Jeannie Chen 陳宇晶
——上海師範大學2007暑期雲南教育跟蹤紀事系列報道之六
編者按✖️：晶晶是她的中文名字👨🏿🏭，Jenny Chen是在美國出生的華裔姑娘，也就是人們常說的ABC（American born Chinese）🤷🏽♂️。她一直在美國念書⏫，現在在讀高中。她去年曾遊過雲南🎲，對雲南的美麗贊嘆不已🚶🏻♀️➡️。今年暑假她在師大學習漢語，其間加入上師大雲南支教扶貧考察團，這次她走得更遠更高更深🏘，在考察拉祜山寨時，她驚呆了🏊，困惑了🚉，這是真的嗎？她看到了美麗風光的背後還有人類共同面臨的難題：貧困。眼前的一切始料不及，但又揮之不去，她用英語，這是她的熟練書面語言👩🏻🎨，寫了以下這些文字。
本文作者／攝影：陶桃
This summer, June18th-June 27th, I visited YunNan, China for the second time this year. I thought it would be the same old experience, but I was wrong. I found a part of YunNan that I hadn’t seen before, the bright green rice fields and lush wilderness, the rich culture and beautiful traditional costumes. What gave me the deepest impression on this trip was not only the beauty of the land, but more importantly the lifestyles of the inhabitants of the mountain villages. It was during one trip to observe life in the mountain village of LanCang that I, as the “rich American ‘tourist,’ ” so to speak, finally gained a feeble understanding of poverty…
雨季的拉祜寨子／攝影：Lucy
I remember that I stepped out of the jeep and heard a squelching sound. After a few misplaced steps, my feet were already covered with mud, and the sky began to pour again, as we had arrived in YunNan in its rainy season. When I entered the village, I thought, ‘this looks like it came straight out of a movie.’ I felt that this experience couldn’t be real, that the little children standing in the doorways watching us were not real, that the dogs snarling at us were not real. We visited the most affluent family house of the village. When I saw the sick child sleeping on the nearby straw mattress, noticed the mud floor, and learned about the family’s situation, I seemed to drop into a speechless trance. It did take me until the last minute to even bring my thoughts out onto paper.
滿是泥漿的腳／攝影：Lucy
However, I knew I should not pity these villagers. Because they have had so little contact and knowledge of the outer, wealthier world, the villagers only have this perception of a comfortable life; pity would be useless in their situation. Our sense of affluence is merely relative to quality and quantity of possessions. I believe that our worlds (mine and theirs) are galaxies apart, and that we shouldn’t try to help them with our complex technology and big sums of money, but leave them be and instead provide health care, a center to treat dangerous diseases, provide a way to keep them comfortable without damaging their world. Maybe I’m just fantasizing or oversimplifying the situation, but as a teenager who doesn’t hold bigheaded, stereotypical views of the “poor” and “the rich” and also one who has not yet experienced much in the world, I think this understanding is enough. Sometimes I just wonder what would happen if I took a movie star straight from the television and placed him/her in my situation. I would assume he/she would be as speechless as I was.
誌願者和兒童／攝影：特約記者 村民／攝影：特約記者
My stay in YunNan has taught me more than ever. I’ve made new friends along the way, discovered the deeper culture, the beautiful scenery of YunNan, and most of all I have now touched the edge of a world completely different from mine. I have reached the end of the sidewalk.
老婦人和滿筐的青草／攝影：特約記者 任何地方財神都受歡迎／攝影：特約記者
和誌願者們揮手告別／攝影：陶桃
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【相關鏈接】
踩著泥濘小道 走訪拉祜山寨
交流與對話：瀾滄縣竹塘鄉考察座談會
為了孩子，為了未來（上）
陸建非副校長在雲南瀾滄縣作教學專題講座
情牽山區 扶貧幫困
