扶輪和平獎學生訴說她的故事

Rotary Peace Fellow tells her story  

(本文下載pdf.檔)

Kelly Nicholls as told to Stephen Yafa

The Rotarian -- September 2010

3520地區2004-05年度文化大使獎學生簡秀芬(Mimi Chien)譯

面對哥倫比亞人權鬥士之前，我正在計程車往議會作證的路上，我第一次在美國國會聽取意見，並十分不安。

I was in a taxi on the way to testify before Congress on the situation facing Colombia’s human rights defenders, the first time I was to appear before a congressional hearing, and I had the jitters.

我轉而面對我的哥倫比亞同事-捍衛哥倫比亞40年內戰的受害者超過40年的人權律師，並詢問他是否也覺得緊張。

I turned to my Colombian colleague – a human rights lawyer with two decades of experience backing the victims of Colombia's 40-year war – and asked if he felt anxious too.

「讓我緊張的是意見聽取會後即將回到哥倫比亞以及可以繼續做甚麼的事。」他答道。

“What makes me nervous is the thought of returning to Colombia after these hearings and what could follow,” he responded.

在那個時刻，他總結了我擔任哥倫比亞美國獨立辦公室執行長以及華盛頓特區提倡人權的工作挑戰。如果不是2005-07年度我獲得扶輪世界和平獎學金，這一切都不可能發生。

In that moment, he summed up the challenge of my job as executive director of the independent U.S. Office on Colombia and as an advocate in Washington, D.C., defending human rights workers. None of it would have been possible without the Rotary Peace Fellowship I was awarded for 2005-07.

當時我剛結束在亞馬遜河流域厄瓜多及墨西哥契亞帕斯的原住民社區的工作回來，並希望能夠促進和平與解決衝突，但是我不知道如果沒有碩士學歷該如何繼續。之後我在牛津饑荒救濟委員會遇到一個人，他告訴我有關扶輪世界和平中心的計畫。由於我是澳洲人，我聯繫了雪梨的Roseville Chase扶輪社，一個月後，我獲選為50位獎學金的受獎人。

I’d just returned from working with indigenous communities in the Ecuadorian Amazon and Chiapas, Mexico, and wanted to promote peace and conflict resolution, but had no idea how to move forward without a master’s degree. Then a person I met while volunteering for Oxfam told me about the Rotary Peace Centers program. Being Australian, I contacted the Rotary Club of Roseville Chase, in a suburb of Sydney, and a few months later, I was selected as one of 50 fellowship recipients.

這個計畫引領我到英國的布雷得佛大學學習解決國際衝突，主修斡旋及政治。在那兒我認識了幾個好朋友-她們有兩人還到澳洲參加了我的婚禮。我學習到人權研究、拉丁美洲及非洲區域政治、國內流離失所、宗教及解決衝突。

The program brought me to the University of Bradford in the United Kingdom to study international conflict resolution where I focused on mediation and politics. I developed friendships with other fellows – two of them came to Australia for my wedding. I was able to research human rights, regional politics in Latin America and Africa, internal displacement, religion, and conflict resolution.

很幸運的我能夠與聯合國少數問題的獨立專家共同研究原本的申請領域-這是扶輪世界和平獎學金的要求。我調查到哥倫比亞黑人被虐待，是受到衝突的影響，尤其是來自被迫流離失所者。

I was fortunate to do my applied field experience – a requirement of the Rotary Peace Fellowship – with the United Nations independent expert on minority issues. I examined human rights abuses against Afro-Colombians, who have been disproportionally affected by conflict, especially by forced displacement.

畢業三年後的現在，我遇見過年輕的女士給我看她們的結婚照片，就像我自己的結婚照一樣。唯一不同的是她們的丈夫都過世了，被武裝部隊所殺並將屍體喬裝成游擊隊在戰鬥中喪身。自2007年1月至2008年7月，每天約有一人遭到武裝部隊謀殺。

Now, three years after graduating, I’ve met with young women who have shown me their wedding photos, much like my own. The difference is that their husbands are dead, murdered by the armed forces and later dressed up to look like enemy guerrillas killed in combat. Between January 2007 and July 2008, nearly one person a day was murdered by the armed forces.

這些努力引起了國際關注，讓政府過濾掉一些軍官及官員。我在哥倫比亞的美國辦公室曾強烈要求資深歐巴馬政府官員及國會議員對哥倫比亞領導人施壓，要求停止這種致命的濫用的特權。我們已可降低「非正式處決」的人數。我們也協助說服哥國政府擺脫超過50個惡棍軍官及高階軍官所組成的武裝部隊，並開設全軍隊人權的課程。

Efforts to bring international attention to this have forced the government to purge some officers and officials. In my position at the U.S. Office on Colombia, I have met with senior Obama administration officials and members of Congress to urge them to pressure Colombian leaders to end the lethal abuse of power. We’ve been able to reduce the number of “extrajudicial executions.” We’ve also helped persuade the country’s government to rid the armed forces of over 50 rogue officers and senior officials, and to establish an armywide human rights curriculum.

要做我目前所做的事需要承諾，但是也需要訓練，那就是我的扶輪和平獎學金所啟動的。在布拉德福大學的兩年我學到很多能夠執行的知識。如果沒有那樣的準備，我不確定我能夠在有這樣複雜與根深蒂固衝突的國家有任何進展。

Doing what I do takes commitment, but it also requires training. That’s where my Rotary Peace Fellowship kicked in. I learned so much from my two years at Bradford that I’ve been able to put to use. Without that preparation, I’m not sure I would have been able to make any headway at all in a country with such complex and entrenched conflict.

在意見聽取會後，我的哥倫比亞同事對我說，「你知道你們扶輪社的組織讓我們能夠繼續幫助哥倫比亞難民有多重要嗎?」做這一行，是很難衡量有多成功的，計算數字好像也沒多重大的關係。只要能救一個人，一切就值得了。

After the congressional hearing, my Colombian colleague said to me, “Do you have any idea how important the work is that your organization is doing to allow us to continue to help Colombian victims?” In this line of work, it’s hard to measure success, and calculating numbers doesn’t seem all that relevant. Saving one person makes it worthwhile.