印度東部村莊Mawlynnong 全亞洲最乾淨的村莊(2)

So where did this sanitation routine comefrom? No one knows for sure, but, according to my guide Shishir Adhikari, itlikely stemmed from an outbreak of cholera more than 130 years ago, andcleanliness was encouraged to control its spread. Early Christian missionariesprobably helped implement and encourage the practice too.

那麼，這種講究衛生的習慣從何而來呢？沒有人確切知道，但據我的嚮導ShishirAdhikari 所言，它來自130 多年前爆發的霍亂，當時鼓勵通過加強衛生控制霍亂的傳播。早期的基督教傳教士可能也幫助實施和鼓勵了這種做法。

The villagers are also of the Khasi people,a traditionally matrilineal society. Perhaps, with women in dominant roles insociety, keeping the home and environment orderly also takes on a greater role,Adhikari and I speculated.

村民們爲卡西族，這是一個傳統的母系社會。Adhikari 和我都推測，也許在女性發揮主導的社會，家庭和環境都會井井有條，這也起到很大的作用，

“We are Christians from more than 100 years back, and cleaning islearned from our elders,”said housewife Sara Kharrymba. “We pass on theseskills, from me to my children, from them to their children.”

家庭主婦Sara Kharrymba 表示，“100 多年前我們的先輩都是基督徒，我們從老人那裏學會講究衛生。我們將這種技能傳給孩子，從他們再傳給下一代。”

In other words, this isn’t habit, it’s along-time tradition. Kharrymba’s own day begins by cleaning their entire compound, she said.

換言之，講究衛生並不是一種習慣，而是一種長期傳統。她說，Kharrymba 的一天從打掃整個住所開始。

While we chatted, she smiled at hersix-year-old daughter, Sanjanai, who was swinging gleefully on a swing made ofleftover plastic bags. The question of what to do with plastic garbage is stilla big one, as burning it is toxic. Often the materials are reused, withcontainers repurposed as planters and bags turned into swings.

在我們聊天時，她笑着望向六歲的女兒Sanjanai——她正在廢塑料袋製作的鞦韆上歡快地蕩着。塑料垃圾該怎樣處理依然是個大問題，因爲燃燒塑料袋是有毒的。材料往往被重複利用，廢舊容器會被用作花盆，廢塑料袋會被製成鞦韆。

“My kids know it’s different here,”Kharrymba said.

Kharrymba 說，“我的孩子知道這裏和別處不同，”

Her children haven’t been outside thevillage yet, she added, but “sometimes guests stay here, and they talk.” Shedescribed how every home in the village has a toilet (another major goal of theClean India programme), and how good her children are at following the rulesfor hygiene.

她補充說，她的孩子還沒有出過村子，但“有時候到訪的客人會講起外面的情況。”她還說，村裏家家都有廁所（“清潔印度行動”計劃的另一個目標），她的孩子們都有良好的衛生習慣。

She paused, staring out at the small pondon her property, whose water looked crystal clear. “I am veryproud to live here,”she said.

她停下來，凝望着屋外的小池塘，那裏的水清澈透明。她說，“我爲在這裏生活感到自豪。”