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 okeane da bi ih videli. Ovi ljudi su visoki. Skaču visoko. Nose crveno. I ubijaju lavove. Možda se pitate, ko su ovi ljudi? Ovo su Masaji. I znate li šta je super? 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.
Masaji, momci su odgajani da budu ratnici. Devojke su odgajane da budu majke. Kada sam imala 5 godina, saznala sam da sam verena i da ću se udati čim uđem u pubertet. Moja majka, moja baka, moje tetke, su me konstantno podsećale da je moj muž upravo prošao pored mene. (Smeh) Super, zar ne? I sve što sam morala da radim od tog trenutka je bilo da pripremim sebe da budem savršena žena sa 12 godina. Moj dan je počinjao u 5 ujutru, mužom krava, čišćenjem kuće, kuvanjem za braću i sestre, sakupljanjem vode, drva za ogrev. Radila sam sve što je trebalo da uradim da bih postala savršena supruga.
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 kod Masaja žene ili devojke išle u školu. Razlog je to što je mojoj majci uskraćeno obrazovanje, i konstantno je mene i braću i sestre podsećala da ona nije nikad želela da mi živimo život koji je ona živela. Zašto je ona to govorila? Moj otac je radio kao policajac u gradu. Dolazio je kući jednom godišnje. Ponekad ga nismo videli čak i dve godine. I kad god bi došao kući, to bi bio drugačiji slučaj. Moja majka je naporno radila na farmi da bi usevi rasli kako bismo mi mogli da jedemo. Ona je uzgajala krave i koze da bi mogla da brine o nama. Ali kad je moj otac dolazio, on bi prodao krave, prodao bi proizvode koje smo imali, i otišao bi i pio sa svojim prijateljima u barovima. Zbog toga što je moja majka bila žena, nije joj bilo dozvoljeno da poseduje ikakvu imovinu, podrazumevalo se, sve u mojoj porodici je svakako pripadalo mom ocu, pa je imao pravo. I ako ga je moja majka ikada pitala, on bi je udarao, 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 otišla u školu, imala sam san. Želela sam da postanem učiteljica. Učiteljice su lepo izgledale. Nosile su lepe suknje i visoke potpetice. Saznala sam kasnije da su one neudobne, ali sam im se divila. (Smeh) Ali najviše od svega, učiteljica je samo pisala na tabli - nije težak posao, to sam mislila, uporedivši sa tim šta sam radila na farmi. Želela sam da postanem 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."
Naporno sam radila u školi, ali kada sam bila u osmom razredu, to je bio odlučujući faktor. U našoj tradiciji, postoji obred kroz koji devojke moraju da prođu kako bi postale žene i to je obred prelaza u zrelost. I završavala sam osmi razred, i to je bio veliki prelaz za mene da odem u srednju školu. To je bila raskrsnica. Jednom kad prođem kroz ovu tradiciju, postaću supruga. Dakle, moj san da postanem učiteljica neće se ispuniti. Rekla sam - morala sam da smislim plan da shvatim ove stvari. Pričala sam sa svojim ocem. Uradila sam nešto što većina devojaka nije nikad uradila. Rekla sam svom ocu: "Proći ću kroz ovaj obred, jedino ako me pustiš da se vratim u školu." Razlog za to je, da sam pobegla, moj otac bi bio obeležen, ljudi bi ga zvali ocem devojke koja nije prošla obred. Time bi se sramio do kraja života. Tako da je shvatio. "Dakle", rekao je: "u redu,
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.
ići ćeš u školu nakon obreda." I jesam. Obred se desio. To je bila sedmica puna uzbuđenja. To je svečanost. Ljudi uživaju u njoj. I dan pre nego što se stvarno ceremonija desila, mi smo plesali, bili uzbuđeni i cele noći nismo spavali. Taj dan je došao i izašli smo iz kuće u kojoj smo plesali. Da, plesali smo i plesali. Izašli smo iz dvorišta i tamo je gomila ljudi čekala. Svi su bili u krugu. I dok smo plesali i plesali, mi smo pristupili ovom krugu žena, muškaraca, žena, dece, svi su bili tamo. Bila je jedna žena koja je sedela u sredini i ona je čekala da nas pridrži. Ja sam bila prva. Tamo su bile moje sestre i par drugih devojaka i kako sam joj se približila, pogledala me je i ja sam sela. I ja sam sela i raširila noge. Kada sam raširila noge, druga žena je došla, i ova žena je nosila nož. I noseći nož, prišla mi je
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.
pridržala mi je klitoris i odsekla ga je. Kao što možete zamisliti, krvarila sam. I krvarila. Nakon nekog vremena krvarenja, pala sam u nesvest. To je nešto zbog čega je mnogo devojaka - ja sam srećna, ja nisam umrla - ali mnoge jesu. Izvežbano je, bez anestezije, zarđalim starim nožem i bilo je veoma teško. Bila sam srećna zbog toga što je, takođe moja majka uradila nešto što mnoge žene ne rade. Tri dana, nakon što su sve napustile naš dom, moje mama je otišla i dovela medicinsku sestru. I bile smo medicinski zbrinute. Tri sedmice kasnije bila sam izlečena i vratila sam se u srednju školu. Bila sam tako odlučna da budem učiteljica
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.
da bih mogla napraviti neke razlike u mojoj porodici. Dok sam bila u srednjoj školi, nešto se dogodilo. Upoznala sam mladog gospodina iz našeg sela koji je išao na Univerzitet u Oregonu. Ovaj čovek je nosio belu majicu, džins, kameru, bele patike - i ja sam pričala o belim patikama. Bilo je nešto u toj odeći i mislim, u patikama. To su bile patike i to u selu u kome nema asfaltiranih puteva.
I told him, "Well, I want to go to where you are," because this man looked very happy, and I admired that.
To je bilo prilično privlačno. Rekla sam mu: "Želim da idem tamo gde si ti,"
And he told me, "Well, what do you mean, you want to go? Don't you have a husband waiting for you?"
jer je ovaj čovek izgledao srećno i divila sam se tome. A on mi je rekao: "Kako to misliš, da želiš da ideš?
And I told him, "Don't worry about that part. Just tell me how to get there."
Zar nemaš muža koji te čeka?" I ja sam mu rekla: "Ne brini za to.
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.
Samo mi reci kako da stignem do tamo." Ovaj gospodin, on mi je pomogao. Dok sam bila u srednjoj školi, moj otac je bio bolestan. Doživeo je moždani udar i bio je veoma, veoma bolestan, pa mi nije mogao reći šta da radim dalje. Ali problem je, što moj otac nije jedini otac kog sam imala. Svi stari koliko i moj otac, muškarci u zajednici, smatrali su se mojim očevima - moji ujaci, stričevi, svi oni - i oni su diktirali
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."
kakva će moja budućnosti biti. Vesti su stigle, aplicirala sam za školu i bila sam prihvaćena u Randolf-Mejkon ženskom fakultetu u Linčburgu, Virdžiniji, ali nisam mogla da odem bez podrške sela, jer sam morala da skupim novac za avionsku kartu. Dobila sam stipendiju ali mi je trebalo da dođem ovde. Ali trebala mi je podrška sela i evo opet, kada su muškarci čuli, i kada su ljudi čuli da je žena dobila priliku da ide u školu, rekli su: "Kakva izgubljena prilika.
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.
Ovo je trebalo da dobije muškarac. Ne možemo da radimo ovo." Vratila sam se nazad i morala sam da se vratim tradiciji. Postoji verovanje u našem narodu da jutro donosi dobre vesti. Tako da sam morala da smislim nešto da radim ujutru, jer su dobre vesti ujutru. I u selu takođe, postoji jedan poglavica, stariji, i ako on kaže da, svi će ga pratiti. Otišla sam kod njega veoma rano ujutru, čim je sunce izašlo.
"My child, what are you doing here?"
Prvo što je video kada je otvorio vrata bila sam ja.
"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.
"Dete moje, šta ti radiš ovde?" "Oče, treba mi pomoć. Možeš li me podržati da odem u Ameriku?" Obećala sam mu da ću biti najbolja devojka, da ću se vratiti, šta god požele nakon toga,
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.
ja ću to uraditi za njih. On je rekao: "U redu, ali ja to ne mogu da uradim sam." Dao mi je spisak ostalih 15 muškaraca kod kojih sam išla - još 16 muškaraca - svakog jutra ja sam išla i posećivala ih. Oni su svi došli zajedno. Selo, žene, muškarci, svi su došli zajedno
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.
da me podrže da odem i steknem obrazovanje. Stigla sam u Ameriku. Možete li zamisliti, šta sam pronašla? Pronašla sam sneg! Pronašla sam tržne centre, usisivače i mnogo hrane u menzi.
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.
Bila sam u zemlji izobilja. Uživala sam, ali tokom tog tenutka dok sam bila ovde, otkrila sam mnoge stvari. Naučila sam da se obred kroz koji sam prošla kada sam imala 13 godina, zove sakaćenje ženskih genitalija. Naučila sam da je to bilo ilegalno u Keniji. Naučila sam da nisam morala da \prodam deo svog tela da bih stekla obrazovanje. Imala sam pravo. U ovom trenutku, tri miliona devojaka u Africi rizikuje da proživi ovo sakaćenje. Naučila sam da je moja mama imala pravo na sopstvenu imovinu. Naučila sam da ona nije morala biti zlostavljana zbog toga što je žensko. Ove stvari su me razljutile. Želela sam da nešto uradim. Kad sam se vraćala, svaki put kada sam otišla saznala sam da su se devojke iz komšiluka udavale. Sakatili su ih i evo nakon što sam ovde diplomirala, radila sam za Ujedinjene nacije, vratila sam se u školu da uradim svoj diplomski rad i konstantan plač ovih devojaka mi je bio u glavi.
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?"
Morala sam nešto da uradim. Kad sam se vratila, počela sam da pričam sa muškarcima, sa selom i majkama i rekla sam: "Želim da se vratim onako kako sam vam obećala
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."
da ću se vratiti i pomoći vam. Šta vam treba?" Kada sam pričala sa ženama, rekle su mi: "Znaš šta nam treba? Zaista nam treba škola za devojke." Jer tamo nije postojala škola za devojke. I razlog zbog čega su one želele školu za devojke jeste zbog toga što kada siluju devojku dok ona ide do škole, majka je kriva zbog toga. Ako zatrudni pre nego što se uda, majka je kriva zbog toga i nju kažnjavaju. Pretuku je.
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."
Rekle su: "Želimo da smestimo naše devojke na sigurno." Kada smo se preselili, otišla sam da pričam sa očevima, očevi, naravno, možete zamisliti šta su rekli:
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.
"Mi želimo školu za dečake." I ja sam rekla: "Postoji nekoliko muškaraca iz mog sela koji su bili napolju i stekli obrazovanje. Zašto oni ne mogu da izgrade školu za dečake, a ja ću da izgradim školu za devojčice?" To je imalo smisla. I oni su se saglasili. I rekla sam im, želim da mi pokažu znak posvećenosti. I jesu. Donirali su zemlju gde smo sagradili školu za devojke.
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.
Sagradili smo je. Želim da upoznate jednu devojku iz te škole. Anđelina je došla da se prijavi za školu, i nije ispunjavala nijedan od kriterijuma koje smo imali. Ona je siroče, da, mogli smo je primiti zbog toga. Ali ona je bila starija. Imala je 12 godina, a mi smo primali devojčice koje su bile u četvrtom razredu. Anđelina se selila sa jednog mesta - jer je bila siroče, nije imala ni majku, ni oca - selila se iz kuće jedne babe do kuće druge babe, od tetke do tetke. Nije bilo stabilnosti u njenom životu. I pogledala sam je, sećam se tog dana, i videla sam nešto više nego što sam videla u Anđelini. I da, ona je bila prestara za četvrti razred. Dali smo joj priliku da dođe na čas. Pet meseci kasnije, to je Anđelina. Transformacija je počela u njenom životu. Anđelina želi da bude pilot da bi mogla da leti oko sveta i da napravi razliku. Nije bila najbolja učenica kada smo je uzeli. Sada je ona najbolja učenica, ne samo u našoj školi, nego i u celom našem okrugu. To je Šeron. Pet godina kasnije.
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.
To je Evelin. Pet meseci kasnije i to je promena koju pravimo. Kako se nova zora budila u mojoj školi, novi početak se dešavao. U ovom trenutku, 125 devojaka neće nikada biti osakaćeno. Sto dvadeset pet devojaka neće biti udato sa 12 godina. Sto dvadeset pet devojaka stvaraju i ispunjaju svoje snove. Ovo je poenta toga što radimo, dajemo im priliku gde one mogu da napreduju. U ovom trenutku, žene više ne tuku
(Applause)
zbog revolucije koju smo započeli u našoj zajednici.
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.
(Aplauz) Želim da vas izazovem danas. Slušate me jer ste ovde, veoma optimistični. Vi ste neko ko je veoma strastan. Vi ste neko ko želi da vidi bolji svet. Vi ste neko ko želi kraj ratova, kraj siromaštvu. Vi ste neko ko želi da napravi razliku. Vi ste neko ko želi da naše sutra učini boljim. Ja želim da vas izazovem danas da budete prvi, jer će vas ljudi pratiti. Budite prvi. Ljudi će vas pratiti. Budite hrabri. Ustanite. Budite neustrašivi. Budite samouvereni. Odselite se, jer kako menjate svet, kako menjate svoju zajednicu, kao što mi verujemo da utičemo na jednu po jednu devojku, jednu po jednu porodicu jedno po jedno selo, jednu po jednu državu. Mi pravimo razliku, ako vi menjate svoj svet, vi ćete menjati svoju zajednicu, vi ćete menjati svoju državu i razmislite o tome. Ako vi to radite i ja to radim, zar nećemo stvoriti bolju budućnost za našu decu, za vašu decu, za naše unuke?
(Applause)
I živećemo u veoma mirnom svetu. Puno vam hvala.