Many times I go around the world to speak, and people ask me questions about the challenges, my moments, some of my regrets. 1998: A single mother of four, three months after the birth of my fourth child, I went to do a job as a research assistant. I went to Northern Liberia. And as part of the work, the village would give you lodgings. And they gave me lodging with a single mother and her daughter.
Mnogo puta idem širom svijeta kako bih govorila i ljudi me pitaju o izazovima, mojim trenucima, nekim stvarima zbog kojih žalim. 1998.: samohrana majka četvero djece, tri mjeseca nakon rođenja svog četvrtog djeteta otišla sam raditi kao asistent na istraživanju. Otišla sam u Sjevernu Liberiju. I kao dio posla, selo bi vam dalo smještaj. Dali su mi smještaj sa samohranom majkom i njenom kćerkom.
This girl happened to be the only girl in the entire village who had made it to the ninth grade. She was the laughing stock of the community. Her mother was often told by other women, "You and your child will die poor." After two weeks of working in that village, it was time to go back. The mother came to me, knelt down, and said, "Leymah, take my daughter. I wish for her to be a nurse." Dirt poor, living in the home with my parents, I couldn't afford to. With tears in my eyes, I said, "No."
Ta je djevojka bila jedina djevojka u cijelom selu koja je dospjela do 1. razreda srednje škole. Bila je predmet ismijavanja u zajednici. Njenoj su majci često druge žene govorile, „Ti i tvoje dijete ćete umrijeti u siromaštvu.“ Nakon dva tjedna rada u tom selu, došlo je vrijeme za povratak. Majka mi je prišla, kleknula i rekla, „Leymah, uzmi moju kćer. Želim da bude medicinska sestra.“ Kako sam živjela u lošim uvjetima, u kući s roditeljima, nisam si to mogla priuštiti. Sa suzama u očima, rekla sam, „Ne.“
Two months later, I go to another village on the same assignment and they asked me to live with the village chief. The women's chief of the village has this little girl, fair color like me, totally dirty. And all day she walked around only in her underwear. When I asked, "Who is that?" She said, "That's Wei. The meaning of her name is pig. Her mother died while giving birth to her, and no one had any idea who her father was." For two weeks, she became my companion, slept with me. I bought her used clothes and bought her her first doll. The night before I left, she came to the room and said, "Leymah, don't leave me here. I wish to go with you. I wish to go to school." Dirt poor, no money, living with my parents, I again said, "No." Two months later, both of those villages fell into another war. Till today, I have no idea where those two girls are.
Dva mjeseca kasnije, otišla sam u drugo selo s istim zadatkom i zamolili su me da živim sa seoskim poglavarom. Poglavarka žena u selu imala je malu djevojčicu, svijetle boje poput mene, no potpuno prljavu. I cijele je dane hodala naokolo samo u donjem rublju. Kada sam upitala, „Tko je to?“ rekla je, „To je Wei. Značenje njenog imena je svinja. Majka joj je umrla tijekom poroda, a nitko nije imao pojma tko joj je otac.“ Tijekom dva tjedna ona je postala moja prijateljica, spavala je sa mnom. Kupila sam joj rabljenu odjeću i prvu lutku. Noć prije no što sam otišla, došla je u moju sobu i rekla, „Leymah, nemoj me ostaviti ovdje. Željela bih poći s tobom. Željela bih ići u školu.“ U lošim životnim uvjetima, bez novaca, živeći s roditeljima, opet sam rekla, „Ne.“ Dva mjeseca kasnije oba su sela upala u još jedan rat. Dan danas, nemam pojma gdje su te dvije djevojčice.
Fast-forward, 2004: In the peak of our activism, the minister of Gender Liberia called me and said, "Leymah, I have a nine-year-old for you. I want you to bring her home because we don't have safe homes." The story of this little girl: She had been raped by her paternal grandfather every day for six months. She came to me bloated, very pale. Every night I'd come from work and lie on the cold floor. She'd lie beside me and say, "Auntie, I wish to be well. I wish to go to school."
Da ubrzamo, 2004.: Na vrhu našeg aktivizma, liberijski ministar spolova me nazvao i rekao, „Leymah, imam devetogodišnjakinju za tebe. Želim da je uzmeš sa sobom kući jer nemamo sigurnih domova.“ Priča ove male djevojčice: Silovao ju je djed s očeve strane svakog dana, zadnjih šest mjeseci. Došla je k meni otečena i veoma blijeda. Svake noći došla bih s posla i legla na hladan pod. Ona bi legla pored mene i rekla, „Teta, želim da mi bude bolje. Želim ići u školu.“
2010: A young woman stands before President Sirleaf and gives her testimony of how she and her siblings live together, their father and mother died during the war. She's 19; her dream is to go to college to be able to support them. She's highly athletic. One of the things that happens is that she applies for a scholarship. Full scholarship. She gets it. Her dream of going to school, her wish of being educated, is finally here. She goes to school on the first day. The director of sports who's responsible for getting her into the program asks her to come out of class. And for the next three years, her fate will be having sex with him every day, as a favor for getting her in school.
2010.: Mlada žena stoji ispred predsjednice Sirleaf i svjedoči o tome kako ona i njena braća žive zajedno i kako su joj majka i otac poginuli tijekom rata. Ima 19 godina; san joj je otići na fakultet kako bi ih mogla uzdržavati. Veoma je atletski građena. Jedna od stvari koje se događaju je ta da se ona prijavljuje za stipendiju. Punu stipendiju. Dobiva ju. Njen san da ide u školu i želja da bude educirana je konačno ovdje. Krene prvi dan u školu. Pročelnik za sport koji je odgovoran za njeno uključivanje u program moli je da izađe s nastave. I sljedeće tri godine, njena sudbina će biti to da ima spolne odnose s njim svaki dan kao uslugu za to što ju je ubacio u školu.
Globally, we have policies, international instruments, work leaders. Great people have made commitments -- we will protect our children from want and from fear. The U.N. has the Convention on the Rights of the Child. Countries like America, we've heard things like No Child Left Behind. Other countries come with different things. There is a Millennium Development called Three that focuses on girls. All of these great works by great people aimed at getting young people to where we want to get them globally, I think, has failed.
Globalno, imamo politiku, međunarodne instrumente, vođe poslova. Veliki ljudi su se obvezali – štitit ćemo našu djecu od siromaštva i straha. UN ima Konvenciju o pravima djece. U zemljama poput Amerike čuli smo za stvari poput: Nijedno dijete neće biti zapostavljeno. Druge zemlje imaju drugačije stvari. Imamo Milenijski razvoj koji se zove „Tri“ i fokusira se na djevojke. Svi ovi veliki radovi velikih ljudi koji su ciljali na to da da dobiju mlade ljude tamo gdje ih žele imati u globalu su, mislim, podbacili.
In Liberia, for example, the teenage pregnancy rate is three to every 10 girls. Teen prostitution is at its peak. In one community, we're told, you wake up in the morning and see used condoms like used chewing gum paper. Girls as young as 12 being prostituted for less than a dollar a night. It's disheartening, it's sad. And then someone asked me, just before my TEDTalk, a few days ago, "So where is the hope?"
U Liberiji, na primjer, stopa tinejdžerske trudnoće je tri na svakih 10 djevojaka. Tinejdžerska prostitucija je na svom vrhuncu. U jednoj zajednici, tako nam je rečeno, ujutro se probudite i možete vidjeti iskorištene kondome poput iskorištenog papira žvakačih guma. Djevojčice od 12 godina prostituiraju se za manje od jednog dolara na noć. To je obeshrabrujuće, tužno je. I onda me netko upitao, baš prije mog TEDGovora, prije nekoliko dana, „Pa, gdje je nada?“
Several years ago, a few friends of mine decided we needed to bridge the disconnect between our generation and the generation of young women. It's not enough to say you have two Nobel laureates from the Republic of Liberia when your girls' kids are totally out there and no hope, or seemingly no hope. We created a space called the Young Girls Transformative Project. We go into rural communities and all we do, like has been done in this room, is create the space. When these girls sit, you unlock intelligence, you unlock passion, you unlock commitment, you unlock focus, you unlock great leaders. Today, we've worked with over 300. And some of those girls who walked in the room very shy have taken bold steps, as young mothers, to go out there and advocate for the rights of other young women.
Prije nekoliko godina, nekolicina mojih prijatelja odlučila je da trebamo premostiti odvojenost između naše generacije i generacije mladih žena. Nije dovoljno reći da imate dva Nobelova laureata iz Republike Liberije kad su djeca vaših cura tamo vani i bez nade ili naizgled bez nade. Stvorili smo sjedište pod nazivom Projekt transformacije mladih djevojaka. Idemo u seoske zajednice i sve što radimo je, poput ovoga što smo napravili u ovoj prostoriji, napravimo prostor za sastanak. Kad te djevojke sjednu, otkrijete inteligenciju, otkrijete strast, otkrijete opredjeljenje, otkrijete fokus, otkrijete velike vođe. Do danas smo radili s preko 300 njih. I neke su od tih djevojaka, koje su vrlo stidljivo ušle u prostoriju, poduzele hrabre korake, kao mlade majke, izašle su i govorile o pravima drugih mladih žena.
One young woman I met, teen mother of four, never thought about finishing high school, graduated successfully; never thought about going to college, enrolled in college. One day she said to me, "My wish is to finish college and be able to support my children." She's at a place where she can't find money to go to school. She sells water, sells soft drinks and sells recharge cards for cellphones. And you would think she would take that money and put it back into her education. Juanita is her name. She takes that money and finds single mothers in her community to send back to school. Says, "Leymah, my wish is to be educated. And if I can't be educated, when I see some of my sisters being educated, my wish has been fulfilled. I wish for a better life. I wish for food for my children. I wish that sexual abuse and exploitation in schools would stop." This is the dream of the African girl.
Jedna mlada djevojka koju sam upoznala, majka tinejdžerica četvero djece, nikad nije razmišljala o završavanju srednje škole, ali je uspješno maturirala; nikad nije pomislila da bi mogla na fakultet, a upisala se na fakultet. Jednog mi je dana rekla, „Moja je želja završiti fakultet i biti u stanju uzdržavati svoju djecu.“ Na mjestu je gdje ne može pronaći novac kako bi išla u školu. Prodaje vodu, prodaje bezalkoholna pića i prodaje punjive kartice za mobitele. I pomislili biste kako će uzeti taj novac i uložiti ga u obrazovanje. Ime joj je Juanita. Uzme taj novac i pronalazi samohrane majke u svojoj zajednici kako bi ih poslala natrag u školu. Kaže, „Leymah, moja je želja da budem obrazovana, a ako se ja ne mogu obrazovati, kad vidim neku od svojih sestara kako se obrazuje, moja je želja ispunjena. Želim bolji život. Želim hranu za svoju djecu. Želim da seksualno zlostavljanje i iskorištavanje u školama prestane.“ To je san afričke djevojke.
Several years ago, there was one African girl. This girl had a son who wished for a piece of doughnut because he was extremely hungry. Angry, frustrated, really upset about the state of her society and the state of her children, this young girl started a movement, a movement of ordinary women banding together to build peace. I will fulfill the wish. This is another African girl's wish. I failed to fulfill the wish of those two girls. I failed to do this. These were the things that were going through the head of this other young woman -- I failed, I failed, I failed. So I will do this. Women came out, protested a brutal dictator, fearlessly spoke. Not only did the wish of a piece of doughnut come true, the wish of peace came true. This young woman wished also to go to school. She went to school. This young woman wished for other things to happen, it happened for her.
Prije nekoliko godina, postojala je jedna afrička djevojka. Ta djevojka je imala sina koji je želio komadić krafne jer je bio jako gladan. Ljuta, frustrirana, veoma uznemirena zbog stanja njenog društva i stanja njenog djeteta, ta je mlada djevojka započela pokret, pokret običnih žena koje se povezuju kako bi izgradile mir. Ispunit ću želju. Ovo je želja druge afričke djevojke. Nisam uspjela u ispunjenju želja tih djevojaka. Nisam to uspjela učiniti. To su stvari koje prolaze kroz glavu ove druge mlade djevojke – nisam uspjela, nisam uspjela, nisam uspjela. Pa ću učiniti ovo. Žene su istupile, protestirale protiv brutalnog vođe, neustrašivo su govorile. Ne samo da se ostvarila želja o komadiću krafne, već se ostvarila i želja o miru. Ova je mlada žena također željela ići u školu. Išla je u školu. Ova mlada žena je željela da se druge stvari dogode i dogodile su joj se.
Today, this young woman is me, a Nobel laureate. I'm now on a journey to fulfill the wish, in my tiny capacity, of little African girls -- the wish of being educated. We set up a foundation. We're giving full four-year scholarships to girls from villages that we see with potential.
Danas, ta mlada žena sam ja, Nobelovka. Sada sam na putovanju da ispunim želju, sa svojim malim kapacitetom, ovih malih afričkih djevojaka – želju da budu obrazovane. Osnovali smo zakladu. Dajemo punu četverogodišnju stipendiju djevojkama iz sela u kojima vidimo potencijal.
I don't have much to ask of you. I've also been to places in this U.S., and I know that girls in this country also have wishes, a wish for a better life somewhere in the Bronx, a wish for a better life somewhere in downtown L.A., a wish for a better life somewhere in Texas, a wish for a better life somewhere in New York, a wish for a better life somewhere in New Jersey.
Nema mnogo toga što bih mogla tražiti od vas. Također, bila sam na mjestima u SAD-u i znam da djevojke u ovoj zemlji također imaju želje, želju za boljim životom negdje u Bronxu, želju za boljim životom negdje u centru L.A.-a, želju za boljim životom negdje u Teksasu, želju za boljim životom negdje u New Yorku, želju za boljim životom negdje u New Jerseyu.
Will you journey with me to help that girl, be it an African girl or an American girl or a Japanese girl, fulfill her wish, fulfill her dream, achieve that dream? Because all of these great innovators and inventors that we've talked to and seen over the last few days are also sitting in tiny corners in different parts of the world, and all they're asking us to do is create that space to unlock the intelligence, unlock the passion, unlock all of the great things that they hold within themselves. Let's journey together. Let's journey together.
Hoćete li mi se pridružiti kako bismo pomogli toj djevojci, bez obzira je li ona afrička djevojka, američka djevojka ili japanska djevojka, ispuniti njene želje, njen san, dostići taj san? Zato što svi ti veliki inovatori i izumitelji s kojima smo razgovarali i koje smo vidjeli posljednjih nekoliko dana također sjede u sićušnim kutovima na različitim dijelovima svijeta i mole nas da stvorimo ta sjedišta kako bismo otkrili inteligenciju, otkrili strast, otkrili sve te velike stvari koje drže u sebi. Krenimo zajedno. Krenimo zajedno.
Thank you.
Hvala.
(Applause)
(Pljesak)
Chris Anderson: Thank you so much. Right now in Liberia, what do you see as the main issue that troubles you?
Chris Anderson: Puno vam hvala. Što upravo sada vidite u Liberiji kao glavni problem koji vas muči?
LG: I've been asked to lead the Liberian Reconciliation Initiative. As part of my work, I'm doing these tours in different villages and towns -- 13, 15 hours on dirt roads -- and there is no community that I've gone into that I haven't seen intelligent girls. But sadly, the vision of a great future, or the dream of a great future, is just a dream, because you have all of these vices. Teen pregnancy, like I said, is epidemic.
LG: Zamolili su me da vodim Liberijsku inicijativu pomirenja. Kao dio svog rada, imam te obilaske različitih sela i gradova – 13, 15 sati na prljavim cestama – i ne postoji zajednica u koju sam otišla, a da nisam vidjela inteligentne djevojke. Ali tužno, vizija velike budućnosti ili san o velikoj budućnosti je samo san jer imate sve te mane. Tinejdžerska je trudnoća, kao što sam rekla, epidemija.
So what troubles me is that I was at that place and somehow I'm at this place, and I just don't want to be the only one at this place. I'm looking for ways for other girls to be with me. I want to look back 20 years from now and see that there's another Liberian girl, Ghanaian girl, Nigerian girl, Ethiopian girl standing on this TED stage. And maybe, just maybe, saying, "Because of that Nobel laureate I'm here today." So I'm troubled when I see them like there's no hope. But I'm also not pessimistic, because I know it doesn't take a lot to get them charged up.
Ono što me muči je to što sam bila na tom mjestu i nekako na tom sam mjestu, a ne želim biti jedina na tom mjestu. Tražim načine kako bi druge djevojke mogle biti sa mnom. Želim pogledati 20 godina unaprijed od ovog trenutka i vidjeti da postoji djevojka iz Liberije, djevojka iz Gane, djevojka iz Nigerije, djevojka iz Etiopije i stoji na ovoj TED pozornici. I možda, samo možda, govori, „Zbog te sam Nobelovke danas ovdje.“ Muči me kada ih vidim kako nemaju nade. No, nisam pesimistična jer znam da im ne treba mnogo da se ispune.
CA: And in the last year, tell us one hopeful thing that you've seen happening.
CA: Recite nam jednu obećavajuću stvar koju ste vidjeli da se događa prošle godine.
LG: I can tell you many hopeful things that I've seen happening. But in the last year, where President Sirleaf comes from, her village, we went there to work with these girls. And we could not find 25 girls in high school. All of these girls went to the gold mine, and they were predominantly prostitutes doing other things. We took 50 of those girls and we worked with them. And this was at the beginning of elections. This is one place where women were never -- even the older ones barely sat in the circle with the men. These girls banded together and formed a group and launched a campaign for voter registration. This is a real rural village. And the theme they used was: "Even pretty girls vote." They were able to mobilize young women.
LG: Mogu vam ispričati mnogo obećavajućih stvari koje sam vidjela da se događaju. Ali, prošle godine otišli smo raditi u selo iz kojeg dolazi predsjednica Sirleaf, radili smo s tim djevojkama. Nismo mogli pronaći 25 djevojaka koje idu u srednju školu. Sve su te djevojke išle u rudnik zlata i bile su pretežno prostituirane radeći druge stvari. Uzeli smo 50 djevojaka i radili s njima. To je bilo na početku izbora. To je jedno mjesto gdje žene nikad nisu – čak ni ove starije – sjedile u krugu s muškarcima. Te su se djevojke udružile i stvorile grupu i pokrenule kampanju za registraciju glasača. Ovo je vrlo nerazvijeno selo. A slogan koji su koristile je bio: „Čak i lijepe djevojke glasuju.“ Bile su u mogućnosti mobilizirati mlade žene.
But not only did they do that, they went to those who were running for seats to ask them, "What is it that you will give the girls of this community when you win?" And one of the guys who already had a seat was very -- because Liberia has one of the strongest rape laws, and he was one of those really fighting in parliament to overturn that law because he called it barbaric. Rape is not barbaric, but the law, he said, was barbaric. And when the girls started engaging him, he was very hostile towards them. These little girls turned to him and said, "We will vote you out of office." He's out of office today.
Ali ne samo da su to učinile, otišle su k onima koji su se nadmetali za vladajuće pozicije i pitale ih, „Što ćete dati djevojkama u ovoj zajednici kad pobijedite?“ A jedan od muškaraca koji je već imao poziciju bio je jako – zato što Liberija ima jedan od najjačih zakona vezanih za silovanje, a on je bio jedan od onih koji se u parlamentu borio za rušenje tog zakona jer ga je nazivao divljačkim. Silovanje nije divljačko, ali zakon, kaže, je divljački. Kada su ga djevojke počele obvezivati, bio je vrlo neprijateljski raspoložen prema njima. Te su se male djevojke okrenule prema njemu i rekle, „Izglasat ćemo da budete izbačeni iz ureda.“ Danas više nije u uredu.
(Applause)
(Pljesak)
CA: Leymah, thank you. Thank you so much for coming to TED.
CA: Leymah, hvala vam. Hvala vam što ste došli na TED.
LG: You're welcome. (CA: Thank you.)
LG: Nema na čemu. (CA: Hvala.)
(Applause)
(Pljesak)