Chika Ezeanya-Esiobu: How Africa can use its traditional knowledge to make progress
奇卡依珊亞依西歐布: 非洲如何用自身的傳統知識來取得進展
Working across disciplines, Chika Ezeanya-Esiobu explores homegrown and grassroots approaches to the sustainable advancement of Sub-Saharan Africa. Full bio
Double-click the English transcript below to play the video.
I was visiting this East African city,
一個東非的城市,
approaches my window
to spread it on the floor
and I quickly grabbed a copy,
所以我很快就買了一份,
the alphabet sheet
to teach my daughter.
來教我女兒字母了。
reminded me of the fact
我想起了一件事實,
out of a similar alphabet sheet.
類似的字母表在學習的。
I struggled for years.
with the formal education I received
I looked at my lineage with disrespect.
是帶著輕蔑的。
for what my life had to offer around me.
我非常沒耐心去了解。
(註:蘋果 apple 是 A 開頭)
in that part of the world
with her mom and sees red,
of all shapes and colors and sizes.
形狀、顏色、大小的蘋果。
education to this child
functions of education,
of the learner's environment
in order to add value.
進一步探索,來增加價值。
with brown dots, you know,
上面有褐色斑點,你知道的,
warehouses, sorting --
旅程、倉儲、分類,
would not regularly feature
with "A is for apple,"
來讓我接觸教育,
to constantly and perpetually seek
經常地且無止境地
within it and with it.
it would be tough for anyone.
對任何人來說都是。
from my education.
discovered the Niger River.
發現了尼日河。
of the Niger River.
thousands of miles from Europe
從歐洲跋涉數千英哩,
right under their nose?
was preparing me to go somewhere else
是準備將來為我所用,去別處,
environment that it belonged to.
where and when I grew up.
and some studies
a change of mindset.
of the remarkable ones with us.
in Washington, DC
with the World Bank Africa Region.
非洲地區的顧問職位。
a conversation on some project,
World Bank project,
世界銀行專案計畫,
that cost millions of dollars
wasn't so sustainable,
that instituted the whole package.
a particular project,
that was hugely successful
專案計畫失敗的地方,
計畫卻大為成功。
where the World Bank project was failing.
and 20- to 30-centimeter-deep holes
20~30 公分深的洞,
around the field,
across the surface area.
that the plant needs the water.
as much water as needed
that is a life-or-death situation,
were used in the experiment,
constructed on it.
also were planted on both plots.
of millet per hectare.
of millet per hectare.
and I looked at myself.
agriculture for 12 years,
as we say in East Africa,
是從小學到中學六年,
African knowledge of cultivation --
and actually succeed,
would struggle to succeed.
卻苦苦掙扎,難以在非洲成功。
to dedicate my life, concern my life work,
將我的一生致力於
on Africa's own knowledge system
for its mainstreaming
主流教育、學術、
and experience I had at the bank
of where I was going to go,
算是做出了終於決定,
research to go into,
並不能幫我賺大錢,
that he likes to go to Africa
他喜歡去非洲
and to work on World Bank projects.
及處理世界銀行的專案計畫。
and my project proposal in Washington, DC,
貸款文件及專案計畫提案書,
just get signed.
然後我就可以回基地了。
"I hate going to Asia or ..."
Asia and some of these countries.
亞洲,及其中一些國家。
to get the best deal for their countries.
他們國家拿到最好的合同。
that clause will not work for us
It's just so Western.'
we have enough experts
喔,我們有足夠的專家
through all these things.
yes, they get the best deal,
他們拿到了最好的合同,
the best deal for the bank,
為銀行拿到最好的合同,
a loan negotiating session
positions during summer,
with the World Bank team,
和世界銀行團隊一起旅行,
with organizational matters.
the negotiating session.
with me from Washington, DC.
華盛頓特區的歐美裔人士。
at my African brothers and sisters.
那邊坐的是我的非洲兄弟姐妹。
they had anything to offer
of Mungo Park --
「蘋果」的擁有者。
"Oh, just give us, let us sign.
給我們就好,讓我們簽。
Show us, let us sign."
指出來,我們簽字。」
They didn't believe in themselves.
on Africa's knowledge system,
traditional knowledge.
has been implemented in Africa,
少數非洲案例中,
successes recorded.
judicial system
傳統司法審判體制,
was in shambles:
hundreds of thousands of genocide cases.
成千上百的大屠殺案件。
came up with this idea
judicial system known as Gacaca.
司法審判體制,加卡卡。
judicial system,
的司法審判體制,
within these communities.
犯下的犯罪案件。
its trial of genocide cases in 2012,
大屠殺案件的審理,
had tried approximately 1.2 million cases.
審理完了近 120 萬件案件。
Rwanda's traditional philosophy
強調盧安達的傳統哲學,
punitive and banishment idea
that it really emphasized
只是說加卡卡真的很強調
Africa's advancement,
validation and mainstreaming
讓大多數人接受
original, indigenous knowledge
原始、本土的知識,
in policy making and across sectors.
及跨各部門都要這麼做。
used to being told how to think,
因為他們習慣了被告知
如何養成習慣,
to the intellectual guidance
to make progress.
of Joseph Shabalala,
Ladysmith Black Mambazo.
雷村黑斧合唱團的創辦人。
can never, ever be greater
on our reality and our knowledge.
我們的現實和知識上。
ABOUT THE SPEAKER
Chika Ezeanya-Esiobu - Indigenous knowledge expertWorking across disciplines, Chika Ezeanya-Esiobu explores homegrown and grassroots approaches to the sustainable advancement of Sub-Saharan Africa.
Why you should listen
Chika Ezeanya-Esiobu is convinced of the ability of Africans to transform the continent by acknowledging the significance of its indigenous knowledge in all fields of human endeavor. A researcher, fiction and non-fiction writer, public intellectual and teacher, Ezeanya-Esiobu has published several research papers on aspects of Africa's indigenous knowledge. She has also been commissioned to conduct indigenous knowledge-based research by the International Development Research Center Canada, United Nations University World Institute for Development Economics Research,(UNU-WIDER) United Nations Research Institute for Social Development (UNRISD) and The Swedish International Development Agency (Sida), among others.
Ezeanya-Esiobu is the author of the historical fiction book Before We Set Sail. In its manuscript form, Before We Set Sail was one of six shortlisted out of over 250 submissions, made to the Penguin Publishers Award for African Writing in 2010. Following her TEDGlobal 2017 talk, Ezeanya-Esiobu shared an alphabet book series she had written for her daughter: Dr. Chika's ABC for the African Child (2017).
Ezeanya-Esiobu has lived and worked in four countries across three continents, and through her travels she has learned to value integrity, dignity, respect for self and others ... to be open to knowledge, to be happy and to smile a lot with her heart. Her lifetime passion is to contribute to efforts that would see to the unleashing of the suppressed creative and innovative energies buried deep in the hearts and minds of all Africans. She blogs at chikaforafrica.com.
Chika Ezeanya-Esiobu | Speaker | TED.com