In the bare premises of an Abidjan Internet cafe, 12-year-old schoolboy Mohammed plays Cupid.  Scores of young women in the West African country of Ivory Coast have taken to surfing the Web, some for hours a day, determined to find a husband.
And not just any man will do. "When you ask them what sort of guy they want, they all say the same thing: white, with a house, aged about 50 ，" he said, smiling shyly. Some of the women are illiterate. Most do not know how to use a computer or cannot type fast. To earn his pocket money, Mohammed helps the man-hunting girls write their love messages, post them on the Internet and read e-mails from potential suitors. "These Web sites are about love but when you meet these girls you feel that it's not really love they are looking for," he said. Kone Adjouma, who runs the Cyber Center where Mohammed works, says most of his customers are 18-to-20-year-old girls who see a white man as their ticket to a better life in Europe, Canada or the United States.
"Sometimes, after a while, the guy comes here for a week to meet the family. Then he would send over a plane ticket and a bit of money for the documents," Adjouma said. "I have been here for two years and I've seen nine girls leave like that."
The dating pages of Web sites can carry 30 to 40 new messages every day from Ivorian women seeking partners. Most say they want "un blanc" (a white). Some can be quite specific about other requirements too. "Pretty, young African woman seeks European man, only aged between 40 and 50, for marriage, well-off because I think that's what you need to be happy, let's not be ashamed about it," said a recent message. Not surprisingly, some matches made on the Internet turn sour very quickly. Rebecca, 22, says her friend Viviane sounded very happy when she found a man who asked her to go over to France. "He was buying her clothes. He was taking her to clubs. Everything looked fine but then, after two weeks, he told her she had to work as a prostitute," she said. Viviane managed to escape and now lives in Ghana. But even the most horrible tales seem to do little to dent the hopes of Yolande, 21, who works as a maid and hairdresser. She says she has been dreaming of marrying a foreign man since she was 15. Yolande says the French embassy has twice refused her a visa after a Frenchman she met in Ivory Coast sent her money and a ticket to join him. She said she will keep trying. "I can't read and I can't write, my mother works in the fields at the village. When I have a child, I want him to have a different life." (Agencies) | 尽管12岁的穆罕默德还是个在校就读的孩子，但是在阿比让网吧那幢光秃秃的楼房里，他却每天努力扮演着爱神“丘比特”的角色。 在这里，有很多来自非洲象牙海岸的年轻女孩子，她们每天都花好几个小时上网，只因为她们下定了决心，要通过网络为自己找到如意郎君。 但并不是所有的男人都在她们的征婚范围之内的。 脸上带着害羞的微笑，穆罕默德说道："如果你问她们什么样的男人符合她们的条件，她们的回答都一样：白人，有房子，年龄50岁左右。" 这些女孩子中，有一部分是文盲，绝大多数根本不懂如何使用电脑。即便会，打字速度也很慢。 穆罕默德帮助这些女孩子写求爱的信息，张贴在网上，并为她们朗读那些符合条件的回复邮件，以此赚取一些零花钱。 他说："这些网站都是有关爱情的。但如果你和这些女孩子面对面，你会觉得她们并非在寻找真正的爱情。"  据经营这家网吧的科内说，光顾这里的大部分是18到20岁的女孩子，她们向往欧洲、加拿大或者美国的舒适生活，希望能找到一个白人给自己提供一张到达那里的机票。
他说："有时候，会有一些男人过来和女孩子的家庭见面，回去后就把机票和办手续的钱寄过来。我已经在这里呆了两年，亲眼见到有9个女孩子用这种方式离开了这里。" 一些网站会有一些关于征婚交友的页面，这些页面每天都会发布30到40条的新信息，内容大多是关于象牙海岸妇女的交友启事。大部分人都要求对方是白人，有时候，她们还会非常明确的写出自己的其他要求。 最近发布的一条是这样写的："年轻美貌非洲女孩欲寻找40到50岁的欧洲男子为偶，你必须富有，因为只有财富才能使人快乐，这样说没什么,不用感到羞耻。" 当然，网络姻缘也不乏失败的例子，带来一些涩涩的苦果。 22岁的丽贝卡说她的朋友维维亚娜通过互联网认识了一个男人，他邀请她去法国，"他给她买衣服，带她去俱乐部，起初一切都那么美好，但两星期后，他让她去卖淫。"维维亚娜幸运地从那个男人手中逃了出去，现在住在加纳。 但即便是最可怕的事例也无法吓退21岁的约兰达。她现在的工作是女佣和美发师。她说从15岁起她就梦想着嫁给外国人。 约兰达在象牙海岸认识了一个法国人，他给了她钱和机票。但法国使馆已经两次拒绝发给她签证。 约兰达说她会一直努力下去，直到通过为止："我既不识字，也不会写。我的母亲每天都在乡下的地里干活。当我有了孩子，我一定要给他一个全新的生活。" （中国日报网站译） |
Updated: 2002-10-18 01:00
