万恶风俗 非洲妇女15孩被喂鳄鱼

Buko Balguda, 45, from Duss, a Karo tribal village in southern Ethiopia's Omo Valley, is alone. The reason? Her seven sons and eight daughters were all killed at birth by village elders who decided that the children were cursed.

来自埃塞俄比亚南部奥莫山谷Karo部落达斯村庄的45岁的布科·布格达如今孤苦无依。为什么？因为她的7个儿子和8个女儿一出生就被部落长老认定受到诅咒，被全部杀死了。

'I lost five plus five plus five babies - 15 in total,' she explains. 'I had seven males and eight females. During this time, our tribal traditions were very hard. I did not respect our traditions, so they killed my children.'

“一个又一个，我一共失去了15个孩子，”她解释道，“我生过7个男孩和8个女孩。我们部落的传统非常严厉。我没有遵守我们的传统，于是他们杀了我的孩子。”

And Ms Balguda is not alone. The concept of 'mingi' or cursed children remains a tenet of tribal life for the Hamer and Bana people, with elders insisting that mingi infants are killed before they can bring the rest of the tribe bad luck.

不仅是布格达一人有此遭遇。“mingi”意为受诅咒的孩子，这一概念依然被奉为Hamer和Bana部落的信条，部落长老坚持应该在受诅咒的婴儿为部落带来厄运之前就将他们杀死。

As a result - and despite efforts by the Ethiopian government to ban the practice - cursed children are murdered every day, whether by being left alone to be eaten by hyenas, thrown to hungry crocodiles or simply starved to death in a locked hut.

所以，即使埃塞俄比亚政府努力禁止这项传统，每天还是不断有“受诅咒的”孩子被杀，他们要不然就是被单独留在野外给土狼吃掉，要不然就被喂给饥饿的鳄鱼，或是被锁在小屋子里活活饿死。

For Ms Balguda, the problems began before she even married, when her future husband failed to take part in her tribe's traditional bull jumping ceremony - an initiation rite for men which has to be completed before they can marry.

对布格达来说，这些从她结婚前就开始了，她的未婚夫没能参加部落的传统“跳公牛”仪式。这一仪式是部落男子的成年礼，必须在他们成婚前完成。

When he married Ms Balguda anyway, village elders declared that any children would be considered illegitimate and would be killed as soon as they were born.

但不管怎样，他俩还是结婚了，部落长老宣布他们的任何孩子都将被认定为私生子，而且一出生就必须被杀死。

But illegitimacy isn't the only reason for a child being declared 'mingi'. Others are deemed cursed because of disabilities, because their parents didn't get permission for a pregnancy from the elders, because they are a twin and most cruelly of all, because their teeth develop the wrong way.

但是，不仅只有私生子被视为“mingi”。残疾，母亲怀孕时父母没有得到长老的同意或双胞胎的孩子都被视为“mingi”，最残忍的是，长牙顺序不对也会被认为是“mingi”。

小编注：Mingi意为不洁、受诅咒，是埃塞俄比亚南部奥莫山谷Karo和Hamar部落的传统信仰。私生、双胞胎，上牙在下牙之前长出来，或是童年牙齿剥落等都被认定为mingi，这些孩子会被残忍地杀死。

Cruel though the practice is, village elders fear that if the children aren't killed, bad luck will blight the tribe. 'Most of the tribes in the Omo Valley still have strong superstitions.'

这项传统虽然残忍，但部落长老担心如果这些孩子没有被杀死，厄运就会降临部落。“奥莫山谷里的大部分部落迷信仍然很严重。”

Until things change, the pain for women like Ms Balguda will continue. 'At the time, I had no choice,' she adds. 'Nowadays, when i see the women giving birth or giving milk, I feel sorry. I feel lonely. Nobody is on my side.'

只有改变，像布格达这样的妇女的痛苦才不会延续。布格达补充说道，“目前我别无选择。现在每当我看到别人生孩子或是喂奶的时候，我都觉得难过和孤独。我身边谁也没有。”