They can heal

字詞是很重要的。

and they can kill ...

它們能治癒，

yet, they have a limit.

它們也能殺戮……

When I was in eighth grade,

然而，它們也有極限。

my teacher gave me a vocabulary sheet

我讀八年級的時候，

with the word "genocide."

我的老師給我一張字彙表，

I hated it.

上面有「種族滅絕」這個詞。

The word genocide is clinical ...

我很恨它。

overgeneral ...

種族滅絕這個詞是無情的……

bloodless ...

過度概推的……

dehumanizing.

殘酷冷血的……

No word

毫無人性化可言的。

can describe

沒有字詞

what this does to a nation.

能夠描述

You need to know,

它對一個國家做了什麼。

in this kind of war,

你們要知道，

husbands kills wives,

在這種戰爭中，

wives kill husbands,

丈夫會殺死妻子，

neighbors and friends kill each other.

妻子會殺死丈夫，

Someone

鄰居和朋友殺害彼此。

in power

某個

says,

有權的人

"Those over there ...

說：

they don't belong.

「那邊的那些人……

They're not human."

他們不屬於這裡。

And people believe it.

他們不是人。」

I don't want words

而大家就相信了。

to describe this kind of behavior.

我不想要用任何詞

I want words to stop it.

來描述這種行為。

But where are the words to stop this?

我想要用字詞來阻止它的發生。

And how do we find the words?

但能用來阻止它的語言在哪裡？

But I believe, truly, we have to keep trying.

我們要如何找到那些字詞？

I was born in Kigali, Rwanda.

但我真心相信， 我們得要持續嘗試。

I felt loved by my entire family

我出生於盧安達的基加利。

and my neighbors.

我感受到我全家人的愛，

I was constantly being teased by everybody,

及我鄰居對我的愛。

especially my two older siblings.

我常常被每個人戲弄，

When I lost my front tooth,

特別是兩位比我年長的手足。

my brother looked at me and said,

當我的門牙掉下來時，

"Oh, it has happened to you, too?

我哥哥看著我，說：

It will never grow back."

「喔，你也遇到這狀況了？

(Laughter)

它永遠不會長回來。」

I enjoyed playing everywhere,

（笑聲）

especially my mother's garden and my neighbor's.

我很享受到處玩耍，

I loved my kindergarten.

特別是去我媽媽的花園 和鄰居的花園裡玩。

We sang songs,

我很愛我的幼稚園。

we played everywhere

我們會唱歌，

and ate lunch.

我們到處玩耍，

I had a childhood

吃午餐。

that I would wish for anyone.

我擁有的童年，

But when I was six,

是我希望大家都能擁有的。

the adults in my family began to speak in whispers

但當我六歲時，

and shushed me any time that I asked a question.

我家中的成人們開始竊竊私語，

One night,

當我問問題時就叫我安靜。

my mom and dad came.

有天晚上，

They had this strange look when they woke us.

我媽媽和爸爸來了。

They sent my older sister Claire and I to our grandparent's,

他們叫醒我們時，表情很奇怪。

hoping whatever was happening would blow away.

他們把我姐姐克萊兒和我 送到我們的祖父母家，

Soon we had to escape from there, too.

希望不論發生什麼事都會煙消雲散。

We hid,

很快我們也得逃離那裡。

we crawled,

我們躲藏，

we sometimes ran.

我們匍匐，

Sometimes I heard laughter

有時我們快跑。

and then screaming and crying

有時，我聽見笑聲，

and then noise that I had never heard.

接著是尖叫聲和哭聲，

You see,

接著是我從來沒有聽過的噪音。

I did not know

是這樣的，

what those noises were.

我當時不知道

They were neither human --

那些噪音是什麼。

and also at the same time, they were human.

它們不是人類的聲音──

I saw people who were not breathing.

但同時，它們又是人類的聲音。

I thought they were asleep.

我看到沒有呼吸的人，

I still didn't understand what death was,

我以為他們在沉睡。

or killing in itself.

我當時並不了解死亡是什麼，

When we would stop to rest for a little bit

或者殺戮是什麼。

or search for food,

當我們停下來休息一下，

I would close my eyes,

或是尋找食物時，

hoping when I opened them,

我會閉上我的眼睛，

I would be awake.

希望當我睜開眼睛時，

I had no idea which direction was home.

我會醒來。

Days were for hiding

我不知道哪個方向才是家。

and night for walking.

白天要躲藏，

You go from a person who's away from home

晚上才能行走。

to a person with no home.

你會從一個遠離家的人，

The place that is supposed to want you

變成一個沒有家的人。

has pushed you out,

應該要接納你的那個地方，

and no one takes you in.

把你趕出來，

You are unwanted

沒有人肯收留你。

by anyone.

沒有人

You are a refugee.

想要你。

From age six to 12,

你是個難民。

I lived in seven different countries,

從六歲到十二歲，

moving from one refugee camp to another,

我住過七個不同的國家，

hoping we would be wanted.

從一個難民營搬到另一個，

My older sister Claire,

希望會有人要我們。

she became a young mother ...

我姐姐克萊兒，

and a master at getting things done.

她成了年輕的母親……

When I was 12,

以及是個能把各種事物都搞定的大師。

I came to America with Claire and her family on refugee status.

我十二歲時，

And that's only the beginning,

我和克萊兒及她的家人 以難民的身份來到美國。

because even though I was 12 years old,

那只是開端，

sometimes I felt like three years old

因為，即使我當時十二歲，

and sometimes 50 years old.

有時我感覺自己才三歲，

My past receded,

有時卻是五十歲。

grew jumbled,

我的過去變淡了，

distorted.

變混亂了，

Everything was too much

變扭曲了。

and nothing.

一切都難以承受，

Time seemed like pages torn out of a book

卻又微不足道。

and scattered everywhere.

時間就像是從書上撕下來的頁面，

This still happens to me standing right here.

散在各處。

After I got to America,

就連我現在站在這裡， 都還有這種感覺。

Claire and I did not talk about our past.

在我到了美國之後，

In 2006,

克萊兒和我避而不談我們的過去。

after 12 years

2006 年，

being separated away from my family,

我與我的家人

and then seven years knowing that they were dead

分離了十二年，

and them thinking that we were dead,

知道他們已經死亡了七年，

we reunited ...

他們也以為我死了，

in the most dramatic, American way possible.

終於，我們重聚了……

Live,

以最戲劇性的美式方法重聚了。

on television --

電視

(Laughter)

實況轉播──

on "The Oprah Show."

（笑聲）

(Laughter)

在《歐普拉秀》上。

(Applause)

（笑聲）

I told you, I told you.

（掌聲）

(Laughter)

我說過了，我說過了。

But after the show,

（笑聲）

as I spent time with my mom and dad

但在節目之後，

and my little sister

當我花時間和我爸媽、

and my two new siblings that I never met,

妹妹，還有

I felt anger.

兩個我沒見過的手足相處，

I felt every deep pain in me.

我感到憤怒。

And I know that there is absolutely nothing,

我感到內在所有深刻的痛苦。

nothing,

我知道絕對沒有可能，

that could restore the time we lost with each other

沒有可能，

and the relationship we could've had.

可以彌補我們本來 應該給彼此的時間，

Soon, my parents moved to the United States,

以及本來可以擁有的關係。

but like Claire,

沒多久，我父母搬到美國，

they don't talk about our past.

但就像克萊兒，

They live in never-ending present.

他們也不談我們的過去。

Not asking too many questions,

他們活在永無止境的現在。

not allowing themselves to feel --

不問太多問題，

moving in small steps.

不允許他們自己去感受──

None of us, of course, can make sense of what happened to us.

以小步伐移動。

Though my family is alive --

當然，我們都無法將 發生在我們身上的事真正化解。

yes, we were broken,

雖然我的家人還活著──

and yes, we are numb

是的，我們是破碎的，

and we were silenced by our own experience.

是的，我們是麻木的，

It's not just my family.

而且我們因為所經歷的事而沈默。

Rwanda is not the only country

不只有我的家人如此。

where people have turned on each other

並不只有在盧安達

and murdered each other.

大家才會攻擊彼此，

The entire human race,

謀殺彼此。

in many ways,

所有人類，

is like my family.

在許多層面上，

Not dead;

就和我的家人一樣。

yes, broken, numb and silenced by the violence of the world

沒有死；

that has taken over.

是的，因為世界的暴力 而破碎、麻木，及沉默。

You see,

那暴力佔據了一切。

the chaos of the violence continues inside

你們知道嗎，

in the words we use

暴力的混亂持續著，

and the stories we create every single day.

就在我們使用的字詞中，

But also on the labels that we impose on ourselves

以及我們每天創造的故事中。

and each other.

但也在我們貼在彼此身上的

Once we call someone "other,"

標籤裏。

"less than,"

一旦我們稱某人是「其他人」、

"one of them"

「處於劣勢」、

or "better than,"

「他們的一員」，

believe me ...

或「處於優勢」，

under the right condition,

相信我……

it's a short path to more destruction.

在合適的條件下，

More chaos

它就是通往更多毀滅的捷徑。

and more noise

更多的混亂，

that we will not understand.

和更多的喧囂

Words will never be enough

就這樣無法理解地發生了。

to quantify and qualify the many magnitudes

字詞永遠不足以

of human-caused destruction.

量化、質化許多程度重大

In order for us

人類所造成的毀滅。

to stop the violence that goes on in the world,

為了讓我們能夠

I hope --

阻止世界上不斷發生的暴力，

at least I beg you --

我希望──

to pause.

至少我懇求各位──

Let's ask ourselves:

暫停下來。

Who are we without words?

讓我們問問自己：

Who are we without labels?

沒有了字詞，我們是誰？

Who are we in our breath?

沒有了標籤，我們是誰？

Who are we in our heartbeat?

在我們呼吸裏，我們是誰？

(Applause)

在我們心跳時，我們又是誰？