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.
V Keni žije skupina ľudí. Ľudia prekonávajú oceány, aby ich mohli vidieť. Títo ľudia sú vysokí. Vysoko skáču. Obliekajú sa do červeného. A zabíjajú levy. Možno ste zvedaví, čo sú títo ľudia zač? Sú to Masajovia. A viete, čo je zaujímavé? Ja som vlastne jednou z nich.
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.
U Masajov sú chlapci vychovávaní ako budúci bojovníci. A dievčatá sú vychovávané ako budúce matky. Keď som mala päť rokov, zistila som, že som zasnúbená, a že sa vydám hneď na začiatku puberty. Moja mama, moja stará mama, moje tety, všetci mi to stále pripomínali, keď môj budúci manžel prešiel okolo. (Smiech) Dobré, nie? A všetko, čo som musela od tej chvíle robiť, malo zo mňa spraviť dokonalú manželku, keď budem mať 12 rokov. Môj deň začínal o 5 ráno. Podojila som kravy, pozametala dom, varila som pre mojich súrodencov, chodila som po vodu a drevo. Robila som všetko, čo bolo potrebné, aby sa zo mňa stala dokonalá manželka.
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 som do školy. Ale nie preto, že u Masajov ženy a dievčatá chodia do školy. Bolo to kvôli tomu, že mojej mame bolo vzdelanie odoprené a stále nám pripomínala, že nechce, aby sme mali taký život ako ona. Prečo také niečo hovorila? Môj otec pracoval ako policajt v meste. Domov prišiel raz za rok. Niekedy sme ho nevideli aj dva roky. A kedykoľvek prišiel domov, nastali zlé časy. Moja mama ťažko pracovala na farme, aby sme z úrody vyžili. Chovala kravy a kozy, aby sa o nás vedela postarať. Ale keď prišiel môj otec, predal kravy, predal úrodu, ktorú sme mali, a išiel piť so svojimi kamarátmi po baroch. Pretože moja mama bola žena, nemohla vlastniť žiadny majetok. Všetko, čo naša rodina mala, patrilo môjmu otcovi, takže mal na to právo. A ak mu na to moja mama niečo povedala, zbil ju, zneužíval ju a bolo to skutočne ťažké.
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.
Keď som začala chodiť do školy, mala som sen. Chcela som sa stať učiteľkou. Učiteľky vyzerajú pekne. Majú pekné šaty a topánky s vysokými podpätkami. Neskôr som zistila, že sú nepohodlné, ale obdivovala som ich. (Smiech) Ale hlavne, učiteľky iba píšu na tabuľu -- to nie je ťažká práca, vtedy som si myslela, v porovnaní s tým, čo som robila na farme. Takže som sa chcela stať učiteľkou.
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."
Veľa som sa učila, ale keď som prišla do ôsmej triedy, nastala rozhodujúca chvíľa. Máme tradičnú ceremóniu, v ktorej sa dievčatá stávajú ženami, je to prechod z detstva do dospelosti. A keď som končila ôsmu triedu, chcela som pokračovať na strednú školu. Toto bola križovatka. Keď prejdem ceremóniou, budem sa musieť vydať. A môj sen byť učiteľkou sa neuskutoční. A tak som musela prísť s plánom, musela som to vyriešiť. Porozprávala som sa so svojím otcom. Urobila som niečo, čo väčšina dievčat nikdy neurobí. Povedala som otcovi, "Na tú ceremóniu pôjdem, iba ak mi dovolíš pokračovať v štúdiu." Ak by som totiž utiekla, na mojom otcovi by zostala tá stigma, ľudia by si vraveli, jeho dcéra neprešla ceremóniou. Bola by to hanba, ktorú by musel niesť celý život. Uvedomil si to a povedal, "Dobre, pôjdeš do školy po ceremónii."
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.
A tak bolo. Ceremónia začala. Je to celý týždeň plný vzrušenia. Je to zábava, ľudia si to užívajú. A deň pred samotnou ceremóniou sme tancovali, celé vzrušené, a celú noc sme nespali. Deň D prišiel, vyšli sme z domu, v ktorom sme tancovali. Tancovali a tancovali. Vyšli sme na dvor a tam bola kopa ľudí. Všetci sedeli v kruhu. A ako sme tancovali a tancovali, prišli sme k tomuto kruhu, ženy, muži, deti, boli tam všetci. V strede sedela jedna žena a táto žena nás mala držať. Ja som bola prvá. Za mnou boli moje sestry a ďalšie dievčatá. Ako som sa priblížila, pozrela sa na mňa a ja som si sadla. Sadla som si a kolená som dala od seba. Prišla ďalšia žena, a táto žena mala so sebou nôž. Prišla ku mne, vzala môj klitoris a odrezala ho.
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.
Ako si viete predstaviť, krvácala som. Krvácala som. Po chvíli som odpadla. Toľko dievčat -- ja som mala šťastie -- ale toľké pri tom zomrú. Stále sa to robí, bez anestézie, je to starý hrdzavý nôž. Bolo to ťažké. Mala som šťastie, lebo moja mama urobila niečo, čo väčšina žien nerobí. Po troch dňoch, keď všetci odišli, moja mama priviedla zdravotnú sestru. Postarala sa o nás. O tri týždne som bola zdravá a nastúpila som na strednú školu. Bola som odhodlaná stať sa učiteľkou, aby som v mojej rodine mohla niečo zmeniť.
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.
Kým som bola na strednej škole, niečo sa stalo. Stretla som mladého muža z našej dediny, ktorý bol na Oregonskej univerzite. Tento muž mal oblečené biele tričko, rifle, foťák a biele tenisky -- mal biele tenisky. Myslím, že oblečenie a topánky o niečom vypovedajú. Boli to tenisky a to sme boli v dedine, ktorá nemá ani poriadne cesty. Bolo to atraktívne.
I told him, "Well, I want to go to where you are," because this man looked very happy, and I admired that.
Povedala som mu, "Chcem ísť tam, kde si ty," pretože ten muž vyzeral veľmi šťastne a to som chcela aj ja.
And he told me, "Well, what do you mean, you want to go? Don't you have a husband waiting for you?"
On mi povedal, "Ale čo tým myslíš, že chceš ísť? Nemáš už určeného manžela, ktorý na teba čaká?"
And I told him, "Don't worry about that part. Just tell me how to get there."
Povedala som mu, "O to sa nestaraj. Len mi povedz, ako sa tam dostať."
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.
Tento džentlmen mi pomohol. Kým som bola na strednej škole, môj otec ochorel. Dostal porážku a bol naozaj veľmi chorý, takže mi nemohol prikázať, čo mám ďalej robiť. Ale problém je, že môj otec nie je jediný otec, ktorého mám. Každý, kto je vo veku môjho otca, každý muž v komunite, je tiež mojím otcom -- moji strýkovia, všetci muži -- mohli diktovať moju budúcnosť.
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."
Poslala som na tú vysokú školu prihlášku a prijali ma na Randolph-Macon Woman's College v Lynchburgu vo Virgínii. Nemohla som tam ísť bez podpory mojej dediny, pretože som potrebovala vyzbierať peniaze na letenku. Dostala som štipendium, ale musela som sa tam dostať. Potrebovala som teda podporu dediny, a keď muži počuli, keď všetci počuli, že žena dostala príležitosť ísť študovať, povedali, "To je stratená príležitosť. Mal by ju dostať chlapec. To nemôžeme urobiť."
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.
A tak som sa musela vrátiť k tradíciám. Ľudia u nás veria, že ráno prináša dobré správy. Takže som s niečím musela prísť ráno, pretože ráno prináša dobré správy. A v dedine máme starejšieho, muža, ktorého, ak bude súhlasiť, budú všetci ostatní nasledovať. Tak som k nemu išla veľmi skoro ráno, hneď ako vyšlo slnko. Bola som to prvé, čo ráno uvidel, keď otvoril dvere.
"My child, what are you doing here?"
"Dieťa moje, čo tu robíš?"
"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.
"Nuž, otče, potrebujem pomoc. Môžete ma podporiť, aby som mohla ísť do Ameriky?" Sľúbila som mu, že budem dobrá a budem sa veľa učiť, že sa vrátim a potom pre nich urobím čokoľvek budú chcieť.
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.
Povedal, "Dobre, ale nemôžem to urobiť sám." Dal mi zoznam ďalších 15 mužov, za ktorými som šla -- 16 mužov -- a každé jedno ráno som šla a navštívila ich. Všetci sa zišli. Dedina, ženy, muži, všetci sa zišli, aby ma podporili, aby som sa mohla vzdelávať.
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.
Prišla som do Ameriky. A viete si predstaviť, čo som našla? Našla som sneh! Našla som Wal-Mart (značka hypermarketov, pozn. prekl.), vysávače a kopec jedla v jedálni. Bola som v zemi nadbytku.
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.
Užívala som si to, ale kým som tu bola, zistila som mnoho vecí. Zistila som, že ceremónia, ktorou som prešla, keď som mala 13 rokov, sa volá zohavenie ženských pohlavných orgánov. Zistila som, že je v Keni protizákonná. Zistila som, že som nemusela vymeniť časť môjho tela za možnosť vzdelávať sa. Mala som na to právo. A ako sa tu rozprávame, tri milióny dievčat v Afrike sú v ohrození, že podstúpia toto zohavenie. Zistila som, že moja mama mala právo vlastniť majetok. Zistila som, že nemala byť zneužívaná a bitá, len preto, že je žena. Tie veci ma nahnevali. Chcela som s tým niečo urobiť. A keď som sa vrátila, vždy keď som sa vracala, našla som viac a viac mojich susediek vydatých. Každá z nich bola zohavená. Po tom, čo som skončila školu, pracovala som v Organizácii Spojených Národov, a stále som počula plač týchto dievčat. Musela som niečo urobiť.
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?"
Keď som sa vrátila, začala som sa rozprávať s mužmi, s celou dedinou, s matkami a povedala som, "Chcem vám vrátiť to, čo ste do mňa vložili, tak ako som sľúbila. Čo potrebujete?"
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."
Hovorila som so ženami a ony mi povedali, "Vieš, čo potrebujeme? Naozaj potrebujeme školu pre dievčatá." Pretože žiadne školy pre dievčatá tam neboli. A oni chceli školu pre dievčatá, pretože ak dievča znásilnili cestou do školy, vina sa kládla jej matke. Ak otehotnela ešte pred svadbou, vina sa kládla jej matke a ona bola aj potrestaná. Jej matku za to zbili. Povedali, "Chceme posielať naše dievčatá na bezpečné miesto."
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."
Posunuli sme sa, šla som sa porozprávať s otcami. A viete si predstaviť, čo mi povedali: "My chceme školu pre chlapcov."
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 som povedala, "Nuž, niekoľko mužov z našej dediny už bolo odišlo a vyštudovali. Prečo by nemohli oni vybudovať školu pre chlapcov, a ja vybudujem školu pre dievčatá?" To dávalo zmysel. A oni súhlasili. Chcela som, aby mi dokázali, že to myslia vážne. A oni mi darovali pozemok, na ktorom sme postavili školu pre dievčatá. Máme ju.
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.
Chcem, aby ste sa zoznámili s jednou našou žiačkou. Angeline sa prihlásila do školy a nespĺňala žiadne z našich kritérií. Je sirota. To by však prijatiu nebránilo. Ale bola staršia. Mala už 12 rokov, a my sme brali dievčatá do štvrtej triedy. Angeline sa sťahovala z miesta na miesto -- keďže bola sirota, nemala mamu ani otca -- sťahovala sa od jednej starej mamy k druhej, od jednej tety k druhej. Nemala v živote žiadnu stabilitu. Pozrela som sa na ňu, pamätám si ten deň, a videla som v jej očiach iskru. A áno, bola trochu stará na štvrtú triedu. Ale dali sme jej príležitosť chodiť do školy. O päť mesiacov neskôr, Angeline vyzerá takto. V jej živote sa začala zmena. Chce byť pilotkou, aby mohla lietať po celom svete a tak ho zmeniť. Nebola najlepšou študentkou, keď sme ju prijali. Ale teraz je najlepšia, nielen v našej škole, ale v celej divízii. Toto je Sharon. Toto je o päť rokov neskôr. Toto je Evelyn. O päť mesiacov neskôr, toto je zmena, ktorú robíme.
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.
V mojej škole začína svitať, nastáva nový začiatok. Dosiahli sme, že 125 dievčat nebude zmrzačených. 125 dievčat sa nevydá, keď budú mať 12 rokov. 125 dievčat tvorí a dosahuje svoje ciele. Toto robíme, dávame im príležitosti, pri ktorých môžu rásť. Odteraz už ženy nie sú bité, lebo v našej komunite začala revolúcia.
(Applause)
(Potlesk)
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.
Chcem vás dnes vyzvať. Počúvate ma, pretože tu sedíte, a ste optimistickí. Ste tak vášniví. Chcete vidieť lepší svet. Chcete vidieť koniec vojny a chudoby. Chcete zmeniť svet. Chcete urobiť zajtrajšok lepším. Chcem vás vyzvať, aby ste boli prvými, pretože ľudia vás budú nasledovať. Buďte prví. Ľudia vás budú nasledovať. Buďte odvážni. Postavte sa. Nebojte sa. Verte si. Postavte sa, pretože keď zmeníte svoj svet, keď zmeníte svoju komunitu, potom tak ako my veríme, že ovplyvňujeme jedno dievča, jednu rodinu, jednu dedinu, a napokon jednu krajinu, krok za krokom. Najprv zmeníte svoj svet, potom zmeníte svoju komunitu, a potom zmeníte svoju krajinu. A ak to urobíte, tak ako to robím ja, nevytvoríme tak krajšiu budúcnosť pre naše deti, pre vaše deti, pre naše vnúčatá? A budeme žiť vo svete v mieri. Ďakujem veľmi pekne.
(Applause)
(Potlesk)