Young Ghanaians risk all for "better" life

年轻的加纳人追求美好生活铤而走险

risk all:翻译成不顾一切，孤注一掷

Some migrate within Africa while others take therisky route to Europe

有些人移居非洲，有些人冒险前往欧洲

By Efam Awo Dovi

文/艾发姆·阿沃·多维（Efam Awo Dovi）

Every week, in the BrongAhafo Region — one ofGhana’s major food baskets — vehicles load up with men between 18 and 40 yearsold. Many, mostly the younger men, hope to reach Europe, while others head formore prosperous countries in Africa. Irrespective of their final destination, theyhave common aspirations: hopes of good jobs and better lives for themselves andthe families they leave behind.

每个星期，在BrongAhafo Region地区，这个加纳的主要粮食基地-汽车满载着18到40岁的人。其中大部分都是年轻男性，当别人都向往着去非洲更加繁荣的国家时，他们希望到欧洲去。不考虑目的地，他们有一个共同的心愿：希望得到一份更好的工作，自己和离开的家庭都能有幸福的生活。

in the BrongAhafo Region：翻译为布朗阿哈福地区

one of Ghana’s major food baskets：在被誉为加纳“粮仓”之一的。破折号后面的句子放到前面去，因为是用来修饰region的。

当别人都向往着去非洲更加繁荣的国家时，他们希望到欧洲去，while理解成并列关系，所以先翻while前面的句子，再翻译while后面的句子。

不考虑目的地，：译文是翻译成了不管最终去向何方。Irrespective of their final destination,

hopes of good jobs and better lives for themselves andthe families they leave behind. 希望得到一份更好的工作，自己和离开的家庭都能有幸福的生活。（译文是翻译成：希望自己和留下来的家人能找到更好的工作、过上更好的生活。）应该两种理解都是可以的。

Kofi Twum made that trip years ago. He was only 18 and had lost his father at an early age.His mother, a subsistence farmer, became the sole breadwinner of the family. When Twum completed junior secondary school, he hawked yams to help his mother.But their living conditions worsened and Twum, fifth among six children, felt the need to work elsewhere.

数年前，科非•图姆就开始了这趟旅途。他年仅18岁，很小就没了父亲。母亲是一个自给自足的农民，独自支撑起了这个家。图姆初中毕业后，开始叫卖山药帮助母亲减轻负担。但是他们的生活状况日益困难，图姆在六个孩子中排行老五，感觉有必要去别处工作。

made that trip：译文是翻译成了曾踏上了这一旅程，感觉更好一些。

lost his father at an early age很小就没了父亲，译文翻译成了早年丧父，更为简洁。

he hawked yams to help his mother.开始叫卖山药帮助母亲减轻负担。译文翻译成了帮母亲卖甘薯，句子重心和原文不一样了。

hawk：If someonehawks goods, they sell them by walking through the streets or knocking at people's houses, and asking people to buy them.

Eg：He spent years hawking his book around publishinge spent years hawking his book around publishing

.But their living conditions worsened and Twum, fifth among six children, felt the need to work elsewhere.他们的生活状况日益困难，图姆在六个孩子中排行老五，感觉有必要去别处工作。译文翻译成了但是他们的生活条件每况愈下，图姆（在家中六个孩子中排行老五）感到有必要去其他地方工作。对图姆身份进行说明的，应该用括号

“I wanted to go to Italy to be able to support my mother,” Twum told Africa Renewal  from his home in the town of Nkoranza in northern Ghana.

‘’我想去意大利，才能够供养我的母亲。“图姆在他的家中（加纳北部的小镇恩科兰扎）接受《非洲振兴》的采访时说。

“I wanted to go to Italy to be able to support my mother,’

我想去意大利，才能够供养我的母亲。译文翻译成了我想过去意大利谋生，供养我的母亲。“想过“说明了wanted的过去时态用法。

In 2014, with financial support from his brother, Twum joined a group of 35 young men on a journey through the Sahara Desert to Libya, where they were to take a boat to Europe.

2014年，图姆得到他的兄弟经济支持，加入了一群有35个年轻男性的组织，他们经由撒哈拉沙漠到达利比亚，在那里乘船去到欧洲。

financial support：图姆得到他的兄弟经济支持

译文翻译成了在哥哥的帮助下。注意翻译的时候不要过于贴近字面。

on a journey through the Sahara Desert to Libya,经由撒哈拉沙漠到达利比亚，在那里乘船去到欧洲。

译文翻译成开启穿越撒哈拉沙漠前往利比亚的旅程

 However, hopping a crowded boat out of Libya on his third attempt to cross the Mediterranean, he was arrested and deported to Ghana. He arrived empty-handed. Twum, now a street preacher in his 30s, tells Africa Renewal that he still hopes to make it to Europe one day, this time by some other route.

然而，图姆第三次试图乘坐拥挤的船只驶出利比亚穿越地中海时，他被逮捕然后被遣返加纳。他回去时一无所有。如今图姆30岁时成了当地的传道士，他告诉《非洲振兴》杂志，他仍旧希望某天可以到欧洲去，这次走别的路线。

Twum, now a street preacher in his 30s,如今图姆30岁时成了当地的传道士

译文翻译成了现在30多岁的图姆是一名街头传教士。

A hazardous journey

一个艰难的旅途

译文翻译成：危险的旅程

Most Ghanaian migrants trying to reach Europe via Libya go through Burkina Faso to Agadez, Niger. From there they join others from West Africa and other areas who are fleeing conflict and persecution.

大多加纳移民都试图经由利比亚穿过布基纳法索到达尼日尔的阿加德兹，最终抵达欧洲。在利比亚他们加入了其他为了逃离冲突和迫害来自西非和其他地区的人。

译文翻译成：多数经利比亚入欧的加纳移民都选择途经布基纳法索和尼日尔阿德加兹。在阿加德兹他们会加入从西非和其他地区为躲避战乱和迫害而来的人。

第一句话要注意trying to reach Europe via Libya是修饰加纳移民的，放在前面，然后才是后面的具体路线go through……

第二句话from there指的说阿德加兹

With the services of middlemen, they travel on overloaded trucks in convoys and part of the way on foot through the Sahara Desert to the Borkou region near the Libyan border. It’s a death-defying experience. Many die from exhaustion and dehydration.

通过中间人的介绍，他们坐在载重汽车中旅行，其中一条步行的路是穿过撒哈拉沙漠到达靠近利比亚边境的博尔库地区。这是一个近乎死亡的体验，许多人因筋疲力尽和脱水而死去。

the services of：译文为在中间人的协助下，更合适一些

they travel on overloaded trucks in convoys and part of the way on foot through the Sahara Desert：译文翻译为他们坐上超载的卡车，卡车结队而行——部分路途还需要步行——穿越撒哈拉沙漠

in convoy：of travelling vehicles行驶中的车辆)as a group; together结队；组队

Eg：We drove in convoy because I didn't know the route.因为我不熟悉路线，所以我们结队行驶。

我的译法in convoy没有翻译出来，part of ways on foot理解错误

defy：(de·fies,defy·ing,de·fied,de·fied)1defysb/sthto refuse to obey or show respect for sb in authority, a law, a rule, etc.违抗；反抗；蔑视Eg：I wouldn't have dared to defy my teachers.我可不敢不听老师的话。

Twum recalls the human traffickers and their extortionate demands for money. Also unforgettable was the sight of many lifeless bodies abandoned in the hot Saharan Desert.“Some were leaning on the rocks, they looked like they were sleeping, others were buried in the dust,” he recalled.

图姆回忆着人贩子以及他们提出的离谱价格。当然最难忘的经历是许多毫无生气的尸体在炎热的撒哈拉沙漠里消失。”许多人倚靠着岩石，看起来就像睡着了似的，其他人则消失在了沙尘中。“他回忆道。

extortionate demands for money.：译文为要价几近勒索

extortionate：（价格等）过高的，离谱的If you describe something such as a price asextortionate, you are emphasizing that it is much greater than it should be.

lifeless bodies abandoned：被遗弃的一具具尸体

to cover sb/sth with soil, rocks, leaves, etc.（以土、石、树叶等）覆盖burysb/sth

Eg：The house was buried under ten feet of

snow.房子被埋在十英尺厚的积雪中。

Three of his fellow travellers died. “They couldn’t continue the walk. When that happens, we try to encourage them, but after a while you have to leave them, because if you’re left behind you’ll lose your way, and you’ll soon die,” he said. “These were people I knew, we travelled together from Nkoronza. I called their families later from Tripoli to inform them.”

与他同行的三个人都死了。“他们走不动了，我们想要鼓励他们的，但是一会你就必须离开他们继续前行，不然你会迷路，很快死去。”他说，”我认识这些人，我们一起从恩科兰扎开始旅行。后来我在的黎波里通知了他们的家人。

when that happens：翻译为刚开始

I calledtheir families later from Tripoli to inform them.注意前面的called，要把打电话翻译出来

Twum’s story is all too common in the BrongAhafo Region, with echoes across Ghana and other sub-Saharan African countries.

图姆的故事在布朗阿克福地区太普遍了，加纳和非洲撒哈拉以南的国家同样如此。

During the 2011 Libyan crisis and the overthrow of Muammar Gaddafi, more than 18,000 Ghanaian migrants in Libya were evacuated, according to the International Organization for Migration (IOM) office in Ghana. The actual number of returnees, however, could be higher as some migrants managed to get out of Libya on their own before the crisis worsened.

2011年正值利比亚危机，穆阿迈尔·卡扎菲被推翻，国际移民组织加纳办事处的数据显示，超过18000名利比亚境内的加纳移民撤离。然而，真实的回国人数远远高出，因为一些移民在危机加深前就已自行离开利比亚。

evacuate：to move people from a place of danger to a safer place（把人从危险的地方）疏散，转移，撤离evacuate sth

Eg：Police evacuated nearby buildings.警方已将附近大楼的居民疏散。

The majority of the returnees were sent back to the BrongAhafo Region, from which they came, according to the IOM, which supported the Ghanaian government in evacuating its stranded nationals.

国际移民组织协助加纳政府撤离滞留公民，他们表示，大多归国人员都被送到了他们来时的布朗阿哈福地区。

from which they came：这个非限制定语对布朗阿哈福地区进行说明，译文是用的破折号，come from意思是他们的家乡，而不是像我理解的是他们来时的。

stranded：a person or vehicle that is stranded is unable to move from the place where they are〔人或交通工具〕被滞留的; 〔船〕搁浅的;SYNstuck

Eg：Air travellers wereleft strandedbecause of icy conditions.由于出现结冰的天气情况，飞机乘客被滞留。

For many families in BrongAhafo, having a relative in Europe confers prestige and the prospect of remittances. “Every household hopes to have someone in Europe,” says Walter Kwao-Anati, the director of migration at Ghana’s Ministry of the Interior.

对众多布朗阿哈福的家庭来说，在欧洲有亲戚意味着受人尊敬，可以收到汇款。“每个家庭希望家里有人在欧洲。”加纳内政部移民署负责人沃特·卡瓦·安题表示。

confers prestige and the prospect of remittances

prospect：the possibility that sth will happen可能性；希望prospect(of sth/of doing sth)

Eg：There is no immediate prospect of peace.短期内没有和平的可能。

remmitance：a sum of money that is sent to sb in order to pay for sth汇款金额

Eg：Please return the completed form with your remittance.请将填好的表格连同汇款寄回。

沃特·科瓦奥·阿纳提（Walter Kwao-Anati）译文翻译的人名

In some cases,he adds, “There is community support for relatives to leave, because your family will be looked down upon if no one has left for Europe.”

在某些方面，他补充道，“有机构资助亲人离开这里，因为如果没有人出发去欧洲，你的家庭会被别人轻视。

in some cases：有些情况下

There is community support for relatives to leave：译文的解释为并不是说community里都是relative，而是这种现象——很多人离开家庭去往欧洲，整个社区都是支持的，说明的是社区总体上有这个倾向。也可以理解成一户人家有人去了欧洲，也许日后那个人可以帮助社区里其他家庭建立起去往欧洲的渠道。support这里应该理解成支持

look down upon：蔑视；轻视；小看Tolook down onsomeone means to consider that person to be inferior or unimportant, usually when this is not true.

Eg：I wasn't successful, so they looked down on me.我一无所成，所以他们瞧不起我。

And there is also the expectation of financial support to the family back home, which helps to improve the family’s living conditions. According to the African Development Bank’s African Economic Outlook 2015 report, remittances, at $64 billion in 2015, remain the most stable and important single source of external finance to Africa.

人们同样希望经济资助那些返回家园的家庭，改善他们的生活状况。非洲开发银行2015年《经济预测展望》显示，2015年的汇款金额达到640亿美元，这依然是非洲最为稳定重要的唯一外部经济来源。

there is also the expectation of financial support to the family back home,

译文翻译为：同时大家还期望这些人反过来为家乡的亲人提供资助。

 But beneath the veil of perceived prestige are bigger national development issues. Kwao-Anati admits that in the case of Ghana, “Poverty is one of the major reasons why people migrate in search of economic opportunities.”

但是在众人皆知的名望的遮掩之下，是更为严重的国家发展问题。卡瓦·安提承认加纳问题颇多，”贫穷是人们移民寻找赚钱机会的最主要原因。（贫困是人们外出寻求经济发展机会的主要原因之一）

perceived prestige：这里不要译的太死板。perceive是感知的意思，也就是你感知到的、看到的声望\地位，言下之意就是这里的prestige只是你看到的表面。

联合国网站上的译文是：解开所谓地位的面纱，就会发现更大的国家发展问题。

（我是任务分隔提醒：下面部分为选做部分，参考译文周五会一起推送给大家~）

Oil fails to save the day

石油没能拯救局面

 Migration is not a new phenomenon in Africa. Around the 1970s and 1980s, most Ghanaian migrants moved to neighbouring countries like Nigeria and Côte d’Ivoire. In recent years, however, irregular migration—traveling without documentation and through unapproved routes—from sub-Saharan Africa towards Europe has substantially increased. 

移民在非洲并不罕见。20世纪70年代到80年代左右，大量加纳移民移居到临近的国家，比如：尼日尔和科特迪瓦。然而，近些年来，一些不合理的移民显著增加，他们出行没有携带证明，利用一条尚未开发的路线。（从非洲撒哈拉以南到达欧洲）

Walker Kwao-Anati says, “As the economic situation on the continent becomes difficult, many young migrants started taking the deadly journey to Europe.”

沃克·卡瓦·安提表示：”因为非洲大陆上的经济环境每况愈下，许多年轻移民开始经由死亡路线到达欧洲。

Ghana, the world’s second-largest cocoa producer (behind Côte d’Ivoire), is also endowed with many natural resources—precious metals like gold and silver as well as diamonds, bauxite, cocoa, timber and crude oil.

加纳是世界上第二大可可粉产地（仅次于科特迪瓦），同时也拥有丰富的自然资源——金，银这样珍贵的金属，以及大量的钻石，铝土矿，可可粉，木材和石油。

When the country started crude oil production in commercial quantities in 2011, many were hopeful of better lives. That year the country’s economy grew at a record high of 15%, the fastest rate in the world, according to the IMF.

该国2011年开始出售石油盈利时，许多人希望过上好日子。国际货币基金组织数据显示，那一年加纳经济增速史无前例达到了15%，位居世界之首。

At the end of 2012, declining productivity at one of the country’s largest oil projects, the Jubilee oil field, led to a decline in revenues for the government, which had budgeted for oil revenue of more than $650 million. The corresponding shortfall was more than $410 million.

2012年末，

Soon after, the country faced a huge public-sector wage bill—following the implementation of a new salary scheme—and ballooning debt, leading to the twin problems of a huge budget deficit and double-digit inflation. The situation was worsened by the collapse of oil prices, which cut a hole in expected revenue.

Dashed hopes

By 2015 a surge in migration from Ghana made the country the eleventh most common nationality among migrants who arrived in Europe by boat, according to the IOM. Arrivals in Italy alone the same year totaled 4,431. As of July of this year, 2,700 such arrivals have been recorded.

Ghana, once touted as an African success story, has now turned to the IMF for support.Today the country’s ballooning debt, coupled with high interest payments, remains a source of concern.

Ghana’s vast resources have not translated into better lives for a majority of the people. Kofi Obeng has been among that majority. He comes from the Eastern Region—an area endowed with diamonds, gold and other mineral resources that Ghana exports.

As a young man, Obeng says, he did all kinds of jobs, even going through mine dumps on illegal mining sites hoping to find missed ore.

But by age 12, he dropped out of school when his grandmother could no longer afford his school fees. Soon he and his friends were heading for Bolgatanga in northern Ghana, where they joined 45 others aiming to reach Europe. He made it only to Libya. But during his three years’ stay in that country, Obeng says he managed to send an average of $500 to his family every other month. He returned home during the Libyan crisis.

Today, at 33 years old, Obeng is a shop assistant in a mall in the Ghanaian capital, Accra, earning 400 cedis ($100) a month. With younger brothers and sisters to support, he says, he does not make enough to go around. He is looking for another opportunity to leave Ghana. For people like him, he says, the only hope of making it in life is to go outside the country.

Linking education to job market

In a joint interview withAfrica Renewal,Kazumi Nakamura and Kojo Wilmot of the IOM office in Ghana blamed the surge in youth migration on an inadequate educational system, among other factors.

“There is a mismatch between the educational system and the job market, leaving a huge skills gap,” notes Nakamura, who manages the Ghana Integrated Migration Management Approach (GIMMA) project, a three-year initiative intended to contribute to the government’s efforts to develop a holistic approach to effective management of migration.

Wilmot says that while conflicts and changes in the weather pattern in northern Ghana are influencing internal migration, unemployment among the youth is largely responsible for external migration. “Many are coming out of school with no jobs,” he says.

According to the United Nations, youth unemployment is a major driver of voluntary migration, as well as a threat to peace and security in the region. Without decent jobs and meaningful employment, African youths remain highly vulnerable to exploitation.

Need for policies

In April of this year, Ghana launched its first National Migration Policy, which provides a comprehensive framework for managing all aspects of the country’s internal, intra-regional and international migration flows. The director of migration, Kwao-Anati, says new policies will enable the government to engage communities more effectively and to gather data to deal with the country’s growing migration challenges.

The IOM’s Nakamura says, “There is a lot more to be done,” and stresses the need for governments to do more to link development programmes to employment and job creation.

Refugees and migrants

Migrants from Africa and elsewhere rescued from asmuggler's boat by an Italian naval ship in the Mediterranean.

UNHCR/A. D'Amato

在地中海，一艘意大利军舰从偷运人口的船上救出了来自非洲和其他地区的移民。联合国难民署/A.达马托（A. D'Amato）供图

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