【精英翻譯】的部落格

The Magnificent Mexican Mural 　色彩的力量：動盪小鎮變身彩虹家園

精英翻譯社轉自http://paper.udn.com/udnpaper/POH0062/293050/web/

　　Most people are happy to hang a painting inside their home. Hundreds of locals in Las Palmitas, a poor neighborhood in central Mexico, have turned their homes into one giant, multicolored mural.

　　 多數人把一幅畫掛在他們家裡面時會感到很開心。位於墨西哥中部一個名為帕爾米塔斯的貧困社區裡，數百位當地人把他們家變成了一幅五彩繽紛的大壁畫。

For 14 months, artists from a local youth group got together with community members and painted the front of 209 homes. They used around 20,000 liters of paint. When viewed from a distance, the mural looks like a giant swirling rainbow on the side of a hill.

　　十四個月以來，來自當地青年組織的藝術家和社區成員聚在一起，共同彩繪了兩百○九間房子的正面牆壁。他們總共用了大約兩萬公升的油漆。從遠處望去，這個壁畫就像是山丘邊一個大型漩渦狀的彩虹。

　　在壁畫完成之前，這個小鎮有許多犯罪和塗鴉的問題。由於有流氓幫派，因此天黑後走在街上並不安全。然而壁畫完成後，當地人開始更以他們的家和社區為榮。現在，垃圾出現在街道上變成過去的事，而且犯罪也有顯著地降低。事實上，參與這項藝術計畫的一些幫派分子已經不再犯法，並且開始以從事藝術為生。

　　Before the mural was painted, the town had many problems with crime and graffiti. It was not safe to walk on the streets after dark because of gangs. After the mural was completed, however, the locals started to take more pride in their homes and community. Rubbish on the streets is now a thing of the past, and crime has dropped dramatically. In fact, some of the gang members that participated in the art project have given up crime and taken up art to make a living.

The project has been so successful that there are plans to brighten up another poor neighborhood not far from Las Palmitas.

　　這項計畫已變得如此成功，因此為另一個距離帕爾米塔斯不遠的貧困社區增添色彩的計畫也已上路。