VOA常速英语2018--女性如蓟花 柔软也刚强（在线收听）

Behind this small shop lies a big backyard, a backyard filled with stories of hope and recovery. Thistle Farms is a nonprofit organization that helps survivors of human trafficking, drug and alcohol addiction, sexual violence and other traumatic experiences.

这家小店后面是一个大后院，后院里随处可以听到有关希望与康复的故事。蓟农场是一家非营利组织，专门帮助有人口走私、吸毒酗酒成瘾、性暴力等创伤性经历的幸存者。

Its mission is simple to heal, empower and employment. The story of human trafficking, the story of sexual violence towards women, it’s a horrible story and it is global and it is huge.

该组织的使命很简单，那就是治愈这些幸存者，给他们以力量，让他们找到工作。女性遭受人口走私和性暴力事情是可怕的经历，在全球各地都有发生，对人影响巨大。

The story of Thistle farms is a story of hope in recovery of women coming together and trying to make the world a more loving place. Jennifer Clinger became victim of physical and sexual abuse where she was only six years old. By 12 she was a drug addict, but Thistle Farms gave her a new lease on life. I ran away from home. I was trafficked, introduced to child pornographers, more trauma on top of that another trauma. All my childhood training taught me that the only thing I had offered the world is my body. Doris Walker, Thistle farms director for local and national events says she was an addict for 26 years and lived on the streets for 20 years before coming here.

蓟农场的故事是有关希望的故事，它将很多女性聚集在一起，竭力让世界成为更加有爱的地方。詹妮弗 克莱格(Jennifer Clinger)是躯体虐待和性虐待的受害者，从6岁开始就是。12岁的时候，她自己也成了吸毒者，好在蓟农场给了她生活的新希望。我从家里跑出来之后，就被拐卖给了儿童色情分子，创伤一波接着一波。我整个童年学到的唯一一件事就是：我只有身体有利用价值。多丽丝 沃克(Doris Walker)是蓟农场当地和全国活动的负责人，她表示，克莱格吸毒已有26年，在来到这里之前，她睡了20年的大街。

When I first got here, they handed me a key and that was the first time in a couple of decades that anybody had trusted me enough to give me a key. And then they asked a very profound question. They didn’t say what have you been out there doing. They asked a question what happened to you. To soothe bodies scarred by physical abuse, Becca Stevens created a line of bath and body products. She hires program participants like Ty to make them. When the new women come, it’s like the best task for me. You know, so I get to pass on what I’ve learned, get to train them how to make products, get to train them how to run machines and I get to show them a whole lot of love.

我刚到这儿的时候，他们就给了我一把钥匙。这是几十年来第一次有人如此相信我，竟然放心把钥匙给我。然后，他们问了一个说来话长的问题。他们没有问我一直都在干嘛。他们问我，我遭遇了什么。为了抚平因遭受身体虐待而留下的伤疤，贝卡 史蒂文斯(Becca Stevens)开办了一个沐浴和身体类产品线。她雇佣了像泰(Ty)这样的项目参与者来生产产品。有新加入的女性时，对我而言就是最好的任务了。因为我可以将我学到的教给她们，可以培训她们怎样生产产品，可以培训她们如何让机器运转起来，可以给她们很多的关爱。

Steven says everybody has a story and every woman’s story is different. She chose Thistle to be her organization’s name because the flower reminded her that every woman she meets can be both strong and fragile. I thought it would be a great idea to name the program after that flash flower that was left. And the women that I was serving were a lot like those thistles and like a lot like me. You know, prickly out, leaves that have a survival by poking people if they get too close. But they also have this beautiful deep purple center that reminds us how soft and beautiful people are, even with us hard outer edges.

史蒂文斯表示，每位女性都有自己的故事，她们的故事都各不相同。她选择将蓟作为组织的名字，是因为蓟花让她想到一件事，那就是她曾遇到的每位女性都曾脆弱，也都很强大。我觉得用这蓟这种花期很短的花来命名这个项目是很棒的主意。我所服务的这些女性都很像蓟花，也很像我。因为蓟花的叶片有刺，如果有人离得太近，蓟花就会戳人，来保证自己的安全。但蓟花的中心深处是紫色的，非常漂亮，这也提醒着我们人性的柔软与美丽，即便表面坚硬。