I'll begin today by sharing a poem written by my friend from Malawi, Eileen Piri. Eileen is only 13 years old, but when we were going through the collection of poetry that we wrote, I found her poem so interesting, so motivating. So I'll read it to you. She entitled her poem "I'll Marry When I Want." (Laughter)
Počeću danas tako što ću vam pročitati pesmu koju je napisala moja prijateljica iz Malavija Ajlin Piri. Ajlin ima svega 13 godina, ali kada smo pregledale pesme koje smo napisale, njena pesma mi se učinila veoma zanimljivom, tako podsticajnom, pa ću vam je pročitati. Svoju pesmu je naslovila: "Udaću se kad ja to budem želela". (Smeh)
"I'll marry when I want. My mother can't force me to marry. My father cannot force me to marry. My uncle, my aunt, my brother or sister, cannot force me to marry. No one in the world can force me to marry. I'll marry when I want. Even if you beat me, even if you chase me away, even if you do anything bad to me, I'll marry when I want.
"Udaću se kad ja to budem želela. Moja majka me ne može prisiliti da se udam. Moj otac me ne može prisiliti da se udam. Moj stric, moja strina, moj brat ili sestra, ne mogu me prisiliti da se udam. Niko na svetu ne može me prisiliti da se udam. Udaću se kada ja to budem želela. Čak i ako me biješ, čak i ako me oteraš, čak i ako mi učiniš neko zlo, udaću se kad ja to budem želela.
I'll marry when I want, but not before I am well educated, and not before I am all grown up.
Udaću se kad ja to budem želela, ali ne pre nego što steknem dobro obrazovanje i ne pre nego što sasvim odrastem.
I'll marry when I want."
Udaću se kad ja to budem želela."
This poem might seem odd, written by a 13-year-old girl, but where I and Eileen come from, this poem, which I have just read to you, is a warrior's cry.
Ova pesma možda zvuči neobično, napisala ju je trinaestogodišnja devojčica, ali tamo odakle smo Ajlin i ja, ova pesma koju sam vam upravo pročitala, predstavlja poklič ratnice.
I am from Malawi. Malawi is one of the poorest countries, very poor, where gender equality is questionable.
Ja sam iz Malavija. Malavi je jedna od najsiromašnijih zemalja, veoma siromašna, gde je jednakost polova pod znakom pitanja.
Growing up in that country, I couldn't make my own choices in life. I couldn't even explore personal opportunities in life.
Odrastajući u toj zemlji, nisam imala pravo na sopstvene izbore u životu. Nisam čak mogla istražiti ni prilike koje su mi se ukazale u životu.
I will tell you a story of two different girls, two beautiful girls. These girls grew up under the same roof. They were eating the same food. Sometimes, they would share clothes, and even shoes. But their lives ended up differently, in two different paths. The other girl is my little sister. My little sister was only 11 years old when she got pregnant. It's a hurtful thing. Not only did it hurt her, even me. I was going through a hard time as well.
Ispričaću vam priču o dve različite devojčice, dve prelepe devojčice. Ove devojčice su odrasle pod istim krovom. Jele su istu hranu. Ponekad bi delile odeću, čak i cipele. Ali životi su im se razišli u dva različita pravca. Ta druga devojčica je moja sestra. Moja mlađa sestra je imala svega 11 godina kada je zatrudnela. To je štetna stvar. Ne samo da je štetilo njoj, već i meni. Ja sam takođe prolazila kroz težak period.
As it is in my culture, once you reach puberty stage, you are supposed to go to initiation camps. In these initiation camps, you are taught how to sexually please a man. There is this special day, which they call "Very Special Day" where a man who is hired by the community comes to the camp and sleeps with the little girls. Imagine the trauma that these young girls go through every day. Most girls end up pregnant. They even contract HIV and AIDS and other sexually transmitted diseases.
U mojoj kulturi, kada uđete u pubertet, treba da idete u kampove inicijacije. U ovim kampovima inicijacije uče vas kako da seksualno zadovoljite muškarca. Postoji jedan poseban dan, zovu ga "Veoma poseban dan", kada muškarac koga odredi zajednica dolazi u kamp i spava sa ovim devojčicama. Zamislite traumu koju one svakodnevno doživljavaju. Većina devojčica zatrudni. Čak budu zaražene HIV-om i AIDS-om i drugim seksualno prenosivim bolestima.
For my little sister, she ended up being pregnant. Today, she's only 16 years old and she has three children. Her first marriage did not survive, nor did her second marriage.
Moja mlađa sestra je zatrudnela. Danas, ona ima svega 16 godina i troje dece. Njen prvi brak nije uspeo, nije ni drugi.
On the other side, there is this girl. She's amazing. (Laughter) (Applause) I call her amazing because she is. She's very fabulous. That girl is me. (Laughter) When I was 13 years old, I was told, you are grown up, you have now reached of age, you're supposed to go to the initiation camp. I was like, "What? I'm not going to go to the initiation camps." You know what the women said to me? "You are a stupid girl. Stubborn. You do not respect the traditions of our society, of our community."
S druge strane, tu je i ona druga devojčica. Ona je čudesna. (Smeh) (Aplauz) Kažem čudesna, jer ona to zaista jeste. Ona je neverovatna. Ta devojčica sam ja. (Smeh) Kada sam imala 13 godina, rekli su mi: "Odrasla si, sad si postala punoletna, treba da ideš u kamp inicijacije". Rekoh: "Šta? Ne idem u kamp inicijacije." Znate li šta su mi žene rekle? "Ti si glupa devojčica. Tvrdoglava. Ne poštuješ tradiciju našeg društva, naše zajednice."
I said no because I knew where I was going. I knew what I wanted in life. I had a lot of dreams as a young girl. I wanted to get well educated, to find a decent job in the future. I was imagining myself as a lawyer, seated on that big chair. Those were the imaginations that were going through my mind every day. And I knew that one day, I would contribute something, a little something to my community. But every day after refusing, women would tell me, "Look at you, you're all grown up. Your little sister has a baby. What about you?" That was the music that I was hearing every day, and that is the music that girls hear every day when they don't do something that the community needs them to do.
Rekla sam ne, jer sam znala kojim putem treba da idem. Znala sam šta želim u životu. Kao devojčica, imala sam mnogo snova. Želela sam dobro obrazovanje, da u budućnosti nađem pristojan posao. Zamišljala sam sebe kao advokata koji sedi na onoj velikoj stolici. To su bile slike koje su mi se vrzmale po glavi svakog dana. I znala sam da ću jednog dana dati svoj doprinos, mali doprinos, svojoj zajednici. Ali svakog dana nakon mog odbijanja, žene bi mi govorile: "Pogledaj se, potpuno si odrasla, Tvoja mlađa sestra ima bebu. A ti?" To je bila pesma koju sam slušala svakog dana. To je pesma koju devojčice slušaju svakog dana kada ne urade ono što njihova zajednica traži od njih.
When I compared the two stories between me and my sister, I said, "Why can't I do something? Why can't I change something that has happened for a long time in our community?"
Kada sam uporedila ove dve priče, svoju i sestrinu, rekla sam: "Zašto ne bih preduzela nešto? Zašto ne bih promenila nešto što se toliko dugo događa u našoj zajednici?"
That was when I called other girls just like my sister, who have children, who have been in class but they have forgotten how to read and write. I said, "Come on, we can remind each other how to read and write again, how to hold the pen, how to read, to hold the book." It was a great time I had with them. Nor did I just learn a little about them, but they were able to tell me their personal stories, what they were facing every day as young mothers. That was when I was like, 'Why can't we take all these things that are happening to us and present them and tell our mothers, our traditional leaders, that these are the wrong things?" It was a scary thing to do, because these traditional leaders, they are already accustomed to the things that have been there for ages. A hard thing to change, but a good thing to try.
Tada sam pozvala druge devojčice koje, kao i moja sestra, imaju decu, koje su išle u školu, ali su zaboravile da čitaju i pišu. Rekoh: "Hajde, možemo podsetiti jedna drugu kako se čita i piše, kako se drži olovka, kako se čita, drži knjiga." Divno sam se provodila s njima. Ne samo da sam saznala ponešto o njima, već su bile u mogućnosti da mi ispričaju i svoje intimne priče koje svakodnevno proživljavaju kao mlade majke. Tada sam pomislila: "Zašto ne bismo sve ovo što nam se događa saopštile svojim majkama, našim tradicionalnim vođama i rekle im da su to pogrešne stvari?" Bilo je zastrašujuće to učiniti zato što su tradicionalne vođe već naviknute na ove stvari koje se oduvek događaju. To je teško promeniti. ali je dobro pokušati.
So we tried. It was very hard, but we pushed. And I'm here to say that in my community, it was the first community after girls pushed so hard to our traditional leader, and our leader stood up for us and said no girl has to be married before the age of 18. (Applause)
Pa smo pokušale. Bilo je veoma teško, ali smo vršile pritisak. I ovde sam da vam kažem da u mojoj zajednici, prvi put nakon što su devojčice vršile jak pritisak na naše tradicionalne vođe, naše vođe su nas podržale i rekle da ni jedna devojčica ne mora da se uda pre svoje 18. godine. (Aplauz)
In my community, that was the first time a community, they had to call the bylaws, the first bylaw that protected girls in our community.
U mojoj zajednici, prvi put je zajednica morala da usvoji zakone, prvi zakon koji štiti devojčice u našoj zajednici.
We did not stop there. We forged ahead. We were determined to fight for girls not just in my community, but even in other communities. When the child marriage bill was being presented in February, we were there at the Parliament house. Every day, when the members of Parliament were entering, we were telling them, "Would you please support the bill?" And we don't have much technology like here, but we have our small phones. So we said, "Why can't we get their numbers and text them?" So we did that. It was a good thing. (Applause) So when the bill passed, we texted them back, "Thank you for supporting the bill." (Laughter) And when the bill was signed by the president, making it into law, it was a plus. Now, in Malawi, 18 is the legal marriage age, from 15 to 18. (Applause)
Nismo se ovde zaustavile. Nastavile smo dalje. Bile smo odlučne da se borimo za devojčice ne samo u mojoj zajednici, već i u drugim zajednicama. Kada se u februaru raspravljalo o predlogu zakona o dečijem braku, bile smo tamo, ispred Skupštine. Svakog dana, kada su poslanici ulazili u zgradu, mi smo im govorile: "Molimo vas podržite ovaj predlog zakona." Tamo nemamo mnogo tehnoloških naprava kao ovde, ali imamo svoje male telefone. Pa smo rekle: "Zašto ne bismo nabavile njihove brojeve i slale im SMS poruke?" Tako smo i uradile. Dobra stvar. (Aplauz) I kada je zakon bio izglasan poslale smo im poruku: "Hvala vam što ste podržali predlog zakona." (Smeh) A kada je predsednik potpisao zakon i učinio ga pravosnažnim, to je bio plus. U Malaviju je sada zakonska granica za stupanje u brak 18 godina, od 15 do 18. (Aplauz)
It's a good thing to know that the bill passed, but let me tell you this: There are countries where 18 is the legal marriage age, but don't we hear cries of women and girls every day? Every day, girls' lives are being wasted away. This is high time for leaders to honor their commitment. In honoring this commitment, it means keeping girls' issues at heart every time. We don't have to be subjected as second, but they have to know that women, as we are in this room, we are not just women, we are not just girls, we are extraordinary. We can do more.
Dobro je znati da je zakon usvojen, ali reći ću vam ovo: Postoje zemlje gde je zakonska granica za stupanje u brak 18 godina, ali zar ne čujemo svakodnevne vapaje žena i devojčica? Svakog dana traće se životi devojčica. Krajnje je vreme da vođe počnu da poštuju svoju obavezu. Poštovanje ove obaveze, podrazumeva da stalno imaju na umu probleme devojčica. Ne moramo biti podređene kao drugorazredna bića. Moraju znati da žene, poput nas u ovoj sali, mi nismo samo žene, mi nismo samo devojčice, mi smo izvanredne. Mi možemo učiniti više.
And another thing for Malawi, and not just Malawi but other countries: The laws which are there, you know how a law is not a law until it is enforced? The law which has just recently passed and the laws that in other countries have been there, they need to be publicized at the local level, at the community level, where girls' issues are very striking. Girls face issues, difficult issues, at the community level every day. So if these young girls know that there are laws that protect them, they will be able to stand up and defend themselves because they will know that there is a law that protects them.
I još jedna stvar u vezi sa Malavijem, i ne samo Malavijem, već i drugim zemljama. Zakoni koji postoje, znate da zakon nije zakon sve dok se ne primenjuje? Zakon koji je tek nedavno usvojen i zakoni koji postoje u drugim zemljama moraju biti promovisani na lokalnom nivou, na nivou zajednice, gde su problemi devojčica veoma uočljivi. Devojčice se svakodnevno susreću sa teškim problemima, na nivou zajednice. Ako ove devojčice budu znale da postoje zakoni koji ih štite moći će da se pobune i odbrane jer će znati da postoji zakon koji ih štiti.
And another thing I would say is that girls' voices and women's voices are beautiful, they are there, but we cannot do this alone. Male advocates, they have to jump in, to step in and work together. It's a collective work. What we need is what girls elsewhere need: good education, and above all, not to marry whilst 11.
I rekla bih još da su glasovi devojčica i glasovi žena divni, oni su prisutni, ali ovo ne možemo uraditi same. Muški zastupnici, moraju uskočiti, priključiti se, da radimo zajedno. To je zajednički posao. Potrebno nam je ono što i drugim devojčicama: dobro obrazovanje, i iznad svega, da se ne udajemo sa 11 godina.
And furthermore, I know that together, we can transform the legal, the cultural and political framework that denies girls of their rights. I am standing here today and declaring that we can end child marriage in a generation. This is the moment where a girl and a girl, and millions of girls worldwide, will be able to say, "I will marry when I want."
I još, znam da zajedno možemo promeniti pravni, kulturni i politički okvir koji osporava prava devojčica. Stojim danas ovde i tvrdim da možemo okončati dečije brakove u jednoj generaciji. Ovo je trenutak kada će jedna devojčica i druga i milioni devojčica širom sveta moći da kažu: "Udaću se kad ja to budem želela."
(Applause)
(Aplauz)
Thank you. (Applause)
Hvala. (Aplauz)