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The global challenge that I want to talk to you about today
我今天要跟大家谈的全球性挑战
rarely makes the front pages.
很少出现在头版头条
It, however, is enormous
但是，它影响之广，之深，
in both scale and importance.
都不可小视。
Look, you all are very well traveled;
这里是TED全球论坛；
this is TEDGlobal after all.
相信在座各位一定去过很多地方。
But I do hope to take you to some places
但我仍希望带你们去一些地方，
you've never been to before.
那是你们一定从没有去过的
So, let's start off in China.
我们从中国出发
This photo was taken two weeks ago.
这张照片摄于两周前。
Actually, one indication is that little boy on my husband's shoulders
这个骑在我丈夫肩膀上的小男孩
has just graduated from high school.
其实刚高中毕业。
But this is Tiananmen Square.
这是在天安门广场。
Many of you have been there. It's not the real China.
你们中很多人应该都去过那儿。但那并非真正的中国。
Let me take you to the real China.
我要带你们去看看真正的中国。
This is in the Dabian Mountains
这是在大别山，
in the remote part of Hubei province in central China.
中国中部湖北省的偏远山区。
Dai Manju is 13 years old at the time the story starts.
故事开始的时候，戴曼君才13岁。
She lives with her parents,
她和父母一起生活，
her two brothers and her great-aunt.
还有她的两个弟弟，和她的大姨。
They have a hut that has no electricity,
他们所住的茅屋没有电，
no running water,
也没有自来水，
no wristwatch, no bicycle.
没有手表，没有自行车。
And they share this great splendor
他们和一头很壮实的猪，
with a very large pig.
一起住在这栋豪宅里。
Dai Manju was in sixth grade when her parents said,
戴曼君读六年级时，她父母说：
"We're going to pull you out of school
“我们想让你退学，
because the 13-dollar school fees are too much for us.
学费要13块美金，对我们来说太贵了。
You're going to be spending the rest of your life in the rice paddies.
你反正要在稻田度过一生，
Why would we waste this money on you?"
我们又何必在你身上浪费钱？”
This is what happens to girls in remote areas.
偏远山区的女孩子们处境都类似。
Turns out that Dai Manju was
事实是，
the best pupil in her grade.
戴曼君是全年级最棒的学生。
She still made the two-hour trek to the schoolhouse
每一天，她跋涉两个小时去学校，
and tried to catch every little bit of information
恨不得抓住每一点每一滴
that seeped out of the doors.
从门缝里渗出的知识。
We wrote about her in The New York Times.
我写了篇关于她的文章，刊登在纽约时报上。
We got a flood of donations --
捐款像洪水一般涌来--
mostly 13-dollar checks
大部分是13美金的支票，
because New York Times readers are very generous
因为纽约时报的读者们
in tiny amounts
在小钱上特别慷慨。
but then, we got a money transfer
但是有一天，我们收到了一笔
for $10,000 --
一万美金的转账--
really nice guy.
真是个善良的读者。
We turned the money over to that man there, the principal of the school.
我们后来把钱给了那所学校的校长。
He was delighted.
他很高兴。
He thought, "Oh, I can renovate the school.
他想，“我可以翻修学校了。
I can give scholarships to all the girls,
我还可以给那些女孩子发奖学金。”
you know, if they work hard and stay in school.
只要她们愿意继续努力读书。
So Dai Manju basically
因此戴曼君
finished out middle school.
完成了初中学业。
She went to high school.
她接着读了高中。
She went to vocational school for accounting.
她利用假期学了会计。
She scouted for jobs down in Guangdong province in the south.
她在中国南部的广州省求职。
She found a job, she scouted for jobs
她找到了工作，
for her classmates and her friends.
也为她的同学和朋友找到了工作。
She sent money back to her family.
她寄钱回家。
They built a new house,
他们盖了新房子，
this time with running water,
用上了自来水，
electricity, a bicycle,
通了电，买了自行车，
no pig.
不过没有猪了。
What we saw was a natural experiment.
这一切都是真实而自然地发生的。
It is rare to get an exogenous investment
很少女孩子
in girls' education.
能得到一笔额外的教育投资。
And over the years, as we followed Dai Manju, we were able to see
这些年我们一直关注着戴曼君，
that she was able to move out of a vicious cycle
我们欣慰地看到她走出世代的恶循环
and into a virtuous cycle.
开创了自己的新生活。
She not only changed her own dynamic,
这远非是她一个人的改变，
she changed her household, she changed her family, her village.
整个家族，整个村庄都因她而改变了。
The village became a real standout.
这个村子后来成为了远近闻名的模范村。
Of course, most of China was flourishing at the time,
当然了，那段时间整个中国都是一派繁荣景象。
but they were able to get a road built
这个村子建了一条公路，
to link them up to the rest of China.
从此与外界相通。
