七个改变世界的孩子(下)

四、Iqbal Masih

Iqbal Masih was a Pakistani boy who was sold to a carpet industry as a child slave at the age of 4 for the equivalent of $12. Iqbal was held by a string to a carpet loom in a small town called Muridke near Lahore. He was made to work twelve hours per day. Due to long hours of hard work and insufficient food and care, Iqbal was undersized. At twelve years of age, Iqbal was the size of a six-year old boy. At the age of 10, he escaped the brutal slavery and later joined a Bonded Labor Liberation Front of Pakistan to help stop child labour around the world, and Iqbal helped over 3,000 Pakistani children that were in bonded labour, escape to freedom. Iqbal gave talks about child labour all around the world.

He was murdered on Easter Sunday 1995. It is assumed by many that he was assassinated by members of the “Carpet Mafia” because of the publicity he brought towards the child labour industry. Some locals were accused of the crime, however.

In 1994, Iqbal was awarded the Reebok Human Rights Award. In 2000, when The World’s Children’s Prize for the Rights of the Child was formed, he was posthumously awarded this prize as one of the first laureates.

五、Nkosi Johnson

Nkosi, born Xolani Nkosi, was born to Nonthlanthla Daphne Nkosi in a township east of Johannesburg in 1989. He never knew his father. Nkosi was HIV-positive from birth, and was legally adopted by Gail Johnson, a Johannesburg Public Relations practitioner, when his own mother, debilitated by the disease, was no longer able to care for him. The young Nkosi Johnson first came to public attention in 1997, when a primary school in the Johannesburg suburb of Melville refused to accept him as a pupil because of his HIV-positive status. The incident caused a furor at the highest political level―South Africa’s Constitution forbids discrimination on the grounds of medical status―and the school later reversed its decision.

Nkosi was the keynote speaker at the 13th International AIDS Conference, where he encouraged AIDS victims to be open about the disease and to seek equal treatment. Nkosi finished his speech with the words.

"Care for us and accept us-we are all human beings. We are normal. We have hands. We have feet. We can walk, we can talk, we have needs just like everyone else-don't be afraid of us-we are all the same!"

Nelson Mandela referred to Nkosi as an “icon of the struggle for life.” He was ranked fifth amongst SABC's Great South Africans. At the time of his death, he was the longest-surviving HIV-positive born child.

Together with his foster mother, Nkosi founded a refuge for HIV positive mothers and their children, Nkosi’s Haven, in Johannesburg. In November 2005, Gail represented Nkosi when he posthumously received the International Children’s Peace Prize from the hands of Mikhail Gorbachev. Nkosi’s Haven received the US $100,000 prize money from the KidsRights Foundation as well as a statuette which has been named the Nkosi in Nkosi Johnson’s honour. Nkosi’s life is the subject of the book We Are All the Same by Jim Wooten.

六、Om Prakash Gurjar

At the age of five, he was taken away from his parents and for three years he worked in the fields. After he was rescued by activists of Bachpan Bachao Andolan, Om campaigned for free education in his native Rajasthan. He then helped to set up a network of what are known as “child friendly villages”, places where children’s rights are respected and child labour is not allowed. He also set up a network that aims to give all children a birth certificate as a way of helping to protect them from exploitation. He also worked to ensure children are given birth certificates. He says such registration is the first step towards enshrining children’s rights, proving their age, and helping to protect them from slavery, trafficking, forced marriage or serving as a child soldiers.

He was awarded the International Children’s Peace Prize by former South African President FW de Klerk, who won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1993.

七、Thandiwe Chama

A 16-year-old Zambian girl, Thandiwe Chama of Lusaka’s Chawama township has scooped the 2007 International Children’s Peace Prize beating 28 other nominees from across the world. The prestigious prize was presented to Thandiwe in The Hague on Sunday by Nobel Peace Laureate, Betty Williams and Live8 initiator, Sir Bob Geldof. The Prize consists of a statuette-“the Nkosi” - and 100,000 euros, which are to be awarded to a direct aid project in the spirit of the young winner’s efforts.

In 1999, when she was only eight-years-old, her school was closed because there were no teachers. Thandiwe refused to accept this and led 60 other children in walking to find another school. As a result, all the children were taken into the Jack Cecup School. Strengthened by this achievement, Thandiwe has been fighting ever since for the right to education for all children. Thandiwe continues to impress, for example by speaking in church about children and AIDS - an issue not always discussed easily in churches. With a friend, she wrote and illustrated a booklet called “The Chicken with AIDS”, telling young children about the perils of AIDS.

“It’s so important to know that also a child has rights. At school I learned about rights. And I knew then that this was something I wanted to fight for. Because if children are given an opportunity, they for sure can contribute in making this world a better place.” ― Thandiwe Chama

四、伊克巴尔・马薛(1982~1995)

伊克巴尔・马薛是一名巴基斯坦男孩,4岁时被父亲以相当于12美元的价钱卖给一家地毯工厂当童工。在拉合尔市附近的Muridke小镇上,伊克巴尔被死死地锁在了织毯机上,他每天被迫工作12小时。由于长时间的重活和欠缺足够的食物与照顾,伊克巴尔比一般的孩子矮小。12岁时,他的身高只相当于一个6岁孩子的高度。10岁时,他从野蛮的奴役中逃了出来,接着参加了巴基斯坦抵债劳动自由阵线,帮助世界的禁止童工运动。伊克巴尔帮助超过3000名巴基斯坦抵债劳动的儿童重获自由,并在世界各地发表关于童工问题的演讲。

他在1995年复活节遭谋杀。由于他宣扬打击童工业,很多人猜想他是被“地毯黑帮”的成员所杀,不过一些当地人也被指控有罪。

1994年,伊克巴尔被授予锐步人权奖。2000年,儿童权利的国际儿童奖设立,作为其中第一批获奖者,伊克巴尔在死后被授予了这一奖项。

五、 恩科西・约翰逊(1989~2001)

恩科西,乳名Xolani Nkosi,1989年出生在约翰内斯堡东边的一个小镇上,生下来被唤作Nonthlanthla Daphne Nkosi。他对他的父亲一无所知。恩科西出生时就是艾滋病病毒携带者,被约翰内斯堡的公关从业员基尔・约翰逊合法收养,而他的生母,被疾病折磨得疲惫不堪,已无法再照顾他。1997年,位于约翰内斯堡郊区的梅尔维尔的一间小学以小恩科西是艾滋病病毒携带者的身份为由拒绝接收他,此时小恩科西首次引起了公众的注意。这一事件甚至在最高的政治层引起了一股骚动――南非宪法禁止歧视特殊疾病状况的群体――学校后来改变了它的决定。

恩科西是第13届国际艾滋病会议的主题发言人。在会上他鼓励艾滋病受害者公开病情并寻求平等的治疗。他以这样一段话结束他的发言:

“在意和接纳我们――我们同是人。我们也是正常的。我们拥有手,拥有脚;我们会走路,会说话,我们有和任何一个人一样的需要――不要害怕我们――我们是一样的!”

纳尔逊・曼德拉把他称为“为生命而战的偶像”。在南非广播公司的最伟大的南非人评选中,他名列第五。直到他去世时,他已是携带艾滋病出生孩子中生存最长的人。

恩科西和他的养母在约翰内斯堡为携带艾滋病的母亲和她们的孩子建立了一个庇护所――恩科西避难所。2005年11月,基尔代表恩科西在他死后从米哈伊尔・戈尔巴乔夫手中接过国际儿童和平奖,恩科西避难所从儿童基金会获得了100,000美元的奖金和一尊为纪念恩科西并以他的名字命名的小雕像。Jim Wooten以恩科西的一生为主题写了《我们是一样的》一书。

六、 阿曼・普拉卡什・歌贾(1992~)

5岁时他被带离了父母身边并干了长达3年农活。被拯救儿童组织的积极分子解救以后,阿曼在他的家乡拉贾斯坦邦为免费教育斗争。接着他又帮助建设著名的“儿童友好村”广播网,一个尊重儿童权利和禁止童工的网络。同时他也建立起一个旨在给予每个儿童出生认证的网络,作为一个保护儿童出生权免受剥夺的方法。他也致力于确保儿童得到出生认证的工作。他说这种的登记是保护儿童权利,核对儿童年龄,帮助保护他们免于奴役,买卖,逼婚和充当童军的第一步。

他被前南非总统、1993年诺贝尔和平奖得主德克勒克授予国际儿童和平奖。

七、 坦迪维・查马(1991~)

来自赞比亚卢萨卡Chawama小镇的16岁女孩坦迪维・查马击败其他28名来自世界各地的提名候选人,一举掳获了2007年的国际儿童和平奖。这一极具声望的奖项在星期天在海牙由诺贝尔和平奖获奖者Betty Williams和Live8创始人Bob Geldof爵士颁发给坦迪维。奖品是一座价值100,000欧元的“恩科西”小雕像,该奖旨在嘉奖年轻获奖者在直接参与帮助事件上所付出的精神努力。

1999年,小坦迪维只有8岁,她的学校因师资短缺而关闭。她拒绝接受这一事实,带着其他60名同学步行寻找另一间学校。结果全部学生都被Jack Cecup学校接收。受着这一次成功的鼓励,坦迪维自此一直为儿童的受教育权斗争。坦迪维继续给我们带来深刻印象,例如她在教堂发表关于儿童和艾滋病的演讲――一个不易也不常能在教堂讨论的话题。她和朋友写了一本附有插图的小册子叫“艾滋病小孩”,告诉孩子们艾滋病的危害。

“知道即使是一个小孩也有他的权利是非常重要的。我在学校学到了权利。我也知道这就是我想为之战斗的东西。因为如果孩子们得到了机会,无疑他们会为世界变得更美好贡献他们的一份力。”――坦迪维・查马。