There's a group of people in Kenya. People cross oceans to go see them. These people are tall. They jump high. They wear red. And they kill lions. You might be wondering, who are these people? These are the Maasais. And you know what's cool? I'm actually one of them.
Postoji grupa ljudi u Keniji. Ljudi prelaze oceane kako bi ih vidjeli. Ti ljudi su visoki. Visoko skaču. Nose crveno. I ubijaju lavove. Zasigurno se pitate, tko su ti ljudi? Oni su Masai. I znate što je cool? Ja sam zapravo jedna od njih.
The Maasais, the boys are brought up to be warriors. The girls are brought up to be mothers. When I was five years old, I found out that I was engaged to be married as soon as I reached puberty. My mother, my grandmother, my aunties, they constantly reminded me that your husband just passed by. (Laughter) Cool, yeah? And everything I had to do from that moment was to prepare me to be a perfect woman at age 12. My day started at 5 in the morning, milking the cows, sweeping the house, cooking for my siblings, collecting water, firewood. I did everything that I needed to do to become a perfect wife.
Masai, dječaci su odgajani da budu ratnici. Djevojke su odgajane da budu majke. Kada sam imala pet godina, saznala sam da sam zaručena kako bih se udala čim uđem u pubertet. Moja majka, baka, moje ujne, stalno su me podsjećale da tvoj je muž upravo prošao. (Smijeh) Cool, ha? I sve što sam morala napraviti od tog trenutka je bilo pripremiti se da budem savršena žena od 12 godina. Dan mi je počinjao u 5 sati ujutro, muženje krava,čišćenje kuće, kuhanje za svoju braću, skupljanje vode, drva za ogrijev. Činila sam sve što sam morala kako bih postala savršena žena.
I went to school not because the Maasais' women or girls were going to school. It's because my mother was denied an education, and she constantly reminded me and my siblings that she never wanted us to live the life she was living. Why did she say that? My father worked as a policeman in the city. He came home once a year. We didn't see him for sometimes even two years. And whenever he came home, it was a different case. My mother worked hard in the farm to grow crops so that we can eat. She reared the cows and the goats so that she can care for us. But when my father came, he would sell the cows, he would sell the products we had, and he went and drank with his friends in the bars. Because my mother was a woman, she was not allowed to own any property, and by default, everything in my family anyway belongs to my father, so he had the right. And if my mother ever questioned him, he beat her, abused her, and really it was difficult.
Išla sam u školu ne zato što su žene i djevojke Masai išle u školu. Išla sam jer je mojoj majci uskraćeno obrazovanje, i stalno je ponavljala meni i mojoj braći da nama ne želi život kakav je ona živjela. Zašto je to rekla? Moj je otac radio kao policajac u gradu. Dolazio je doma jednom na godinu. Ponekad ga nismo vidjeli po dvije godine. I kada god bi došao doma, bilo je drukčije. Moja je majka puno radila na farmi kako bi rasli usjevi nama za hranu. Uzgajala je krave i koze da bi se mogla brinuti za nas. Ali kada je moj otac došao, on bi rasprodao krave, prodao bi sve proizvode što smo imali, i otišao piti sa svojim društvom u barove. Zato što je moja majka bila žena, nije joj bilo dozvoljeno da posjeduje bilo kakvu imovinu, i podrazumijevalo se da sve u mojoj obitelji pripada mom ocu, pa je on imao na to pravo. I ako bi ga moja majka ikada upitala, istukao bi je, zlostavljao, i zaista je bilo teško.
When I went to school, I had a dream. I wanted to become a teacher. Teachers looked nice. They wear nice dresses, high-heeled shoes. I found out later that they are uncomfortable, but I admired it. (Laughter) But most of all, the teacher was just writing on the board -- not hard work, that's what I thought, compared to what I was doing in the farm. So I wanted to become a teacher.
Kada sam išla u školu, imala sam san. Željala sam postati učiteljica. Učiteljice izgledaju lijepo. Nose lijepe haljine, cipele s visokim petama. Kasnije sam saznala da su one neudobne, ali sam ih obožavala. (Smijeh) Ali najviše od svega, učiteljice su samo pisale po ploči-- nisu imale težak posao, to sam ja mislila, uspoređujući to s onime što sam ja radila na farmi. I tako sam željela postati učiteljica.
I worked hard in school, but when I was in eighth grade, it was a determining factor. In our tradition, there is a ceremony that girls have to undergo to become women, and it's a rite of passage to womanhood. And then I was just finishing my eighth grade, and that was a transition for me to go to high school. This was the crossroad. Once I go through this tradition, I was going to become a wife. Well, my dream of becoming a teacher will not come to pass. So I talked -- I had to come up with a plan to figure these things out. I talked to my father. I did something that most girls have never done. I told my father, "I will only go through this ceremony if you let me go back to school." The reason why, if I ran away, my father will have a stigma, people will be calling him the father of that girl who didn't go through the ceremony. It was a shameful thing for him to carry the rest of his life. So he figured out. "Well," he said, "okay, you'll go to school after the ceremony."
Trudila sam se u školi, ali kada sam bila u osmom razredu, to je bio odlučujući faktor. U našoj tradiciji postoji ceremonija koju djevojke moraju proći kako bi postale žene, i to je obred na putu prema ženstvenosti. I tada sam završavala osmi razred, i to je bio prijelaz da krenem u srednju školu. To je bilo križanje. Jednom kada prođem ovu tradiciju, postajem žena. Stoga, moj san o tome da postanem učiteljica neće se dogoditi. I tako sam razgovarala- morala sam smisliti plan kako bih sve shvatila. Razgovarala sam sa ocem. Učinila sam nešto što većina djevojaka nikad nije uradilo. Rekla sam ocu, "Proći ću ovu ceremoniju samo ako mi dozvoliš da se vratim nazad u školu." Razlog zašto, ako bih pobjegla, moj bi otac imao stigmu, ljudi bi ga nazivali ocem djevojke koja nije prošla ceremoniju. To je bila sramotna stvar za njega tijekom cijelog života. Odlučio je. "Pa, rekao je, ok, ići ćeš u školu nakon ceremonije."
I did. The ceremony happened. It's a whole week long of excitement. It's a ceremony. People are enjoying it. And the day before the actual ceremony happens, we were dancing, having excitement, and through all the night we did not sleep. The actual day came, and we walked out of the house that we were dancing in. Yes, we danced and danced. We walked out to the courtyard, and there were a bunch of people waiting. They were all in a circle. And as we danced and danced, and we approached this circle of women, men, women, children, everybody was there. There was a woman sitting in the middle of it, and this woman was waiting to hold us. I was the first. There were my sisters and a couple of other girls, and as I approached her, she looked at me, and I sat down. And I sat down, and I opened my legs. As I opened my leg, another woman came, and this woman was carrying a knife. And as she carried the knife, she walked toward me and she held the clitoris, and she cut it off.
Jesam. Ceremonija se dogodila. To je cijeli tjedan pun uzbuđenja. To je ceremonija. Ljudi uživaju u tome. I dan prije nego što se ceremonija odvijala, plesali smo, bili uzbuđeni, i nismo spavali cijelu noć. Taj dan je došao i izašli smo iz kuće gdje smo plesali. Da, plesali smo i plesali. Izašli smo u dvorište, a tamo je bila hrpa ljudi koji su čekali. Svi su stajali u krugu. I kako smo plesali i plesali, i približavali smo se ženskom krugu, muškarci, žene, djeca, svi su bili tamo. U sredini je sjedila žena koja je čekala da nas primi. Ja sam bila prva. Bilo je puno sestara i grupa ostalih djevojaka, i kako sam joj se približavala, pogledala me i ja sam sjela. Sjela sam i rastvorila noge. Kako sam rastvorila noge, došla je druga žena, a ona je nosila nož. I kako je nosila nož, hodala je prema meni primila je klitoris i odrezala ga.
As you can imagine, I bled. I bled. After bleeding for a while, I fainted thereafter. It's something that so many girls -- I'm lucky, I never died -- but many die. It's practiced, it's no anesthesia, it's a rusty old knife, and it was difficult. I was lucky because one, also, my mom did something that most women don't do. Three days later, after everybody has left the home, my mom went and brought a nurse. We were taken care of. Three weeks later, I was healed, and I was back in high school. I was so determined to be a teacher now so that I could make a difference in my family.
Kao što možete zamisliti, ja sam krvarila. I krvarila. Nakon nekog vremena krvarenja, onesvijestila sam se. To je nešto radi čega mnoge djevojke-- Ja na sreću nisam, ali mnoge umiru. To je uvježbano, bez anestezije, stari zahrđali nož, i bilo je teško. Bila sam sretna jer je moja mama učinila nešto što mnoge žene ne bi. Tri dana kasnije, nakon što su svi napustili kuću, moja je majka dovela medicinsku sestru. Bile smo zbrinute. Tri tjedna kasnije, rana je zarasla, a ja sam se vratila u srednju školu. Bila sam toliko odlučna da želim postati učiteljica kako bih mogla učiniti promjene u svojoj obitelji.
Well, while I was in high school, something happened. I met a young gentleman from our village who had been to the University of Oregon. This man was wearing a white t-shirt, jeans, camera, white sneakers -- and I'm talking about white sneakers. There is something about clothes, I think, and shoes. They were sneakers, and this is in a village that doesn't even have paved roads. It was quite attractive.
Kada sam pohađala srednju školu, nešto se dogodilo. Upoznala sam mladića iz našeg sela koji je bio na Fakultetu u Oregonu. Nosio je bijelu majicu kratkih rukava, traperice, kameru, bijele tenisice -- govorim o bijelim tenesicama. Ima nešto u odjeći, barem mislim, i cipelama. To su bile tenesice, a ovo je selo nema čak ni asfaltiranih puteva. To je bilo pomalo privlačno.
I told him, "Well, I want to go to where you are," because this man looked very happy, and I admired that.
Rekla sam mu, "Pa, želim ići gdje i ti", jer ovaj je čovjek izgledao jako sretan, i tome sam se divila.
And he told me, "Well, what do you mean, you want to go? Don't you have a husband waiting for you?"
On mi je rekao, "Pa, kako to misliš, da želiš ići? Zar nemaš muža koji te čeka?"
And I told him, "Don't worry about that part. Just tell me how to get there."
I rekla sam mu, "Ne brini o tome. Samo mi reci kako da dođem tamo."
This gentleman, he helped me. While I was in high school also, my dad was sick. He got a stroke, and he was really, really sick, so he really couldn't tell me what to do next. But the problem is, my father is not the only father I have. Everybody who is my dad's age, male in the community, is my father by default -- my uncles, all of them -- and they dictate what my future is.
Ovaj ljubazni mladić mi je pomogao. Dok sam bila u srednjoj školi, moj se otac razbolio. Imao je udar, i bio je zaista, zaista vrlo bolestan, pa mi nije mogao reči što učiniti dalje. Ali problem je što moj otac nije jedini otac kojeg imam. Svatko tko je godište poput moga oca, a muško je u zajednici, je prema pravilu moj otac-- moji ujaci, svi oni-- odlučuju o mojoj budućnosti.
So the news came, I applied to school and I was accepted to Randolph-Macon Woman's College in Lynchburg, Virginia, and I couldn't come without the support of the village, because I needed to raise money to buy the air ticket. I got a scholarship but I needed to get myself here. But I needed the support of the village, and here again, when the men heard, and the people heard that a woman had gotten an opportunity to go to school, they said, "What a lost opportunity. This should have been given to a boy. We can't do this."
Stigle su novosti, prijavila sam se u školu i bila sam primljena na ženski fakultet Randolph-Macon u Lynchburgu, Virginia, ali nisam mogla ići bez podrške sela, jer sam trebala novac kako bih kupila avionsku kartu. Dobila sam školarinu ali trebala sam nekako stići tamo. Trebala sam podršku sela, ali ponovo, kada su muškarci čuli, kada su ljudi čuli da je žena dobila priliku ići se školovati, rekli su, "Kakva upropaštena prilika. To je trebalo dati nekom dječaku. Ne možemo to dopustiti."
So I went back and I had to go back to the tradition. There's a belief among our people that morning brings good news. So I had to come up with something to do with the morning, because there's good news in the morning. And in the village also, there is one chief, an elder, who if he says yes, everybody will follow him. So I went to him very early in the morning, as the sun rose. The first thing he sees when he opens his door is, it's me.
I tako sam se morala vratiti nazad i vratiti se tradiciji. Postoji vjerovanje među našim ljudima da jutro donosi dobre vijesti. Morala sam smisliti nešto što uraditi s jutrom, jer jutro donosi dobre vijesti. U selu također postoji glavni, najstariji, koji ako kaže da, svi ostali ga slijede. Pa sam otišla do njega rano ujutro dok je sunce izlazilo. Prva stvar koju je ugledao dok je otvorio vrata sam bila ja.
"My child, what are you doing here?"
"Dijete moje, što radiš ovdje?"
"Well, Dad, I need help. Can you support me to go to America?" I promised him that I would be the best girl, I will come back, anything they wanted after that, I will do it for them.
"Pa, oče, trebam pomoć. Možeš li me podržati kako bih otišla u Ameriku?" Obećala sam mu da ću biti najbolja djevojka, da ću se vratiti, sve što žele nakon toga, ja ću učiniti.
He said, "Well, but I can't do it alone." He gave me a list of another 15 men that I went -- 16 more men -- every single morning I went and visited them. They all came together. The village, the women, the men, everybody came together to support me to come to get an education.
Rekao je, "Ali ja to ne mogu sam odlučiti." Dao mi je listu od 15 ostalih ljudi koje sam obišla 16 muškaraca više-- svako jutro sam odlazila posjetiti ih. Svi su došli zajedno. Selo, žene, muškarci, svi su došli zajedno podržati me kako bih se mogla ići obrazovati.
I arrived in America. As you can imagine, what did I find? I found snow! I found Wal-Marts, vacuum cleaners, and lots of food in the cafeteria. I was in a land of plenty.
Stigla sam u Ameriku. Kao što možete zamisliti, na što sam naišla? Na snijeg! Naišla sam na Wal-Mart, usisavače, i puno hrane u kafeterijama. Bila sam u zemlji izobilja.
I enjoyed myself, but during that moment while I was here, I discovered a lot of things. I learned that that ceremony that I went through when I was 13 years old, it was called female genital mutilation. I learned that it was against the law in Kenya. I learned that I did not have to trade part of my body to get an education. I had a right. And as we speak right now, three million girls in Africa are at risk of going through this mutilation. I learned that my mom had a right to own property. I learned that she did not have to be abused because she is a woman. Those things made me angry. I wanted to do something. As I went back, every time I went, I found that my neighbors' girls were getting married. They were getting mutilated, and here, after I graduated from here, I worked at the U.N., I went back to school to get my graduate work, the constant cry of these girls was in my face. I had to do something.
Uživala sam, ali tijekom vremena dok sam bila ovdje, otkrila sam mnogo stvari. Naučila sam da se ta ceremonija kroz koju sam ja prošla kada sam imala 13 godina, naziva osakaćenje ženskih genitalija. Naučila sam da je to u Keniji protuzakonito. Naučila sam da nisam trebala trgovati dijelom svoga tijela kako bih stekla obrazovanje. Imala sam pravo. I dok mi ovdje govorimo, 3 milijuna djevojaka u Africi su uopasnosti od tog osakaćenja. Naučila sam da moja majka ima pravo na svoju vlastitu imovinu. Naučila sam da nije trebala biti zlostavljana zato jer je žena. Te su me stvari razljutile. Željela sam nešto učiniti. Kako sam se vraćala, svaki put kada bih otišla, saznala sam da se moje susjede djevojčice udaju. Bile su unakažene, i ovdje, nakon diplomiranja, radila sam u UN-u, vratila sam se u školu kako bih dobila svoj diplomski rad, neprestano plakanje tih djevojčica bilo mi je pred očima. Morala sam nešto učiniti.
As I went back, I started talking to the men, to the village, and mothers, and I said, "I want to give back the way I had promised you that I would come back and help you. What do you need?"
Kako sam se vratila nazad, počela sam pričati muškarcima, selu, majkama, i rekla sam, "Želim vam se odužiti što sam i obećala da ću se vratiti nazad i pomoći vam. Što trebate?"
As I spoke to the women, they told me, "You know what we need? We really need a school for girls." Because there had not been any school for girls. And the reason they wanted the school for girls is because when a girl is raped when she's walking to school, the mother is blamed for that. If she got pregnant before she got married, the mother is blamed for that, and she's punished. She's beaten. They said, "We wanted to put our girls in a safe place."
Kako sam govorila ženama, rekle su mi, "Znaš li što trebamo? Zaista trebamo školu za djevojke." Zato jer ondje nije postojala niti jedna škola za djevojke. A razlog zašto su željele školu za djevojke je taj što kada su djevojke silovane na putu prema školi majka je za to okrivljena. Ako zatrudni prije nego što se uda, majka ja za to okrivljena, i ona je kažnjena. Prebijena je. Rekli su: "Želimo staviti naše djevojke na sigurno mjesto."
As we moved, and I went to talk to the fathers, the fathers, of course, you can imagine what they said: "We want a school for boys."
Kako smo se pomicali, i ja sam išla razgovarati s očevima, oni su, naravno, možete zamisliti, kako reagirali: "Želimo školu za dječake".
And I said, "Well, there are a couple of men from my village who have been out and they have gotten an education. Why can't they build a school for boys, and I'll build a school for girls?" That made sense. And they agreed. And I told them, I wanted them to show me a sign of commitment. And they did. They donated land where we built the girls' school. We have.
A ja sam rekla, "Pa, postoji nekoliko muškaraca iz mog sela koji su bili vani i stekli obrazovanje. Zašto ne bi oni sagradili školu za dječake, a ja ću sagraditi školu za djevojke?" To je imalo smisla. Složili su se. Rekla sam im da želim da mi pokažu odanost. I to su učinili. Donirali su zemlju gdje smo sagradili školu za djevojke. Jesmo.
I want you to meet one of the girls in that school. Angeline came to apply for the school, and she did not meet any criteria that we had. She's an orphan. Yes, we could have taken her for that. But she was older. She was 12 years old, and we were taking girls who were in fourth grade. Angeline had been moving from one place -- because she's an orphan, she has no mother, she has no father -- moving from one grandmother's house to another one, from aunties to aunties. She had no stability in her life. And I looked at her, I remember that day, and I saw something beyond what I was seeing in Angeline. And yes, she was older to be in fourth grade. We gave her the opportunity to come to the class. Five months later, that is Angeline. A transformation had begun in her life. Angeline wants to be a pilot so she can fly around the world and make a difference. She was not the top student when we took her. Now she's the best student, not just in our school, but in the entire division that we are in. That's Sharon. That's five years later. That's Evelyn. Five months later, that is the difference that we are making.
Želim da upoznate jednu od djevojaka iz te škole. Angeline se došla upisati u školu, a nije zadovoljila ni jedan krijteriji koji smo imali. Ona je siroče. Da, mogli smo je uzeti za to. Ali bila je starija. Imala je 12 godina, i uzimali smo djevojke koje su bile četvrti razred. Angeline je bila premještena s jednog mjesta-- jer je siroče, nema ni oca, nema ni majke-- premještena iz bakine kuće u drugu, od tete do tete. Ona nema stabilnost u životu. I pogledala sam ju, sjećam se tog dana vidjela sam nešto osim onoga što sam vidjela u Angelini. I da, bila je starija da bi bila u četvrtom razredu. Dali smo joj priliku da dođe na predavanje. Pet mjeseci kasnije, ovo je Angelina. Promjene u njezinom životu su počele. Angeline želi biti pilot kako bi mogla letjeti cijelim svijetom i činiti promjene. Nije bila najbolji učenik kada samo je primili. Sada, ona je najbolji učenik, ne samo u našoj školi, nego u cijelom odjeljenju. Ovo je Sharon. To je pet godina kasnije. Ovo je Evelyn. Pet mjeseci kasnije, to je razlika koju mi činimo.
As a new dawn is happening in my school, a new beginning is happening. As we speak right now, 125 girls will never be mutilated. One hundred twenty-five girls will not be married when they're 12 years old. One hundred twenty-five girls are creating and achieving their dreams. This is the thing that we are doing, giving them opportunities where they can rise. As we speak right now, women are not being beaten because of the revolutions we've started in our community.
Kao nova zora što se događa u mojoj školi, događa se novi početak. dok ovdje razgovaramo, 125 djevojaka nikada neće biti unakažene . 125 djevojaka neće biti udano sa 12 godina. 125 djevojaka zacrtavaju i postižu svoje snove. To je stvar koju mi činimo, dajemo im priliku gdje mogu rasti. Dok sada pričamo, žene ne tuku zbog revolucije koju smo započeli u našoj zajednici.
(Applause)
(Pljesak)
I want to challenge you today. You are listening to me because you are here, very optimistic. You are somebody who is so passionate. You are somebody who wants to see a better world. You are somebody who wants to see that war ends, no poverty. You are somebody who wants to make a difference. You are somebody who wants to make our tomorrow better. I want to challenge you today that to be the first, because people will follow you. Be the first. People will follow you. Be bold. Stand up. Be fearless. Be confident. Move out, because as you change your world, as you change your community, as we believe that we are impacting one girl, one family, one village, one country at a time. We are making a difference, so if you change your world, you are going to change your community, you are going to change your country, and think about that. If you do that, and I do that, aren't we going to create a better future for our children, for your children, for our grandchildren? And we will live in a very peaceful world. Thank you very much.
Želim vas danas izazvati. Slušate me jer ste ovdje, vrlo optimistični. Vi ste netko tko je toliko strastven. Vi ste netko tko želi vidjeti bolji svijet. Vi ste netko tko želi vidjeti kraj tog rata, bez siromaštva. Vi ste netko tko želi raditi razlike. Vi ste netko tko želi učiniti bolje sutra. Želim vas izazvati danas da budete prvi, jer će vas ljudi slijediti. Budite prvi. Ljudi će vas slijediti. Budite odvažni. Budite neustrašivi. Budite uvjereni. Iselite se, jer kao što mijenjate svijet, tako mijenjate zajednicu, kako što mi vjerujemo da utječeno na jednu djevojku, jednu obitelj jedno selo, jednu zemlju, redom. Izazivamo promjenu, pa ako promijenite svoj svijet, promijenit ćete svoju zajednicu, promijenit ćete svoju zemlju, i razmislite o tome. Ako to učinite, i ja to učinim, zar nećemo kreirati bolju budućnost za našu djecu, za vašu djecu, za našu praunučad? Živjet ćemo u vrlo miroljubivom svijetu. Hvala vam najljepša.
(Applause)
Pljesak