(本文选自《经济学人》20201121期)
背景介绍：
在位于非洲东部的肯尼亚共和国，精神健康问题长期被官方所忽视。这个国家的精神病人不仅需要承担国破家贫的痛苦，还得面对极度恶劣的生存环境。他们被政府所抛弃、被援助机构遗忘并受到整个社会的忽视或者非议；他们被关在黑暗的角落里、被束缚在生锈的病床上、过着如同囚犯一般的生活。
The
torments
of Kenya’s mentally ill
Many are locked away, few receive proper care
Sunday worshippers at the Holy Ghost Coptic Church of Africa, where services often last for hours, are used to the racket coming from the pews at the back. But it is not the sound of bells ringing or
ecstatic
chanting. Rather, the clanking comes from chains that
shackle
Father John Pesa’s “patients”. In Kisumu, Kenya’s third-biggest city, Father Pesa has built a reputation for “spiritually healing” the mentally ill.
在非洲圣灵科普特教会，周日的礼拜者们已经习惯了后排长凳处传来的持续数小时的嘈杂声。但这既不是鸣响的钟声，也不是狂热的诵经声。这些叮叮当当的声音来自约翰·佩萨神父束缚“病人”的锁链。在肯尼亚第三大城市基苏木，佩萨神父以从“从精神上治愈” 精神病患者而闻名。
Others have called it “psychological torture”. Rose Ojwang’s husband sent her 17-year-old son to Father Pesa after the boy began
hallucinating
and behaving strangely. Like other patients, he was shackled. He grew thin, says Rose, because the church does not feel obliged to feed its wards unless paid to do so. For two years the boy went without proper medical treatment.
也有人将佩萨神父的行为称为“心理折磨”。罗斯·奥杰旺的丈夫把她出现幻觉、行为怪异的17岁的儿子送到了佩萨神父那里。他和其他患者一样被锁链束缚。罗斯说，她的儿子越来越消瘦了，因为教会不认为自己有为受抚养者提供食物的义务，除非有人付钱。两年来，这个男孩并未得到适当的治疗。
Rose’s grim story echoes the reporting of Human Rights Watch (HRW), an international watchdog, which found that the church had kept no fewer than 60 people in chains. Kenyan doctors say the practice is common. Their country is not alone.
罗斯的悲惨遭遇与国际监督组织人权观察（HRW）的调查报告如出一辙，人权观察组织发现该教会关押人员超过60名。肯尼亚的医生表示，这种做法很普遍。这种现象也并不仅仅出现在肯尼亚。
HRW’s report, published in October, found evidence of shackling in 60 countries, from Brazil to Indonesia. It reckoned that hundreds of thousands of people who suffer from mental illness have at some point been chained or locked up. In countries where such illnesses are poorly understood, many sufferers never see doctors.
今年10月，人权观察组织发布了一份最新的报告，他们在从巴西到印度尼西亚的60多个国家都找到了锁链束缚的证据。据估计，成千上万的精神病患者都曾在某个时候被锁上铁链或被关了起来。在对此类疾病知之甚少的国家，许多患者不曾看过医生。
Kenya is anyway short of psychiatrists. In Africa, on average, there is less than one mental-health worker per 100,000 people, compared with 50 in Europe. Kenya has 0.19 psychiatrists per 100,000 people and one psychiatric hospital. At the local level, “mental health is a mess and mostly forgotten,” says Iregi Mwenja of the Psychiatric Disability Organisation, a Kenyan NGO.
总之，肯尼亚缺少精神科医生。在非洲，平均每10万人只有不到1名心理健康工作者，而欧洲则是50名。肯尼亚平均每10万人仅有0.19名精神病医生和一家精神病医院。在地方层面，肯尼亚非政府组织“精神残疾组织”的艾雷吉·姆文贾说：“精神健康工作做得一团糟，并且几乎被遗忘了。”
“No family wants to shackle their child,” says Kriti Sharma of HRW. But good care is expensive and patients are expected to recover in their community. Often people are ignorant of mental health issues, or fearful that the afflicted person may harm others.
人权观察组织的克里蒂·沙玛说：“没有哪个家庭愿意让自己的孩子戴上锁链的。”但良好的治疗需要高昂的费用，而且人们希望患者能够在自己的社区里康复。人们往往对精神健康问题一无所知，或是担心精神病患者可能会伤害他人。
But people seek out the services of Father Pesa for other reasons, too. Mental illness in Kenya, as in many parts of Africa, is often thought to be caused by evil spirits. Traditional healers are called in before health professionals. Father Pesa’s church purports to flush out demons.
但是，人们之所以寻求佩萨神父的帮助还有更深层次的原因。肯尼亚与非洲许多地区一样，人们往往认为精神疾病是由邪恶灵魂引起的。传统治疗师会比专业医务人员早来一步。佩萨神父的教会声称要驱散恶魔。
It cites a miracle in the New Testament when Jesus drove demons out of a madman (who was shackled) and sent them into pigs. In Kenya’s Somali region, which is mostly Muslim, many believe the mentally ill are possessed by jinns (supernatural creatures).
它引用了《圣经新约》中的一个典故，耶稣把鬼从一个带有镣铐的疯子身上赶了出来，并将其赶到猪的体内。在肯尼亚靠近索马里的地区（以穆斯林为主），许多人认为精神病患者是被精灵（超自然生物）附身了。
It is hard to shake off such deep-rooted beliefs. A health official who worked in Mathari Hospital, the country’s sole psychiatric one, tells the story of her mentally ill brother. The last time he had a psychotic episode he chopped off three of his wife’s fingers with a machete. Yet the doctor and her sister could not convince their mother that he needed medical care. “Even as a mental-health specialist, I still don’t have any influence,” she
laments
.
想要打破这种根深蒂固的观念是很困难的。在该国唯一一家精神病医院玛塔里医院工作的卫生官员讲述了她患有精神病的哥哥的故事。在最近一次精神病发作时，他用一把砍刀砍掉了他妻子的三根手指。然而，医生和她的妹妹仍无法说服他们的母亲他需要接受治疗。她感叹道：“即使作为一名心理健康专家，我仍然没有任何影响力。”
There is some cause for hope. Kenya has signed up to a World Health Organisation initiative that promotes better care for the mentally ill. Politicians are striving to amend outdated laws, and the health ministry is wrangling for more power to monitor facilities where patients are shackled. A recent High Court ruling found that Rose’s son had been tortured and ordered the church to pay him 500,000 Kenyan shillings ($4,590) in damages. But Father Pesa continues to host patients.
但还是有理由抱有希望的。肯尼亚已经签署了世界卫生组织提出的一项旨在为精神病患者提供更好的护理的倡议。政客们正在努力修改过时的法律，卫生部门也在争取更大的权力以监查那些束缚病人的设施。最近，在发现罗斯的儿子曾遭受酷刑后，肯尼亚最高法院作出了一项裁决，下令教会向他赔偿50万肯尼亚先令（约合4590美元）。但佩萨神父如今仍在继续接收病人。
(红色标注词为重难点词汇)
本文翻译：Vinnie
校核：Vinnie
编辑：Vinnie
在非洲一些国家（尤其是那些常年战乱或腐败现象严重的贫苦国家），精神病患者往往无法得到适当的治疗，甚至会被人们以铁链束缚，度过悲惨的一生。除了医疗水平的落后（缺乏医疗机构及专业医务人员），更深层次的原因则在于根深蒂固的迷信观念。
重难点词汇：
torment
[ˈtɔːrment] n. 痛苦；
折磨 v. 纠缠；
骚扰
