I've been working on issues of poverty for more than 20 years, and so it's ironic that the problem that and question that I most grapple with is how you actually define poverty. What does it mean? So often, we look at dollar terms -- people making less than a dollar or two or three a day. And yet the complexity of poverty really has to look at income as only one variable. Because really, it's a condition about choice, and the lack of freedom.
Une kam punuar ne ceshtjet e varferise per me shume se 20 vjet, dhe eshte ironike qe problemi dhe pyetja me te cilen ballafaqohem me teper eshte sesi ju me te vertete e perkufizoni varferine. Cfare nenkupton ajo? Keshtu shpesh, ne e shohim termat e dollarit -- njerez qe bejne me pak se nje, dy apo tre dollare ne dite. Dhe ende kompleksiteti i varferise me te vertete duhet te shohi tek te ardhurat si vetem e vetem nje ndryshim. Sepse me te vertete, eshte nje gjendje ne lidhje me zgjedhjet dhe mungeses se lirise.
And I had an experience that really deepened and elucidated for me the understanding that I have. It was in Kenya, and I want to share it with you. I was with my friend Susan Meiselas, the photographer, in the Mathare Valley slums. Now, Mathare Valley is one of the oldest slums in Africa. It's about three miles out of Nairobi, and it's a mile long and about two-tenths of a mile wide, where over half a million people live crammed in these little tin shacks, generation after generation, renting them, often eight or 10 people to a room. And it's known for prostitution, violence, drugs: a hard place to grow up. And when we were walking through the narrow alleys, it was literally impossible not to step in the raw sewage and the garbage alongside the little homes. But at the same time it was also impossible not to see the human vitality, the aspiration and the ambition of the people who live there: women washing their babies, washing their clothes, hanging them out to dry. I met this woman, Mama Rose, who has rented that little tin shack for 32 years, where she lives with her seven children. Four sleep in one twin bed, and three sleep on the mud and linoleum floor. And she keeps them all in school by selling water from that kiosk, and from selling soap and bread from the little store inside.
Dhe kam patur nje pervoje qe me te vertete thelloi dhe sqaroi per mua njohurite qe une kam. Ajo ndodhi ne Kenia, dhe dua ta ndaj ate me ju. Une isha me miken time fotografe, Susan Meiselas, ne lagjet e varfera te Mathare Valley. Tashme, Mathare Valley eshte nje nder lagjet me te vjetra ne Afrike. Kjo eshte rreth tre milje nga Nairobi, nje milje e gjate dhe rreth dy te dhjetat milje e gjere ku mbi gjysem milion e njerezve jetojne te mbipopulluar ne keto kasolle te vogla teneqeje, brez pas brezi, duke i marre me qera, shpesh tete ose dhjete njerez ne dhome. Dhe eshte e njohur per prostitucionin, dhunen, drogen. Nje vend i veshtire qe te rritesh. Dhe kur ne po ecnim ne rrugicat e ngushta, ishte vertet e pamundur te mos shkelje ne ujerat e zeza dhe ne mbeturinat anash shtepive te vogla. Por ne te njejten kohe ishte gjithashtu e pamundur per te mos pare vitalitetin njerezor, aspiratat dhe ambicien e njerezve qe jetojne atje. Grate qe lajne femijet, qe lajne rrobat e tyre, e qe i varin ato jashte per ti thare. Une e takova kete gruan, Mama Rose, e cila ka marre me qera ate kasolle te vogel teneqeje per 32 vjet, e ku jeton me shtate femijet e saj. Kater prej te cileve flene ne nje krevat tek, dhe tre flene ne balte dhe dysheme linoleumi. Dhe ajo i mban te gjithe ne shkolle duke shitur uje nga nje kioske, dhe duke shitur sapun dhe buke nga nje dyqan i vogel.
It was also the day after the inauguration, and I was reminded how Mathare is still connected to the globe. And I would see kids on the street corners, and they'd say "Obama, he's our brother!" And I'd say "Well, Obama's my brother, so that makes you my brother too." And they would look quizzically, and then be like, "High five!"
Ishte gjithashtu nje dite pas zgjedhjeve presidenciale, dhe me beri te kujtoj sesi Mathare eshte ende e lidhur me globin. Dhe une do te shihja femije ne qoshet e rrugeve, dhe ato do te thone "Obama, ai eshte vellai jone!" Dhe une do te them "Obama eshte vellai im, keshtu qe kjo te ben edhe ty vellain tim." Ato do te te shohin cuditshem, dhe me pas do te thone, "Qepalla!"
And it was here that I met Jane. I was struck immediately by the kindness and the gentleness in her face, and I asked her to tell me her story. She started off by telling me her dream. She said, "I had two. My first dream was to be a doctor, and the second was to marry a good man who would stay with me and my family, because my mother was a single mom, and couldn't afford to pay for school fees. So I had to give up the first dream, and I focused on the second." She got married when she was 18, had a baby right away. And when she turned 20, found herself pregnant with a second child, her mom died and her husband left her -- married another woman. So she was again in Mathare, with no income, no skill set, no money. And so she ultimately turned to prostitution. It wasn't organized in the way we often think of it. She would go into the city at night with about 20 girls, look for work, and sometimes come back with a few shillings, or sometimes with nothing. And she said, "You know, the poverty wasn't so bad. It was the humiliation and the embarrassment of it all."
Dhe ishte pikerisht ky momenti qe takova Xhejn. Me beri pershtypje menjehere miresia dhe butesia e fytyres se saj, dhe i kerkova te me tregonte historine e saj. Ajo filloi duke me thene endrren e saj. Ajo tha, "Une kisha dy". Endrra ime e pare ishte te behesha mjeke, dhe e dyta te martohesha me nje njeri te mire qe do te qendronte me mua dhe familjen time. Per shkak sepse mamaja ime ishte beqare, dhe nuk mundi te perballonte pagesat per taksat e shkolles. Keshtu qe mu desh qe te hiqja dore nga endrra e pare, dhe u fokusova tek e dyta." Ajo u martua kur ishte vetem 18, dhe lindi menjehere femije. Dhe kur beri 20, e gjeti veten shtatzene me nje femije te dyte, mamaja e saj vdiq dhe i shoqi e la ate -- duke u martuar me nje femer tjeter. Pra, ajo ishte perseri ne Mathare, pa te ardhura, pa nje profesion, pa para. Dhe keshtu ajo u kthye ne prostitute. Nuk ishte ashtu sic e mendojme ne. Ajo shkonte ne qytet gjate nates me rreth 20 vajza, duke kerkuar pune, dhe ndonjehere kthehej me ca para ose ndonjehere pa gje. Ajo tha, "E dini cfare, varferia nuk ishte dhe aq e keqe. Por, ishte poshterimi dhe sikleti i gjithe kesaj."
In 2001, her life changed. She had a girlfriend who had heard about this organization, Jamii Bora, that would lend money to people no matter how poor you were, as long as you provided a commensurate amount in savings. And so she spent a year to save 50 dollars, and started borrowing, and over time she was able to buy a sewing machine. She started tailoring. And that turned into what she does now, which is to go into the secondhand clothing markets, and for about three dollars and 25 cents she buys an old ball gown. Some of them might be ones you gave. And she repurposes them with frills and ribbons, and makes these frothy confections that she sells to women for their daughter's Sweet 16 or first Holy Communion -- those milestones in a life that people want to celebrate all along the economic spectrum. And she does really good business. In fact, I watched her walk through the streets hawking. And before you knew it, there was a crowd of women around her, buying these dresses.
Ne 2001, jeta e saj ndryshoi. Ajo kishte nje miken e saj, qe kish degjuar per organizaten, Jamii Bora, qe u jepte para hua njerezve pavaresisht sa te varfer ishin, me kusht që te kishin siguruar nje shume proporcionale ne kursime. Dhe keshtu ajo u mundua nje vit per te ruajtur 50 dollare, dhe filloi te merrte borxh, dhe me kalimin e kohes ajo arriti te blinte nje makine qepese. Ajo filloi te qepte. Dhe kjo e shnderroi ne ate qe eshte tani, ajo shkon ne tregjet e dores se dyte, dhe per rreth tre dollar e 25 cent ajo blen nje fustan te vjeter mbremje. Disa prej tyre mund te jene ato qe keni dhene ju. Dhe i ndryshon modelin me rrudha dhe shirita, dhe i ben keto rroba te gatshme qe ja shet grave per vajzat e tyre per 16 vjetorin ose per Kungaten e pare -- ato momente historike ku njerezit duan te festojne te gjithe se bashku pertej spektrit ekonomik. Dhe ajo ben me te vertete nje biznes te mire. Ne te vertete, une e pashe ate qe ecte rrugeve duke shitur. Dhe pa e kuptuar, nje turme grash u mblodh rreth saj, te blinte keto veshje.
And I reflected, as I was watching her sell the dresses, and also the jewelry that she makes, that now Jane makes more than four dollars a day. And by many definitions she is no longer poor. But she still lives in Mathare Valley. And so she can't move out. She lives with all of that insecurity, and in fact, in January, during the ethnic riots, she was chased from her home and had to find a new shack in which she would live.
Dhe une reflektova, nderkohe qe shihja ate duke shitur fustanet dhe gjithashtu bizhute qe ajo vete bente, qe tani Xhejn ben me shume se kater dollare ne dite. Dhe nga shume percaktime ajo nuk eshte me e varfer. Por ajo akoma jeton ne Mathare Valley. Ajo nuk mund te levize. Ajo jeton me gjithe ate pasiguri, dhe ne te vertete, ne janar, pergjate trazirave etnike, ajo ishte perzene nga shtepia e saj dhe i duhej te gjente nje kasolle te re ne te cilen ajo do te jetonte..
Jamii Bora understands that and understands that when we're talking about poverty, we've got to look at people all along the economic spectrum. And so with patient capital from Acumen and other organizations, loans and investments that will go the long term with them, they built a low-cost housing development, about an hour outside Nairobi central. And they designed it from the perspective of customers like Jane herself, insisting on responsibility and accountability. So she has to give 10 percent of the mortgage -- of the total value, or about 400 dollars in savings. And then they match her mortgage to what she paid in rent for her little shanty. And in the next couple of weeks, she's going to be among the first 200 families to move into this development.
Jamii Bora e kupton ate. Dhe kupton gjithashtu qe kur ne jemi duke folur rreth varferise ne kemi marre parasysh te gjithe njerezit e niveleve te ndryshem ekonomik. Dhe keshtu me kapitalin e pacientit nga Acumen dhe organizatat e tjera, kredive dhe investimeve qe do te shkojne per nje afat te gjate me ta, ato ndertuan strehime me kosto te ulet, rreth nje ore jashte qendres se Nairobit. Ata e projektuan ate nga prespektiva e klienteve sic ishte Xhejn, duke insistuar tek pergjegjesite dhe pergjegjshmerite. Keshtu ajo kishte per te dhene 10 perqind te hipotekes -- te vleres se pergjithshme, ose rreth 400 dollar te kursimeve. Dhe me pas ato pershtatin hipoteken e saj per cfare ajo ka paguar per baraken e saj te vogel. Dhe ne javet e ardhshme, ajo do te jete ndermjet 200 familjeve te para qe levizin drejt ketij strehimi.
When I asked her if she feared anything, or whether she would miss anything from Mathare, she said, "What would I fear that I haven't confronted already? I'm HIV positive. I've dealt with it all." And she said, "What would I miss? You think I will miss the violence or the drugs? The lack of privacy? Do you think I'll miss not knowing if my children are going to come home at the end of the day?" She said "If you gave me 10 minutes my bags would be packed." I said, "Well what about your dreams?" And she said, "Well, you know, my dreams don't look exactly like I thought they would when I was a little girl. But if I think about it, I thought I wanted a husband, but what I really wanted was a family that was loving. And I fiercely love my children, and they love me back." She said, "I thought that I wanted to be a doctor, but what I really wanted to be was somebody who served and healed and cured. And so I feel so blessed with everything that I have, that two days a week I go and I counsel HIV patients. And I say, 'Look at me. You are not dead. You are still alive. And if you are still alive you have to serve.'" And she said, "I'm not a doctor who gives out pills. But maybe me, I give out something better because I give them hope."
Kur e pyeta ate nese i trembej dickaje, ose nese asaj i mungonte dicka nga Mathare, ajo mu pergjigj, "Cfare mund te kem frike qe nuk e kam ballafaquar tashme? Une jam mbartese pozitive ndaj HIV. Une kam luftuar me te gjitha." Dhe ajo tha, "Cfare mund te me mungoje? Ju mendoni se do te me mungoje dhuna apo droga? Mungesa e intimitetit? Ju mendoni se do te me mungoje meraku nese femijet e mi do te kthehen ne shtepi ne fundin e dites?" Ajo tha "Nese me jep 10 minuta cantat e mia do te paketohen." Une e pyeta, "Po rreth endrrave te tua?" dhe ajo mu pergjigj, "Epo ju e dini, qe endrrat e mia nuk duken me ashtu sic ishin kur isha e vogel. Por nese e mendoj tani, une mendoja se doja te kisha nje burre, por ajo qe doja ne te vertete ishte nje familje qe te kishte dashuri. Dhe une i dua femijet e mi me tere forcen time, dhe ato me duan gjithashtu." Ajo tha, "Une mendoja se doja te behesha mjeke, por ajo cka ne te vertete une doja ishte te isha dikush qe do i sherbente, qetesonte dhe sheronte njerezit. Keshtu qe une ndihem e bekuar me cdo gje qe kam, dhe qe 2 here ne jave une shkoj dhe keshilloj pacientet HIV mbartes. Dhe i them, "Me shikoni mua. Ju nuk jeni te vdekur. Ju jeni akoma gjalle. Nese ju jeni akoma gjalle ju duhet te sherbeni." Dhe ajo vazhdoi, "Une nuk jam nje mjeke qe jep ilace. Por ndoshta une, jap dicka me te mire sepse i jap shprese."
And in the middle of this economic crisis, where so many of us are inclined to pull in with fear, I think we're well suited to take a cue from Jane and reach out, recognizing that being poor doesn't mean being ordinary. Because when systems are broken, like the ones that we're seeing around the world, it's an opportunity for invention and for innovation. It's an opportunity to truly build a world where we can extend services and products to all human beings, so that they can make decisions and choices for themselves. I truly believe it's where dignity starts. We owe it to the Janes of the world. And just as important, we owe it to ourselves.
Dhe ne mes te kesaj krize ekonimike, ku shume prej nesh jane prirur per te terhequr friken, une mendoj qe ne jemi te mirepershtatur per te marre nje sinjal nga Xhejn dhe te arrijme te kuptojme qe te qenit i varfer nuk do te thote te jesh i rendomte. Sepse kur sistemet nuk funksionojne, si ato te cilat jemi duke pare rreth botes, eshte nje mundesi me teper per shpikje dhe per risi. Eshte nje mundesi e vertete per te ndertuar nje bote ku ne mund te perhapim sherbimet dhe produktet tek te gjithe qeniet njerezore, ne menyre qe ato te mund te marrin vendime dhe te bejne zgjedhje per veten e tyre. Une sinqerisht besoj qe kjo eshte rruga ne te cilen dinjiteti fillon. Ne ja kushtojme kete Xhejnit dhe botes se saj. Dhe eshte po aq e rendesishme, t'ja kushtojme kete vetes tone.
Thank you.
Faleminderit.
(Applause)
(Duartrokitje)