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.
Shpesh here une udhetoj rreth botes per te folur dhe njerezit me bejne pyetje rreth sfidave mementeve, disa nga gjerat qe pendohem. 1998 Nje nene beqare e kater femijeve tre muaj pas lindjes se femijut te katert shkova te punoj si asistente per kerkime. Shkova ne Liberin Veriore Si pjese e punes fshati do te te jepte vendin ku te banosh. Ata me strehuan mua me nje nen beqare dhe te bijen e saj.
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."
Vajza qelloj te ishte e vetjma vajze beqare ne te gjithe fshatin qe kishte arritur deri ne klasen e nente. Ajo ishte bere objekt tallje nga i gjithe komuniteti Grate e tjera shpesh i thoshin nenes se saj "Ti dhe femija yt do te vdisnin te varfer" Pas dy javes ne ate fshat ishte koha te kthehesha. Nena e vajzes erdhi te une, u gjunjezua dhe me tha "Leymah, merre vajzen time. Une dua qe ajo te behet nje infermiere" Une isha shum e varfer, duke jetuar ne shtepi me prinderit e mi, nuk kisha mundesi ta mbaja vajzen. Me lot ne sy e mi, i thash "Jo"
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.
Pas dy muajsh shkova ne nje fshat tjeter me te njejten detyre dhe me thane te jetoja me prijesin e fashtit Gruaja e prijesit kishte nje vajze te vogel, e cila kishte te njejten ngjyre si une, terresisht e zeze. Tere diten ajo versallosej vetem ne te brendshme. Kur une e pyta "Kush eshte ai" Ajo me tha "Ky eshte Wei" Kuptimi i emrit te saj ishte derr. Nena e saj vdiq derisa po e lindte, dhe askush nuk kishte iden kush ishte babai i saj" Per dy jave ajo u be shoqeruesja ime, flinte me mua. Une i bleva asaj rroba te perdorura dhe kukullen e saj te pare. Nje nate para se te largohesha ajo erdhi ne dhomen time dhe tha, "Leymaj, mos me le ketu Dua te vij me ty Dua te shkoj ne shkolle" Une isha akoma shum e varfer, pa para duke jetuar me prinderit e mije thash perseri "Jo" Pas dy muajsh te dyja keto fshtera fillaun nje lufte tjeter. Deri ne sot, nuk kam asnje ide se ku jane ato dy vajza.
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."
Ne 2004; ne kulm te aksionit tone ministri i Gender Liberia me thirri dhe tha "Leymah, kam nje femije 9 vjeqar per ty. Dua qe ti ta marresh ate ne shtepi sepse ne nuk kemi shtepi te sigurta" Kete vajzen e vogel e kishte dhunuar gjyshi i saj nga babai gjdo dit per gjashte muaj. Ajo erdhi tek une e fryre dhe shum e zbehte. Cdo nate kur une vija nga puna dhe shtrihesha ne dyshemen e ftohte Ajo shtrihej prance meje dhe thojshe "Teze, dua te behet mire Dua te shkoj te shkoll"
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 Nje grua e re qendron perpara President Sirleaf dhe i tregon atij sesi ajo dhe motrat e vellezerit e saj jetojn se bashku, se nena dhe babai kishin vdekur gjate luftes. Ajo eshte 19 dhe eshte e saj eshte te shkoj ne kolegj qe te mundet te mbaje familjen e saj. Ajo eshte shum atletike. Qfar ndodhi eshte qe ajo aplikoj per burse. Burse te plote. E fitoj ate. Endrra e saj per te shkuar ne shkoll, per tu edukuar erdhi me ne fund. Ajo shkon ne shkolle ne diten e saj te pare Direktori i sporteve qe eshte pergjegjes per ta futur ate ne program e therret ate jashte klases. Dhe fati i saj per tre vitet e ardhsme do te jete te beje seks me te qdo dite, si favor per te lene ate ne shkolle.
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.
Ne bote ne kemi ligje, politika internacionale, lider te punes, Njerez te medhenj kane bere marrveshje ne do te mbrojm femijet tone nga lufta dhe nga frika U.N ka Konventen per te Drejtat e Femijeve Ne shtetet si Amerika ne degjojm gjera si Asnje Femije te Mos Braktiset Ne shtetet e tjera degjojm gjera tjera. Ka nje Milenium Development qe quhet Three qe fokusohet tek vajzat. Te gjitha keto pune te medha nga njerez te medhenj qe kane per qellim ti marrin njerezit e rinje e ti dergojn ku ata deshirojn te jene ne bote Une mendoj qe ka deshtuar.
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?"
Ne Liberi per shembull rata e shtatezanise te vajzat adoleshente eshte tre per gjdo dhjete vajza. Prostitucioni adoleshent eshte ne kulmin e saj Ne nje komunitet na thane qe kur zgjohesh ne mengjes sheh kondome te perdororur gjithandej sikur jane qamqakez. Vajza 12 vjeqare duke u bere prostituta per me pak se nje dollar naten. Eshte e tmerrshme, e trishturshme. Dikush me pyeti para ca dites, para se une te jepja TEKTalk-un "Ku eshte shpresa"
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.
Para disa vjetesh disa shoke te mije vendosen qe ne duheshim te kerpecenim shkeputjet ne mes ne gjenerates sone dhe gjenerates se grave te reja. Nuk mjafton te thuhet qe ju keni dy fitues te cmimit Nobel nga Republika e Liberise kur vajzat e tuaja jane aty jashte dhe ska asnje shprese, ose duket sikur nuk ka asnje shprese. Ne kemi krijuar nje vend te quajtur "Projekti Transformues per Vajza te Reja" Ne shkojm neper komuna rurale dhe gjithe qka bejme, njesoj sikur ne kete dhome, eshte qe krijojm nje hapesire. Kur keto vajza ulen, ti shpalos inteligjence, ti shpalos pasionin, ti shpalos perkushtimin, ti shpalos perqendrimin, ti shpalos udheheqes te medhenj. Deri me sot kemi punuar me mbi 300 vajza. Disa nga keto vajza qe hyne ne dhome shum te turpshme kane marre hapa te forta, si nena te reja, qe dalin dhe japin keshilla per te drejtat e grave te vogla.
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.
Nje grua te re qe takova, nje nene adoloshente e keter femijeve, kurre nuk kishte menduar per te mbaruar shkollen e mesme, tani ka diplomuar me sukses; kurre nuk ka menduar rreth shkuarjes ne kolegj, u regjistrua ne kolegj. Nje dite ajo ne tha mua. "Deshira ime eshte te perfundoj kolegjin dhe te jem e afte te mbaje femijet e mij" Ajo nuk mund te gjeje parat qe te shkoj ne shkolle. Ajo shet uje, shet pije te gazuara shet edhe karta per mbushje te telefonave. Dhe ti do te mendoje qe ajo i merr ato para dhe i vendos per edukimin e saj. Emri i saj eshte Juanita. Ajo i merr ato para dhe gjen nenat beqare ne komunitetin e saj dhe i dergon ne shkolle. Ajo thote "Leymah, deshira ime eshte te edukohem. Dhe nese une nuk mund te edukohem kur i shoh disa nga motrat e mija te edukuara, deshira ime plotesohet. Dua nje jete me te mire. Dua ushqim per femijet e mij. Dua qe abuzimi seksual dhe shfrytezimi ne shkolla te ndalet" Kjo eshte endrra e nje vajze afrikane.
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.
Para disa vjeteve, njoha nje vajze afrikane. Kjo vajza kishte nje djale qe donte nje cope petulle pasi qe ishte shum i uritur. E agresuar, e zemeruar, e meritur rreth gjendjes se shoqerise se saj dhe per gjendjes e femijeve te saj, kjo vajze e re filloj nje levizje, nje levizje te perbere nga gra te zakonshme qe bashkohen per te bere paqe. Une do ta perbush deshiren. Kjo eshte nje tjeter deshir e nje vajze afrikane. Une deshtova ne permbushjen e deshirave te atyve dy vajzave. Une deshtova. Keto jane gjerat qe po kalonin neper koken e ketyre grave te tjera Une deshtova, une deshtova, une deshtova Keshtu qe une do ta bej kete Grate dolen jashte, protestuan kunder nje diktatori brutal, folen pa frike. Dhe nuk u plotesua vetem deshira per nje petull, por u plotesua edhe deshira per paqe. Kjo grua e re donte gjithashtu te shkonte ne shkolle. Ajo shkoj ne shkolle. Kjo grua e re donte qe te ndodhnin gjera te tjera, keto ndodhen per te.
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.
Sot kjo grua e re jam une, fituese e cmimit Nobel. Jam ne nje udhetim per te permbushur endrren, ne kapacitetin tim te vogel te nje vajze afrikane endrren per tu shkolluar. Ne kemi krijuar bazen. Ne po japin bursa te plota kater vjeqare vajzave neper fshatera qe ne po shkohim kane potencial.
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.
Une nuk kam shum per te kerkuar nga ju. Une kam qene po ashtu neper vendet e Shteteve te Bashkuara dhe e di qe edhe vajzat ne kete shtet kane gjithashtu endrra, duan nje jeten me te mire diku ne Bronx, duan nje jete me te mire diku ne L.A - ne e poshtem , duan per nje jete me te mire duku ne Texas, duan nje jete me te mire diku ne New York, duan nje jete me te mire diku ne New Jersey.
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.
A do te udhetoni ju me mua per te ndihmuar ate vajze, ska rendesi nese eshte afrikane ose amerikane ose japoneze, per te permbushur deshirat e saj, per te permbushur endrrat e saj, per te arritur ate enderr? Sepse te gjitha keto zbulime te medha per te cilat ne kemi folur dhe i kemi pare ne keto ditet e fundit jane te ulur dikund neper qoshe te vogla ne pjese te ndryshme te botes, dhe gjithe qfare ata kerkojn nga ne eshte te krijojm nje hapesire per te shpalosur inteligjencen, shpalosur pasionin, shpalosur te gjitha gjerat e medha qe ato mbajne perbrenda. Te udhetojm se bashku. Te udhetojm se bashku.
Thank you.
Faliminderit.
(Applause)
(Duarktrokitje)
Chris Anderson: Thank you so much. Right now in Liberia, what do you see as the main issue that troubles you?
Chris Anderson: Te faleminderohem shum. Tani ne Liberi qfare shihni si problemin qe ju shqeteson me se shumti?
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: Me kane keruar te udheheq Inciativen per Pajtimet Liberiane Si pjese te punes time, une jam duke bere keto turne neper fshatra dhe qytete te ndryshme 13, 15 or neper rruge te ndotura dhe nuk ka pasur asnje komutitet qe une kam shkuar ku nuk kam pare vajza inteligjente. Por fatkqesisht, verzioni i nje te ardhme te ndritur, ose endrra per nje te ardhme te madhe. eshte thjesht nje enderr, sepse ekzisonte te gjitha keto vese. Shtatzania ne adoleshence, sic e thash, eshte epidemike.
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.
Keshtu qe qfare me shqeteson mua eshte qe une isha ne ate vend dhe ne nje menyre akoma jam aty, dhe nuk dua te jem e vetme ne ate vend. Jam duke kerkuar menyra qe edhe vajzat e tjera te jene me mua. Dua të shikoj 20 vjet nga tani dhe te shoh te ka ndonje tjeter vajze Liberiane vajze Ghanaian, vajze Nigeriane, vajze Etiopiane duke qendruar ne skenen e TED-it Dhe ndoshta, ndoshta do te thote "Per shkak te asaj fituese te Nobelit une jam ketu sot" Keshtu une shqetesohem kur une i shoh ato sikur nuk ka asnje shprese. Por une nuk jam pesimiste sepse e di qe nuk duhet shum qe ti ngrise ato.
CA: And in the last year, tell us one hopeful thing that you've seen happening.
CA: Dhe ne vitin e fundit na trego ndonje gje shpresedhenese qe ju e keni pare te ndodhte.
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: Une mund te ju tregoj shum gjera shpresedhenese qe kane ndodhur Por ne vitin e fundit ku President Sirlied vije, nga fshati i saj ne shkuam te punonim me disa vajza dhe nuk mundim te gjenim 25 vajza ne shkolle te mesme. Te gjtha keto vajza shkonin neper miniera te arit, dhe ishin kryesisht prostituta. por benin edhe pune te tjera. Ne morrem 50 nga keto vajza dhe ne punuam me ato. Dhe kjo ishte ne fillimi te zdjedhjeve. Ky ishte nje vend ku grate kurre madje as ato te vjetrat nuk uleshin gati fare ne rreth me burrat. Keto gra u bashkuan dhe formuan nje grup. dhe filluan nje kampanje per regjistrimin e votave Ky eshte nje fshat i vertet rural. Dhe motivi qe ato perdoren ishte: "Edhe vajzat e bukura votojn" Ato ishin te gjendje te mobilizonin vajza te reja.
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.
Por ato nuk bene vetem aq. ato gjithashtu shkuan tek ata qe po kandidonin dhe i pyeten "Cfare do te ju jepni ju vajzave te ketij komuniteti kur ju te fitoni" Dhe njeri nga djemte qe tashme kishte fituar nje vend sepse Liberia ka nje nga ligjet me te forta te dhunimit dhe ai ishte nje nga ata qe vertet po luftonte ne parlament per te rrezuar ate ligj sepse e quante me te vertet barbar. Dhunimi nuk eshte barbarik, por ligji, tha ai, eshte barbar. Dhe kur vajzat filluan te fitonin kunder tij, ai u sill shum armiqesisht ndaj tyre. Keto vajza te vogla u kthyen nga ai dhe i thane, "Ne do te ju vendosim juve jashte nga zyra" Ai sot nuk eshte me ne zyre.
(Applause)
(Duartrokitje)
CA: Leymah, thank you. Thank you so much for coming to TED.
CA: Leymah, faliminderit. Faliminderit shum per ardhjen e juaj ne TED.
LG: You're welcome. (CA: Thank you.)
LG: Ska perse (CA: Thank you)
(Applause)
(Duartrokitje)