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肯尼亚纪念独立50周年

Thursday will mark 50 years since Kenya gained independence from Britain. As the nation celebrates half a century of self-rule, Kenyans are reflecting on how their country has changed.

星期四是肯尼亚脱离英国、取得独立50周年。经过几十年的殖民统治，肯尼亚在1963年取得独立。一位当年出生的肯尼亚人回忆他的国家在这50年来的转变。

Frederic Njenga was born in 1963, the year his country emerged¹ from decades of colonial² rule. He is an entrepreneur³ and runs a butcher's shop on the outskirts⁴ of Nairobi.

弗雷德里克?纳延加在内罗毕郊区经营一家自己创业的肉铺店。

His parents, like many Kenyans with high hopes for a country that won hard-fought independence, wanted their son to get a good education. However, they could not afford to pay school fees.

他的父母和许多肯尼亚人一样，对经过努力奋斗才赢得独立的国家怀着很高期望，希望儿子受到好教育，却无法负担儿子的学费。

"I completed primary school in 1980, then I went to high school. I studied for the first two terms, but then we couldn't afford the fees so I was forced to quit. Living in the village, in a rural area, you have to think about what else you will do. So I decided⁵ to start a business with money I had saved working in people's farms, and that's how I started,” recalled Njenga.

纳延加说：“1980年我读完小学，然后上了高中。读了两个学期之后交不出学费，只好被迫休学。我住在一个乡村，必须思考自己还能做什么事。因此我决定用自己的积蓄创业，这些钱是我在他人农场打工的存款，我就是这么开始的。”

Like many people in rural communities, Njenga shares a home with his extended family. He lives with his parents and four children.

和许多在乡村生活的人一样，纳延加和他的大家庭住在一起，包括父母和4个小孩。

As the owner of a butcher shop, he often travels to the local livestock⁶ market to buy supplies. He does not own a car, so he uses a public transport minibus known as a "matatu."

他开始作生意的第一件事情就是到牲畜交易市场买食材。当时他还买不起车，只能搭乘大众交通工具，也就是一种叫作“马他途”的迷你巴士。

Life can be hard and money is sometimes tight, but Njenga believes Kenya has made major progress over the years.

生活有时过得艰苦，钱有时也很紧，但是纳延加认为肯尼亚在过去几十年来有了重大的进展。

"If you think back to the early 1970s, there were no paved⁷ roads or tapped water. Electricity wasn't accessible to all people, and today most people have electricity in their homes. Many of the main roads are tarmac (paved) so the government has tried,” said Njenga.

他说：“如果你回想1970年代早期，当时没有铺好的路和自来水，不是每个人都能获得电力供应。现在，大部分的人家里有电，许多主要道路已经铺好，所以可以看出政府的努力。”

There are large suppliers of meat in Kenya, but many people still rely on small-scale traders like Njenga who sell meat at a relatively⁸ lower cost.

When asked what he hopes the future holds for himself and Kenya, Njenga is non-committal.

"I can't tell you what the future of the country will be, but ask me about business. All we want is for us to be able to make a living,” he said.

问他对自己和肯尼亚的未来有何期望？纳延加含糊地说：“我无法告诉你这个国家未来会怎么样？但如果是有关生意的问题，我们只希望能够继续谋生过活。”

Njenga hopes that as Kenya marks 50 years of independence from colonial rule, his country will continue to grow and develop -- and give his children and grandchildren a better chance for a comfortable life.

纳延加希望在肯尼亚纪念脱离殖民统治独立50周年的时候，他的国家能够继续发展，让他的子孙后代有更好的机会，过着舒适的生活。