名人推薦:
What are the most disturbing and depressing words uttered in the world? They are not the prophecies of economic doom or dire warnings of impending natural calamities. Not the proclamations of zealots or the dictates of autocrats. These are disturbing indeed, but not so disturbing as the casual words uttered everyday by practical, worldly people: “Nothing can be done, nothing will ever change.” These seemingly wise words clip the wings of our dreams. They tarnish the hue of our hopes. Life is not life with no dreams and no hopes.
世界上最讓人覺得不安、不開心的話語是什麼?不是那些預言未來景氣低迷或警告我們天災迫在眉睫的報導,更非宗教狂熱份子的公開聲明或是獨裁者的支配。這些固然令人感到不安,卻比不上每一天我們身邊這些既實際又世故的人所說的一句話:「事情就是這樣,我們無力改變。」就是這些字眼,折斷了我們夢想的翅膀,使我們璀璨的希望失去光澤。沒有夢想、沒有希望的人生,還算什麼?
I love the spirit of Design for Change because it challenges the brutally cynical notion of “nothing will ever change.” It stretches its hands to pull out children from the quicksand of listless social complacency. It urges them to believe that the tiny corner of the planet that they inhabit can be made more beautiful, more just, more equal. And they do not need to be mere spectators to this change. They can be the initiators, the participants and the overseers of it. The impulse of Design for Change reminds me of an exquisite poem by the great Indian poet Rabindranath Tagore. The poem starts with God asking a question to the brightest of stars and suns—who among you will bring light to the world? They remain silent, finding the task too daunting. But a little clay lamp replies: “Sir, I shall do my best, however little that might be.”
我之所以熱愛DFC的精神,是因為它挑戰著殘忍又尖酸刻薄的這句話:「我無力改變一切」。DFC 伸出它的手,把孩子從「滿足現況」的社會化流沙中救了出來,並讓孩子相信他們所身處的地球一角可以變得更美、更公平、更平等。他們不僅僅是這些改變的旁觀者,更可以主動發起、參與並見證這些改變!DFC 給我的衝擊讓我想到一位著名的印度詩人泰戈爾的美麗詩篇;這首詩從神對最明亮的太陽和星星的發問開始:「你們之中,誰會為世界帶來光明?」太陽和星星都沉默著,因為他們都覺得這個任務太艱難了。這時,一個陶土製的燈開口了:「上帝,我會盡我所能,無論我的光芒有多麼微弱。」
Design for Change inspires children to be like the clay lamps in Tagore’s poem. It tells children not to worry too much about the enormity of the world’s problems, but to think creatively about what they can do to ease them. Every story in this book is a testament to the fact that children can make a difference. I had the privilege of viewing moments on video from story number 19 in this book I Want to “See” You Face, where through the initiative of his friends, Jack makes up through touch what sight has not provided. When I saw the video of Jack touching his mother’s face, I had cried. When I read the story among these pages, tears came to my eyes again. There is no greater proof of the poignant vision of Design for Change.
DFC 啟發了孩子們,讓他們每位都像是泰戈爾詩中那盞陶燈,告訴孩子們不要擔心這個世界的問題有多嚴重,反而要運用創意去找出減輕問題的方法。 這本書裡面的每個故事都是最真實的見證,證明著孩子們可以改變身旁的環境。我非常榮幸地觀賞了第十九個故事:「我想摸摸你的臉」的影片。影片中我看到視障生Jack透過他朋友發起的活動,讓他能夠觸摸到身旁人的臉,以彌補他視覺上的缺陷。當我看到Jack 第一次摸到他母親的臉時,我眼淚就掉了下來;閱讀著書中的故事時,我一樣濕了眼眶。DFC以這件實例成功地傳達了它深切的願景。
I have the good fortune of knowing Kiran Sethi, the visionary behind Design for Change. 。She is the founder of a superbly liberal, imaginative and creative school named The Riverside School in Ahmedabad, India. In jest I tell her: “If I had the great luck of going to a school like your school and growing up in the world of ideas that you have created, one bad thing would have happened: the film 3 Idiots would never have been written!” 3 Idiots is an outcry against the oppressive, numbing, desensitizing, imagination-eroding, curiosity-killing education system in which I had the misfortune of growing up. When I see a beautiful and inspiring ideal like Design for Change being embraced by children around the world, a song from 3 Idiots swells in my heart: “Give me some sunshine, give me some rain, give me another chance, I want to grow up once again…”
-Abhijat Joshi
對於能夠認識瑟吉女士如此具有遠見的人,我感到萬分榮幸。她不僅是 DFC的國際發起人,同時也是印度亞美達巴德市「河濱學校」的創辦人。這所學校的校風無比自由,學生更是超級有想像力、超級有創意呢!我常跟她開玩笑說,如果我有幸能夠就讀妳創辦的學校,在充滿瘋狂點子的環境成長的話,那可能會發生一件很糟糕的事情-「三個傻瓜」這部電影就不會出現啦!因為「三個傻瓜」是一部向壓抑、使人麻痺又遲鈍、抹滅人想像力、扼殺學生好奇心的教育體系吶喊的電影,而我就是很不幸地在這樣的體系下長大。所以,當我看到 DFC 這樣美麗、啟發孩童的全球運動時,我的心中就充滿了「三個傻瓜」裡一首歌的旋律:「給我陽光、給我雨水,給我再長大的機會...」 (原詞為:Give me some sunshine, give me some rain, give me another chance, I want to grow up once again…)
著名印度電影「三個傻瓜」編劇:Abhijat Joshi
All children grow up listening to stories, tales of great valor and courage, performed by superheros and magical powers. They listen with rapt attention of how these heroes slay dragons and save the world. And just as a child start to believing in this, we adults tell them, “Stop it, superheroes are only in fairy tales.”
Today, Design For Change has uncovered a new breed of superheroes. Heroes who are still slaying dragons, the only difference is that their dragons are bullies, child marriages, and loneliness. They are still using magical powers, only not laser vision or fancy masks, but two most powerful words in the English vocabulary: I CAN. They are still saving the world, and they are our children.
Design For Change would like to give a big hug to every reader in Taiwan for honoring these young heroes, and telling every adult that: “Yes, superheroes are not in fair tales, they are every child that says ‘I CAN!’ instead of ‘Can I?’”
Thank you!
Kiran Bir Sethi - Founder of DFC & Riverside School
每位孩子都是聽著童話故事長大的,在故事中,有發揮了無比勇氣的超級英雄,還有神奇的魔法。他們專注的聽著英雄屠龍與拯救世界的過程,但是當孩子們開始相信這些故事是真實的時候,我們卻告訴他們:「醒醒吧,超級英雄只活在童話故事裡!」
現在,DFC 找到了一批新品種的超級英雄,這些英雄還是在進行屠龍的任務,只不過這些惡龍變成了「校園罷凌」、「童婚」以及「孤獨」等等問題。英雄們還是在使用著魔法,不過不是透視眼或是超能力;而是英語字彙中最強而有力的兩個字:「I CAN (我做得到)」。他們仍然在努力拯救世界,他們,就是我們的孩子。
DFC 想要給臺灣的每位讀者一個大大的擁抱,感謝你們珍視這些年輕的英雄,並告訴所有的大人:「是的,超級英雄並不只存在童話故事裡;超級英雄是所有說著 「我做得到」,而非懷疑「我做得到嗎?」的孩子。
謝謝你們!
吉蘭‧貝兒‧瑟吉 - DFC 以及 河濱學校創辦人
每次看到孩童熱血改變身旁環境的故事,都會讓我的心湧上一陣溫暖,我總是想著,這些孩子是如此的勇敢,運用他們所有的資源,就這樣大膽的改變了他們的世界!我也曾遇過有人質疑我的樂觀:「這些孩子做出的改變不大,而且他們選擇的不是讓改變可以最持久的方法啊!」
但是,這些孩子讓我感動的,就是那種「開始去做」的決心!在這本書裡,每一篇來自世界各地孩子的故事都告訴著我們:其實我們不用等到有錢、有勢,或是要長大後才能改變世界!」改變世界需要,其實只是一群熱血、投入的傻瓜。我從這些孩子身上學到的是:計畫太多、餅畫太大,都有可能會帶給自己太多的壓力,其實事情只要從「小規模」起頭開始就好,無論如何,勇敢踏出第一步!只要「開始去做」就對了!
Start small, but most importantly, START! It's as simple as that. 就是這麼簡單。
另外,我想要特別感謝DFC 印度主辦單位河濱學校願意釋出I Can book 的原文版權,讓臺灣的讀者能用熟悉的語言來閱讀這些精采的故事,而且原書的作者Devika Rangachari博士可是得過諸多大獎、咤叱文壇的知名童書作家喔!幸運的我們,能夠透過她精采的描繪,更深刻的體會到每一位改變世界小推手的精采經驗!不過,為求故事張力,Rangachari博士同時也將某些故事情節做了適度的順序調整,而也可能是因為文化背景不同,所以她也沒有辦法完全揣摩、真切描寫本書中這兩個屬於臺灣的故事(例如臺灣的視障生其實不用鉛筆和橡皮擦等等),這點其實也值得我們反思,就好比是由我們來撰寫種姓制度的問題,即便有做過功課,寫出來的觀點也可能和印度人的人有些許的落差。所以,在臺灣的翻譯版本中,為了能更忠實呈現屬於臺灣的故事,我們決定除了將臺灣孩子們的兩篇故事翻譯回中文,保留原作者的鋪陳之外,也對於事實部分做了小幅的修正,讓它與更貼近原本的故事,在此特別告知各位親愛的讀者。
再過一個月,我的侄子就會來到這個世界上了,屆時除了陪他學走、跌倒、再站起來之外,我想我會很樂意透過這本書,介紹這個充滿著「改變世界小推手」的世界給他認識,讓他知道,其實只要他願意,就可以著手改變身邊的大小問題,畢竟,有什麼比真實的故事更能引發每位孩童的想像力呢?而世界因為有了這群願意讓環境更好的公民,就會更容易被「翻轉」嘍!所以,各位有著童心的爸媽、老師還有每位孩子們,就讓我們一起熱血,捲起袖子來改變這個世界吧!
我們相信每位孩子都做得到,那你呢?
社團法人臺灣童心創意行動協會 理事長
許芯瑋