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The Courage to be Poor 安贫的勇气

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Giving up everything, but gaining so much more  放弃一切，却得到更多

In 1999, Liz McKie was living the high life in Phoenix, Arizona, as a recruiter for a hard-charging sports agent. “Lots of big money, glamorous parties and private jets,” she said. “I’d see young kids from extreme poverty dropped into a world of $30,000 watches.”

一九九九年，丽姿．麦琪担任一位企图心旺盛、事业成功运动经纪人的猎才专员，在亚利桑那州凤凰城过着优渥奢华的生活。「大把大把的钞票、五光十色的派对、还有私人喷射客机，」麦琪说，「我看着一贫如洗的年轻小伙子被丢进一个光是戴的手表就价值三万美元的世界里。」

Financial gurus, including Suze Orman in The Courage to Be Rich, claimed to know the path to the American Dream.

多位理财大师宣称懂得通往美国之道，而苏西．欧曼在《致富宝典》（译注：直译为安富的勇气）一书中也是如此。

But McKie’s life of luxury went into free fall because of a debilitating cocaine addiction. [She] moved back to the land of rehab and returned to her former vocation as a hairdresser.

然而，戕害健康的古柯碱毒瘾让麦琪的豪奢生活一落千丈，她接受勒戒，回到发型设计师的老本行。

In 2002 she and some friends took a cheap winter vacation to the Dominican Republic. Eight trips and a recession later, McKie found the “courage to be poor.”

二００二年冬天，麦琪和几个朋友到多米尼加共和国度个廉价休假。去了多米尼加八趟、经历过经济衰退之后，麦琪找到了「安贫的勇气」。

Now the executive director and founder of Dove Missions in the resort town of Puerto Plata and more recently in Haiti, McKie is a nonprofit CEO with a humble four-figure income.

她现在是白鸽慈善团执行总裁暨创办人，慈善团位于（多米尼加）度假胜地普拉塔港，近来更将援手伸至海地。麦琪担任非营利事业的执行长，收入只有区区数千美元。

Giving it all away  付出一切

At a time when many Americans are shaken to the core because of a lost job, foreclosure or a dwindling 401(k), McKie did the scariest thing of all: She jumped off the treadmill. She shed all of her possessions and moved to Puerto Plata to improve the lives of others and forever change her own.

当许多美国人因为丢掉工作、房贷回赎权遭取消、退休金账户缩水，而惶惶不可终日时，麦琪却做了一件最可怕的事：她辞掉了乏味的工作，处理掉所有财产，搬到普拉塔港去帮助别人过更好的生活，也永远改变了自己的人生。

For McKie, giving it all away was easy after working for so many years with people who had nothing. “It made me free,” she said.

对麦琪而言，和一无所有的人一起工作这么多年之后，要舍弃一切变得很容易。她说，「这让我获得自由。」

Dove Missions is a tiny fish in the nonprofit pond. Located in a slum in the other side of the tracks in Puerto Plata, McKie’s youth development school isn’t far from some of the world’s more beautiful resorts and beaches. Tourists who dare to wander just a few blocks outside the compound see sandy beaches littered with garbage, syringes and homes thrown together with scraps of metal and wood.

白鸽慈善团只是非营利团体中微不足道的小角色，麦琪的青少年发展学校位于普拉塔港另一边的贫民区，距离一些世界级的美丽度假中心及海滩并不远。只要观光客敢走出度假区外几个街口，就会看到沙滩上散落着垃圾、注射器、以及用铁皮和木片拼凑搭建的住家。

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recruiter [rɪˋkrutɚ] n. 招聘人员

glamorous [ˋglæmərəs] adj. 富有魅力的；迷人的

guru [ˋgʊru] n.【口】宗师；权威；大师  an expert in a particular subject who gives advice

American Dream 美国梦（指追求富庶、自由和机会均等等）the belief that everyone in the United States has the opportunity to be successful and prosperous if they work hard

rehab [`rihæb] n.【美】〔酗酒﹑吸毒者的〕康复治疗

vocation [voˋkeʃən] n. 行业，职业

hairdresser [ˋhɛr͵drɛsɚ] n. 美发师

recession [rɪˋsɛʃən] n.（经济的）衰退；衰退期

foreclosure [forˋkloʒɚ] n. 丧失抵押品赎回权

dwindle [ˋdwɪnd!] v. 渐渐减少；变小

401(k) 延后课税的美国退休金制度  a retirement investment plan that allows employees to contribute a fixed amount of income to an account without paying taxes until after withdraw, usually after retirement

shed [ʃɛd] v. 摆脱，去除

slum [slʌm] n. 贫民窟  a very poor and crowded area of a city

litter [ˋlɪtɚ] v. 使充满[H][（+with）] to scatter about

throw together 匆匆拼凑

scrap [skræp] n. 少量，一点点[S][（+of）]

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With no more teaching experience than she learned as a single mother and youth group director in Minneapolis, Minnesota, McKie started volunteering at a youth center for ages 6 to 14. Mckie immediately connected with the homeless street kids, who craved attention. She taught young girls some basic cosmetology with donated hair dryers and supplies that she collected from friends in salon business.

麦琪没什么教学经验，不过就是身为单亲妈妈、担任明尼苏达州明尼亚波利市青少年团主任时所学，她带着这些经验，开始在为六岁到十四岁孩子设立的青少年中心担任志工。麦琪立刻就和渴望关怀的街头流浪儿建立感情，她用捐赠的吹风机以及从美容美发业朋友募集而来的用品，教导年轻女孩一些基本的美容技巧。

An eye-opening experience  一个前所未有的经验

When McKie brings friends or volunteers to the area where she works, most of them spend the first day sobbing. First it’s the garbage, the sewage, the flies, mosquitoes and pollution so thick that you choke. Then it’s the suffering of someone who befriends you, like 6-year-old Stephania, who came to McKie for medical attention. Mckie bought the girl an inhaler for asthma brought on by neighbors smoking crack cocaine – the smoke blows into her family’s shack. She had a gash on her forehead from a stray bullet fired during a robbery.

麦琪带朋友或志工到她工作的地区时，大部分人第一天都会啜泣不已。起先是因为垃圾、污水、苍蝇、蚊子和污染，严重到让人简直快窒息了。然后是为了刚刚认识的朋友所受的苦难而流泪，就像来找麦琪治疗的六岁女孩史蒂芬妮亚。麦琪买了一个气喘用吸入器给史蒂芬妮亚，史蒂芬妮亚的邻居吸食快克古柯碱，烟雾吹进她简陋的家，造成她的气喘。史蒂芬妮亚的前额还有一道长长的伤口，是在抢劫现场遭流弹波及所致。

At the vocational and recreational center that Dove Missions completed last year, McKie helps more than 80 boys and girls learn skills – sewing, woodworking and cosmetology – to provide them with legitimate income and keep them off the streets. Parents who get the kids to school clean and dressed are given food vouchers as an incentive. McKie hopes that the children in the school will find work to lead lives that don’t involve prostitution, drug dealing or other illegal activity.

麦琪在白鸽慈善团去年兴建完成职业课习暨休闲中心，帮助八十多位男孩与女孩学习各种技能，包括缝纫、木工和美容美妆，让这些孩子有合法收入，远离街头。把孩子打理干净、穿戴整齐送到学校的家长，还会拿到食物券做为奖励。麦琪希望学校里的孩子将来能找到工作，过着与卖淫、贩毒、或其他非法活动没有任何瓜葛的生活。

Before the recent earthquake, McKie was expanding Dove’s reach into Haiti. She’s working with other groups on the island of Hispaniola to establish an orphanage in a border town three hours from Puerto Plata. In addition to options for donations, McKie offers volunteer vacations to work beside Dominicans and Haitians.

在最近地震发生之前，麦琪正准备将白鸽的援助范围扩大至海地。她现在和伊士班纽拉岛上的其他团体合作，在邻近国界、距离普拉塔港约三小时车程的小镇上，兴建一座孤儿院。除了接受捐款之外，麦琪还提供志工假期，让志工能和多米尼加人及海地人一起工作。

It will be a dream vacation, McKie promises. Just not the American dream.

麦琪保证这会是个梦幻假期，只不过，不会是个美国梦。

−by John Ewoldt

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cosmetology [͵kɑzməˋtɑlədʒɪ] n. 美容术 (包括美颜、美发、美肤、美甲等美容技术) the study of cosmetics and the cosmetic treatment of the skin, hair and nails

sob [sɑb] v. 呜咽；啜泣

inhaler [ɪnˋhelɚ] n.【医】吸入器；人工呼吸器

asthma [ˋæzmə] n.【医】气喘（病），哮喘

bring on 引起 to cause to appear

shack [ʃæk] n. 简陋木屋，棚屋

gash [gæʃ] n. 深长的切口（或伤口）

recreational [͵rɛkrɪˋeʃən!] adj. 消遣的；娱乐的；休养的

woodworking [ˋwʊd͵wɝkɪŋ] n. 木工(艺)

incentive [ɪnˋsɛntɪv] n. 刺激；鼓励

prostitution [͵prɑstəˋtjuʃən] n. 卖淫

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the high life 奢侈的生活; 浮华生活; 高品质的生活 an exciting way of living, in which rich and successful people enjoy themselves by spending a lot of time and money in fashionable places; InformalAn extravagant or luxurious style of living.

hard-charging 充满活力的, 斗志旺盛的 someone with a vigorous and aggressive personality who performs extremely well; very aggressive, determined, or ambitious

free fall (价值或价格的)直线下落，暴跌 the process of failing or losing strength quickly and continuously

debilitating [dɪˋbɪlə͵tetɪŋ] adj. 使〔身体或精神〕虚弱的 causing weakness

shaken/rotten to the core 糟透了; 烂透了 to feel upset and worried to an extreme degree; thoroughly bad

jump off the treadmill 指辞掉繁忙又乏味的工作 to leave something that seems to have no positive effect and no end

a tiny fish in the pond 指团体中微不足道的小角色 something that is small and relatively unimportant among a vast number of larger and better-known things

eye-opening 令人大开眼界的；很有启发的 something startling, surprising or revealing

stray [stre] adj. 迷路的，走失的; 偶尔的；意外的；零星的 leaving the correct course something should follow

voucher [ˋvaʊtʃɚ] n. 代金券﹐凭证 a card or piece of paper which can be exchanged for goods or services

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