給那些女孩子發獎學金。”
you know, if they work hard and stay in school.
只要她們愿意繼續努力讀書。
So Dai Manju basically
因此戴曼君
finished out middle school.
完成了初中學業。
She went to high school.
她接著讀了高中。
She went to vocational school for accounting.
她利用假期學了會計。
She scouted for jobs down in Guangdong province in the south.
她在中國南部的廣州省求職。
She found a job, she scouted for jobs
她找到了工作，
for her classmates and her friends.
也為她的同學和朋友找到了工作。
She sent money back to her family.
她寄錢回家。
They built a new house,
他們蓋了新房子，
this time with running water,
用上了自來水，
electricity, a bicycle,
通了電，買了自行車，
no pig.
不過沒有豬了。
What we saw was a natural experiment.
這一切都是真實而自然地發生的。
It is rare to get an exogenous investment
很少女孩子
in girls' education.
能得到一筆額外的教育投資。
And over the years, as we followed Dai Manju, we were able to see
這些年我們一直關注著戴曼君，
that she was able to move out of a vicious cycle
我們欣慰地看到她走出世代的惡循環
and into a virtuous cycle.
開創了自己的新生活。
She not only changed her own dynamic,
這遠非是她一個人的改變，
she changed her household, she changed her family, her village.
整個家族，整個村莊都因她而改變了。
The village became a real standout.
這個村子后來成為了遠近聞名的模范村。
Of course, most of China was flourishing at the time,
當然了，那段時間整個中國都是一派繁榮景象。
but they were able to get a road built
這個村子建了一條公路，
to link them up to the rest of China.
從此與外界相通。
