Thank you. Two years ago, I stood on the TED stage in Arusha, Tanzania. I spoke very briefly about one of my proudest creations. It was a simple machine that changed my life.
Eskerrik asko. Badira bi urte Arushan, Tanzanian, TED agertokira igo nintzenetik. Bertan, harroen nagoen nire sorkuntzetariko bati buruz hitz egin nuen. Nire bizitza aldatu zuen makina sinple bat zen.
Before that time, I had never been away from my home in Malawi. I had never used a computer. I had never seen an Internet. On the stage that day, I was so nervous. My English lost, I wanted to vomit. (Laughter) I had never been surrounded by so many azungu, white people. (Laughter)
Hura baino lehen inoiz ez nintzen nire Malawiko etxetik urrun egon. Inoiz ez nuen ordenagailu bat erabili. Inoiz ez nuen Interneta ikusi. Egun hartan, agertokian, oso urduri nengoen. Ingelesa ahaztu zitzaidan eta oka egiteko gogoa neukan. (Algarak) Inoiz ez nuen inguruan horrenbeste azungu, pertsona txuri, izan. (Algarak)
There was a story I wouldn't tell you then. But well, I'm feeling good right now. I would like to share that story today. We have seven children in my family. All sisters, excepting me. This is me with my dad when I was a little boy. Before I discovered the wonders of science, I was just a simple farmer in a country of poor farmers. Like everyone else, we grew maize.
Orduan ezin izan nuen nahi nuen istorioa kontatu. Baina orain, ondo sentitzen nahiz eta istorio hura gaur partekatzea nahi nuke. Familian zazpi anai-arreba gara. Denak neskak, ni izan ezik. Hona nire aita eta biok txikia nintzenean. Zientziaren mirariak ezagutu baino lehen, nekazari bat besterik ez nintzen nekazari pobrez beteriko herrialde baten. Gainerakoak bezala, artoa lantzen genuen.
One year our fortune turned very bad. In 2001 we experienced an awful famine. Within five months all Malawians began to starve to death. My family ate one meal per day, at night. Only three swallows of nsima for each one of us. The food passes through our bodies. We drop down to nothing.
Urte baten, gure zoriak txarrera egin zuen. 2001. urtean, izugarrizko gosetea jasan genuen. Bost hilabeteren buruan Malawiko biztanleak gosez hiltzen hasi ziren. Nire familian egunean behin besterik ez genuen jaten, gauean. Hiru nsima mokadu soilik bakoitzak. Janariak gure gorputzetan sartu-irten bat besterik etzuen egiten. Gero eta argalago geunden denok.
In Malawi, the secondary school, you have to pay school fees. Because of the hunger, I was forced to drop out of school. I looked at my father and looked at those dry fields. It was the future I couldn't accept.
Malawin, bigarren hezkuntza jasotzeko, eskola-tasak ordaindu behar dira. Gosetea zela eta, eskola utzi behar izan nuen. Nire aita begiratu nuen, eta gero zelai lehor haiek. Onartu ezinezko etorkizun bat zen.
I felt very happy to be at the secondary school, so I was determined to do anything possible to receive education. So I went to a library. I read books, science books, especially physics. I couldn't read English that well. I used diagrams and pictures to learn the words around them.
Bigarren hezkuntza jasotzeko irrikatzen nengoen. Beraz, heziketa lortzeko ahalegin denak egiteko gertu nengoen. Horrela, liburutegira joan nintzen. Zientzia liburuak irakurtzen hasi nintzen, fisika liburuak gehien bat. Ez nuen ingelesa horren ondo irakurtzen. Diagrama eta irudiak erabili nituen alboko hitzen esanahia ikasteko.
Another book put that knowledge in my hands. It said a windmill could pump water and generate electricity. Pump water meant irrigation, a defense against hunger, which we were experiencing by that time. So I decided I would build one windmill for myself. But I didn't have materials to use, so I went to a scrap yard where I found my materials. Many people, including my mother, said I was crazy. (Laughter)
Liburu bat izan zen jakituria nire eskuetan jarri zuena. Haizerrota batek ura ponpatu eta elektrizitatea sortu ahal zuela zioen. Ura ponpatzeak ureztaketa suposatzen du. Orduan jasaten hari ginen goseteari aurre egiteko defentsa. Beraz, haizerrota bat neuk eraikitzea erabaki nuen. Baina ez neukan materialik. Txatartegi batera joan behar izan nuen beharrezko materialak aurkitzeko. Jende askok, nire amak barne, zoratuta nengoela esan zidaten. (Algarak)
I found a tractor fan, shock absorber, PVC pipes. Using a bicycle frame and an old bicycle dynamo, I built my machine. It was one light at first. And then four lights, with switches, and even a circuit breaker, modeled after an electric bell. Another machine pumps water for irrigation.
Traktore baten haizagailua aurkitu nuen, malgukia, PVC tutuak. Txirrindu baten markoa eta dinamo zahar bat erabiliz, nire makina eraiki nuen. Hasieran argi bat besterik ez geneukan. Gero lau izan genituen, dagozkien etengailuekin, baita fusible bat ere, guztia sistema elektriko baten antzera. Beste makina batek ura ponpatzen zuen ureztaketa xedeetarako.
Queues of people start lining up at my house (Laughter) to charge their mobile phone. (Applause) I could not get rid of them. (Laughter) And the reporters came too, which lead to bloggers and which lead to a call from something called TED. I had never seen an airplane before. I had never slept in a hotel. So, on stage that day in Arusha, my English lost, I said something like, "I tried. And I made it."
Nire etxearen aurrean jende-ilarak sortzen hasi ziren (Algarak) beren telefono mugikorrak kargatzeko asmoz. (Txaloak) Ezin nintzen beraietaz libratu. (Algarak) Eta kazetariak ere etorri ziren, gero blog idazleak, eta ondorioz TED izeneko zerbaiten dei bat jaso nuen. Inoiz ez nuen hegazkin bat ikusi. Inoiz ez nuen hotel baten lo egin. Beraz, Arushako agertoki artan, ingelesa ahaztu zitzaidan, Gutxi gora behera, honakoa esan nuen "Ahalegindu naiz eta lortu dut."
So I would like to say something to all the people out there like me to the Africans, and the poor who are struggling with your dreams. God bless. Maybe one day you will watch this on the Internet. I say to you, trust yourself and believe. Whatever happens, don't give up. Thank you. (Applause)
Beraz, ondorengoa esan nahi nuke ni bezalako pertsona guztiei, afrikarrei eta pobreei beraien ametsak lortzeko gogor lan egiten dutenei, Jaunak bedeinka zaitzatela. Agian, noizbait hau Interneten ikusteko aukera izango duzue. Entzun esan nahi dudana: izan konfiantza zeuengan eta sinetsi. Edozer gertatzen dela ere, segi aurrera. Eskerrik asko. (Txaloak)