ABOUT THE SPEAKER
Laura Boushnak - Photographer
Laura Boushnak is a Kuwaiti-born Palestinian photographer whose work focuses on women, literacy and education reform in the Arab world.

Why you should listen

Boushnak's documentary project I Read I Write explores the barriers women face accessing education and the role of literacy in improving the lives of women in Egypt, Yemen, Kuwait, Jordan, Tunisia and Saudi Arabia. For the project, Boushnak encouraged women to write their thoughts on prints of their portraits, engaging them directly in the artistic process. Boushnak’s images have been widely published, and her work has been exhibited in museums and galleries around the world. She is a co-founder of Rawiya, a collective that brings together the work and experience of female photographers from the Middle East.

More profile about the speaker
Laura Boushnak | Speaker | TED.com
TEDGlobal 2014

Laura Boushnak: For these women, reading is a daring act

劳拉·布什那卡: 对于这些妇女,读书是勇敢的行为

Filmed:
919,431 views

世界上一些地区,一半的妇女不会读书写字。原因可能各种各样,但是大部分情况是因为父亲,丈夫甚至母亲不重视她们读书认字。摄影师TED会员劳拉·布什那卡,到过许多国家旅行,包括也门,埃及以及突尼斯,重点讲述了这些勇敢的妇女---女学生,政治活动者,60岁的老母亲----这些勇于对抗教条的妇女。
- Photographer
Laura Boushnak is a Kuwaiti-born Palestinian photographer whose work focuses on women, literacy and education reform in the Arab world. Full bio

Double-click the English transcript below to play the video.

00:12
As an Arab阿拉伯 female photographer摄影师,
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作为一个阿拉伯女摄影师,
00:14
I have always found发现 ample充足 inspiration灵感
for my projects项目 in personal个人 experiences经验.
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在个人经历中,我总是找到
充分的灵感,做我的项目。
00:20
The passion I developed发达 for knowledge知识,
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我培养追求知识的激情,
00:22
which哪一个 allowed允许 me to break打破 barriers障碍
towards a better life
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这种激情让我打破障碍,
迈向更美好的生活,
00:25
was the motivation动机
for my project项目 I Read I Write.
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也是我读和写,做项目的动机。
00:29
Pushed by my own拥有 experience经验,
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被自身起初
00:31
as I was not allowed允许 initially原来
to pursue追求 my higher更高 education教育,
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我不被允许追求高等教育的经历所激励,
00:35
I decided决定 to explore探索 and document文件
stories故事 of other women妇女
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我决定去探索和记录其他妇女
00:39
who changed their lives生活 through通过 education教育,
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通过接受教育,
改变生活的故事,
00:42
while exposing曝光 and questioning疑问
the barriers障碍 they face面对.
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同时揭露和探究她们面对的障碍。
00:46
I covered覆盖 a range范围 of topics主题
that concern关心 women's女士的 education教育,
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我覆盖了一系列
关注女性教育的主题
00:50
keeping保持 in mind心神 the differences分歧
among其中 Arab阿拉伯 countries国家
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并考虑到阿拉伯国家之间
00:52
due应有 to economic经济 and social社会 factors因素.
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由于经济和社会因素造成的差异。
00:55
These issues问题 include包括 female illiteracy文盲,
which哪一个 is quite相当 high in the region地区;
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这些问题包括女性文盲,
这个数量在该地区相当高;
00:59
educational教育性 reforms改革;
programs程式 for dropout退出 students学生们;
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教育的改革;对辍学学生培训项目;
01:04
and political政治 activism行动
among其中 university大学 students学生们.
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和在大学生中政治活动。
01:08
As I started开始 this work,
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当我开始这项工作
01:09
it was not always easy简单
to convince说服 the women妇女 to participate参加.
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说服妇女参与总是不容易。
01:13
Only after explaining说明 to them
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只有向她们解释
01:15
how their stories故事
might威力 influence影响 other women's女士的 lives生活,
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她们的故事可能影响其他妇女的生活,
01:18
how they would become成为 role角色 models楷模
for their own拥有 community社区, did some agree同意.
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他们可能成为社区楷模之后,一些人才认同。
01:22
Seeking a collaborative共同
and reflexive反思 approach途径,
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寻求一个合作和反思的方法,
01:26
I asked them to write
their own拥有 words and ideas思路
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我要求她们把自己的话和想法
01:29
on prints版画 of their own拥有 images图片.
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写在印有自己的图象上面。
01:31
Those images图片 were then shared共享
in some of the classrooms教室,
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这些图像在一些教室被分享,
01:34
and worked工作 to inspire启发
and motivate刺激 other women妇女
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对激发和激励其他
01:37
going through通过 similar类似 educations的教育
and situations情况.
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接受相似的教育和情形的妇女起了作用。
01:42
Aisha阿伊莎, a teacher老师 from Yemen也门, wrote,
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Aisha,来自也门
的一名教师,写到
01:45
"I sought追捧 education教育 in order订购
to be independent独立
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“我为了成为独立的人去追求教育
01:48
and to not count计数 on men男人 with everything."
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并且不把一切都依靠男人“。
01:51
One of my first subjects主题
was Umm乌姆 El-Saad埃尔 - 萨阿德 from Egypt埃及.
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最先,我的对象之一是
来自埃及的Umm El-Saad
01:55
When we first met会见, she was
barely仅仅 able能够 to write her name名称.
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当我们第一次见面,她
仅仅能写出她的名字。
01:58
She was attending出席
a nine-month九个月 literacy读写能力 program程序
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她参加了九个月
读写能力课程。
02:01
run by a local本地 NGO非政府组织 in the Cairo开罗 suburbs郊区.
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该课程由当地非政府组织在开罗郊区举办。
02:04
Months later后来, she was joking开玩笑
that her husband丈夫
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几个月后,她开玩笑说,她丈夫
02:06
had threatened受威胁 to pull her
out of the classes,
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曾威胁要把她
从学习班中辍学,
02:08
as he found发现 out that his now literate识字 wife妻子
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因为他发现,
现在他识字的妻子
02:11
was going through通过 his phone电话 text文本 messages消息.
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翻遍他的手机短信
02:13
(Laughter笑声)
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(笑声)
02:15
Naughty淘气 Umm乌姆 El-Saad埃尔 - 萨阿德.
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淘气的Umm El-Saad。
02:17
Of course课程, that's not why
Umm乌姆 El-Saad埃尔 - 萨阿德 joined加盟 the program程序.
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当然,这不是UmmEl-Saad参加这个课程的原因
02:21
I saw how she was longing渴望 to gain获得
control控制 over her simple简单 daily日常 routines例程,
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我看到,她是如何渴望掌控简单日常事务
02:26
small details细节 that we take for granted理所当然,
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以及我们认为的理所当然的一些小细节,
02:27
from counting数数 money at the market市场
to helping帮助 her kids孩子 in homework家庭作业.
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从在市场上数钱,到帮助她的孩子做作业。
02:32
Despite尽管 her poverty贫穷
and her community's社区 mindset心态,
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尽管她贫穷,并且
她社区的观念模式
02:35
which哪一个 belittles轻视 women's女士的 education教育,
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是贬低妇女的教育,
02:37
Umm乌姆 El-Saad埃尔 - 萨阿德, along沿 with
her Egyptian埃及人 classmates同学,
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Umm El-Saad, 和
她的埃及同学
02:39
was eager急于 to learn学习 how to read and write.
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是渴望学习阅读和书写的。
02:44
In Tunisia突尼斯, I met会见 Asma阿斯玛,
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在突尼斯,我遇到Asma,
02:46
one of the four activist活动家 women妇女
I interviewed采访.
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我采访的四位积极女性之一,
02:49
The secular世俗 bioengineering生物工程 student学生
is quite相当 active活性 on social社会 media媒体.
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这位世俗的生物工程学生在社交媒体上相当活跃。
02:54
Regarding关于 her country国家, which哪一个 treasured
what has been called the Arab阿拉伯 Spring弹簧,
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关于她的国家,她对
阿拉伯之春的抗议活动高度评价,
03:00
she said, "I've always dreamt梦见
of discovering发现 a new bacteria.
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她说,“我一直梦想
发现一个新的细菌。
03:03
Now, after the revolution革命,
we have a new one every一切 single day."
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革命后,现在我们
每一天有一个新细菌“
03:06
Asma阿斯玛 was referring to the rise上升
of religious宗教 fundamentalism原教旨主义 in the region地区,
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Asma提及,宗教原教旨
主义在该地区复活,
03:11
which哪一个 is another另一个 obstacle障碍
to women妇女 in particular特定.
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这尤其对妇女是另一个障碍。
03:15
Out of all the women妇女 I met会见,
Fayza法伊扎 from Yemen也门 affected受影响 me the most.
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在我遇到的所有女性中,
来自也门的Fayza影响我最多
03:20
Fayza法伊扎 was forced被迫 to drop下降 out of school学校
at the age年龄 of eight when she was married已婚.
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Fayza在8岁结婚被迫辍学,
03:25
That marriage婚姻 lasted历时 for a year.
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这段婚姻持续了一年。
03:28
At 14, she became成为 the third第三 wife妻子
of a 60-year-old-岁 man,
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在14岁时,她成为了
一个60岁男人第三任妻子,
03:32
and by the time she was 18,
she was a divorced离婚 mother母亲 of three.
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到她18岁时,她是有
三个孩子的离婚母亲。
03:37
Despite尽管 her poverty贫穷,
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不顾她的贫穷,
03:39
despite尽管 her social社会 status状态 as a divorcdivorcée
in an ultra-conservative极端保守的 society社会,
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不顾她的社会地位,作为
在极端保守社会的离婚母亲
03:44
and despite尽管 the opposition反对 of her parents父母
to her going back to school学校,
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不顾她的父母
反对她回学校,
03:48
Fayza法伊扎 knew知道 that her only way
to control控制 her life was through通过 education教育.
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Fayza知道,她唯一可以
掌控人生的途径是通过教育。
03:53
She is now 26.
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现在她26岁。
03:55
She received收到 a grant发放 from a local本地 NGO非政府组织
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她收到当地非政府组织
提供的补助金
03:57
to fund基金 her business商业 studies学习
at the university大学.
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资助她在大学学习商业。
04:00
Her goal目标 is to find a job工作,
rent出租 a place地点 to live生活 in,
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她的目标是要找一份工作,
找地方租房子住,
04:04
and bring带来 her kids孩子 back with her.
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并把她的孩子带回来
和她一起住。
04:07
The Arab阿拉伯 states状态 are going through通过
tremendous巨大 change更改,
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阿拉伯国家正在经历
翻天覆地的变化,
04:11
and the struggles斗争 women妇女 face面对
are overwhelming压倒.
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而女性面临的斗争
是势不可挡的。
04:14
Just like the women妇女 I photographed拍照,
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就像我拍摄的女性,
04:16
I had to overcome克服 many许多 barriers障碍
to becoming变得 the photographer摄影师 I am today今天,
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我必须克服许多障碍
成为今天的我,一名摄影师,
04:21
many许多 people along沿 the way
telling告诉 me what I can and cannot不能 do.
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一路走来很多人告诉我,
能做什么,不能做什么。
04:25
Umm乌姆 El-Saad埃尔 - 萨阿德, Asma阿斯玛 and Fayza法伊扎,
and many许多 women妇女 across横过 the Arab阿拉伯 world世界,
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在整个阿拉伯世界,Umm El-Saad,
Asma, Fayza和许多妇女,
04:30
show显示 that it is possible可能
to overcome克服 barriers障碍 to education教育,
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表明克服障碍,
接受教育是可能的,
04:34
which哪一个 they know is the best最好 means手段
to a better future未来.
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他们知道这是拥有美好未来的方法。
04:39
And here I would like to end结束
with a quote引用 by Yasmine亚斯曼,
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在这里,我想引用
Yasmine的话来结束
04:42
one of the four activist活动家 women妇女
I interviewed采访 in Tunisia突尼斯.
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她是我在突尼斯采访的四个积极女性之一,
04:45
Yasmine亚斯曼 wrote,
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Yasmine写道
04:47
"Question your convictions信念.
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“问一问你的信仰。
04:49
Be who you to want to be,
not who they want you to be.
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成为你想成为的人,
而不是成为他们要你成为人。
04:53
Don't accept接受 their enslavement奴役,
for your mother母亲 birthed生产经历 you free自由."
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不要接受他们的奴役,
因为你母亲让你来世上,给了你自由。
04:56
Thank you.
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谢谢
04:59
(Applause掌声)
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鼓掌
Translated by Jingyao Xue
Reviewed by Min Wang

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ABOUT THE SPEAKER
Laura Boushnak - Photographer
Laura Boushnak is a Kuwaiti-born Palestinian photographer whose work focuses on women, literacy and education reform in the Arab world.

Why you should listen

Boushnak's documentary project I Read I Write explores the barriers women face accessing education and the role of literacy in improving the lives of women in Egypt, Yemen, Kuwait, Jordan, Tunisia and Saudi Arabia. For the project, Boushnak encouraged women to write their thoughts on prints of their portraits, engaging them directly in the artistic process. Boushnak’s images have been widely published, and her work has been exhibited in museums and galleries around the world. She is a co-founder of Rawiya, a collective that brings together the work and experience of female photographers from the Middle East.

More profile about the speaker
Laura Boushnak | Speaker | TED.com