Boyd Varty: What I learned from Nelson Mandela

Translator: Casper Schmidt Reviewer: Anders Finn Jørgensen

I'm a man who's trying to live from his heart,

Jeg er en mand som prøver at leve fra hjertet

and so just before I get going,

derfor, før jeg starter

I wanted to tell you as a South African

vil jeg som sydafrikaner dele med jer

that one of the men who has inspired me most

at en af de personer, som har inspireret mig mest

passed away a few hours ago.

gik bort for få timer siden.

Nelson Mandela has come to the end

Nelson Mandela er nået til enden

of his long walk to freedom.

af sin lange vej mod frihed.

And so this talk is going to be for him.

Derfor er denne "talk" tilegnet ham.

I grew up in wonder.

Jeg voksede op et vidunderligt sted.

I grew up amongst those animals.

Jeg voksede op blandt disse dyr.

I grew up in the wild eastern part of South Africa

Jeg voksede op i den vilde østlige del af Sydafrika

at a place called Londolozi Game Reserve.

et sted kaldet Londolozi Game Reserve.

It's a place where my family has been

Det er her min familie har

in the safari business for four generations.

drevet safarivirksomhed igennem fire generationer.

Now for as long as I can remember,

Så længe jeg kan huske

my job has been to take people out into nature,

har mit job været at tage folk med ud i naturen,

and so I think it's a lovely twist of fate today

og jeg tror at det er skæbnens værk at jeg i dag

to have the opportunity

har muligheden for

to bring some of my experiences out in nature

at tage nogle af min oplevelser med naturen

in to this gathering.

med ind i denne forsamling.

Africa is a place

Afrika er et sted

where people still sit under starlit skies

hvor folk stadig sidder i stjernernes skær

and around campfires and tell stories,

samlet om lejrbål og fortæller historier.

and so what I have to share with you today

Og det jeg gerne vil dele med jer i dag

is the simple medicine of a few campfire stories,

er en salve til sindet, i form af et par små historier,

stories about heroes of heart.

historier om sande helte.

Now my stories are not the stories

Mine historier er ikke af den slags

that you'll hear on the news,

som du du ville høre om i nyhederne.

and while it's true that Africa is a harsh place,

og selvom Afrika er et meget barskt,

I also know it to be a place

så er det også er et sted

where people, animals and ecosystems

hvor mennesker, dyr og økosystemer

teach us about a more interconnected world.

lærer os om en mere sammenhængende verden.

When I was nine years old,

Da jeg var ni år gammel,

President Mandela came to stay with my family.

boede præsident Mandela hos min familie.

He had just been released from his 27 years of incarceration,

Han var lige blevet løsladt efter 27 år i fængsel,

and was in a period of readjustment

og forsøgte stadig at vende sig til

to his sudden global icon status.

sin pludselige globale ikon status.

Members of the African National Congress

Nogle medlemmer af African National Congress

thought that in the bush

mente at han i bushen

he would have time to rest and recuperate

ville få ro til at komme til hægterne,

away from the public eye,

væk fra offentlighedens søgelys

and it's true that lions tend to be

og det passer da også at løver kan være ret

a very good deterrent to press and paparazzi.

yderst effektivt middel imod presse og paparazzier.

(Laughter)

(Latter)

But it was a defining time for me as a young boy.

Men det var en afgørende tid for en dreng som mig.

I would take him breakfast in bed,

Jeg serverede morgenmad på sengen for ham,

and then, in an old track suit and slippers,

og derefter, iført er slidt træningssæt og sutsko,

he would go for a walk around the garden.

gik han en tur rundt i haven.

At night, I would sit with my family

Om aftenen, sad min familie og jeg

around the snowy, bunny-eared TV,

rundt om det gamle fjernsynet

and watch images of that same

og så bileder af den samme

quiet man from the garden

stille mand fra haven

surrounded by hundreds and thousands of people

omringet af tusinder af mennesker,

as scenes from his release were broadcast nightly.

scener fra hans løsladelse blev sendt hver aften.

He was bringing peace

Han skabte fred

to a divided and violent South Africa,

i et delt og voldeligt Sydafrika,

one man with an unbelievable sense of his humanity.

én man, med en utrolig sans for sin menneskelighed.

Mandela said often that the gift of prison

Mandela sagde tit, at gaven ved at være i fængsel

was the ability to go within and to think,

var muligheden for at fordybe sig og tænke,

to create in himself

han skabte i sig selv

the things he most wanted for South Africa:

de ting han ønskede sig aller mest for Sydafrika:

peace, reconciliation, harmony.

fred, forsoning, harmoni.

Through this act of immense open-heartedness,

Igennem denne enorme åbenhjertighed,

he was to become the embodiment

blev han legemliggørelsen

of what in South Africa we call "ubuntu."

af det vi i Sydafrika kaldet "ubuntu".

Ubuntu: I am because of you.

Ubuntu: jeg er, fordi I er.

Or, people are not people

Eller, mennesker er ikke mennesker

without other people.

uden andre mennesker.

It's not a new idea or value

Det er ikke en ny idé eller dyd

but it's one that I certainly think at these times

men det er en idé, som jeg i høj grad mener

is worth building on.

vil værd at bygge på.

In fact, it is said that in the collective consciousness of Africa,

Det siges at, i den samlede bevidsthed i Afrika,

we get to experience the deepest parts

oplever vi det inderligste

of our own humanity

af vores egen menneskelighed

through our interactions with others.

igennem samvær med andre.

Ubuntu is at play right now.

Ubuntu er her lige nu.

You are holding a space for me

I skaber et rum for mig

to express the deepest truth of who I am.

hvori jeg kan udtrykke hvem jeg.

Without you, I'm just a guy talking to an empty room,

Uden jer er jeg bare en gut der taler i et tom rum,

and I spent a lot of time last week doing that,

det brugte en del tid på i sidste uge,

and it's not the same as this.

og det er ikke helt det samme.

(Laughter)

(Latter)

If Mandela was the national and international embodiment,

Mandela var den internationale legemliggørelse

then the man who taught me the most

men den mand har lærte mig mest

about this value personally was this man,

om Ubuntu er denne mand,

Solly Mhlongo.

Solly Mholongo

Solly was born under a tree

Solly blev født under et træ

60 kilometers from where I grew up in Mozambique.

60 kilometer fra hvor jeg voksede op i Mozambique.

He would never have a lot of money,

Han havde aldrig særlig mange penge,

but he was to be

men han viste sig at være

one of the richest men I would ever meet.

en af de rigeste personer jeg nogensinde har mødt.

Solly grew up tending to his father's cattle.

Solly passede som dreng sin fars kvæg.

Now, I can tell you, I don't know what it is about people who grow up looking after cattle,

Jeg ved ikke hvad der er med folk, som er vokset op som kvægpasser,

but it makes for über-resourcefulness.

men det gør dem ekstremt opfindsomme.

The first job that he ever got in the safari business

Hans første job der havde med safari at gøre

was fixing the safari trucks.

var at reparere safarikøretøjer.

Where he had learned to do that out in the bush

Hvordan han havde lært sig det ude i bushen

I have no idea, but he could do it.

aner jeg ikke, men det havde han.

He then moved across into what we called

Han skiftede senere over i den afdeling som vi kalder

the habitat team.

habitatholdet.

These were the people on the reserve

Det var dem som havde ansvaret for

who were responsible for its well-being.

at tage sig af reservatets trivsel.

He fixed roads, he mended wetlands,

Han reparerede veje, han ordnede vådområder

he did some anti-poaching.

han bekæmpede krybskytter.

And then one day we were out together,

En dag hvor vi var ude sammen,

and he came across the tracks of where a female leopard had walked.

fik han øje på et hun-leopard spor.

And it was an old track,

Det var et gammelt spor,

but for fun he turned and he began to follow it,

men for sjov begyndte han at følge sporet,

and I tell you, I could tell by the speed

og det var tydeligt, med den hastighed

at which he moved on those pad marks

han bevægede sig langs sporet,

that this man was a Ph.D.-level tracker.

at denne mand var "sporhund" på Ph.D niveau.

If you drove past Solly

Hvis man kørte forbi Solly

somewhere out on the reserve,

ude i reservatet

you look up in your rearview mirror,

og man så sig tilbage i bakspejlet,

you'd see he'd stopped the car

ville man se at han havde stoppet sin bil

20, 50 meters down the road

20, 50 meter nede af vejen

just in case you need help with something.

bare i tilfælde af at man havde brug for hjælp.

The only accusation I ever heard leveled at him

Den eneste klage jeg nogen siden har hør ham få

was when one of our clients said,

var da en af vores kunder sagde,

"Solly, you are pathologically helpful."

"Solly, du er patologisk hjælpsom".

(Laughter)

(Latter)

When I started professionally guiding people

Da jeg startede som professionel guide

out into this environment,

ude i området

Solly was my tracker.

hjalp Solly mig med at finde rundt.

We worked together as a team.

Vi arbejdede sammen som et team.

And the first guests we ever got

De første gæster vi havde

were a philanthropy group from your East Coast,

var en filantropisk gruppe fra den amerikanske østkyst,

and they said to Solly, on the side, they said,

og de sagde til Solly,

"Before we even go out to see lions and leopards,

"Før vi kommer til løverne og leoparderne,

we want to see where you live."

så vil vi først se hvor du bor".

So we took them up to his house,

Så vi tog ud til hans hus,

and this visit of the philanthropist to his house

og filantropernes besøg

coincided with a time when Solly's wife,

skete på samme tid, som Sollys kone

who was learning English,

der var i gang med at lære engelsk,

was going through a phase where she would open the door

var i en fase hvor hun bød folk velkommen

by saying, "Hello, I love you.

ved at sige "Hej, jeg elsker dig".

Welcome, I love you." (Laughter)

"Velkommen, jeg elsker jer". (Latter)

And there was something so beautifully African

Der var noget vidunderligt afrikansk

about it to me, this small house

ved det, dette lille hus

with a huge heart in it.

med et enormt hjerte.

Now on the day that Solly saved my life,

Den dag Solly reddede mit liv,

he was already my hero.

var han allerede min helt.

It was a hot day,

Det var en varm dag,

and we found ourselves down by the river.

og vi var nede ved floden.

Because of the heat, I took my shoes off,

Fordi det var så varmt, tog jeg mine sko af,

and I rolled up my pants,

og smøgede mine bukser op,

and I walked into the water.

og jeg gik ud i vandet.

Solly remained on the bank.

Solly blev inde på bredden.

The water was clear running over sand,

Vandet var helt klart over sandbunden,

and we turned and we began to make our way upstream.

og vi begyndte at gå, imod strømmen.

And a few meters ahead of us,

Få meter foran os,

there was a place where a tree had fallen out of the bank,

lå et træ som var væltet ud over vandet,

and its branches were touching the water,

og dets grenene rørte vandet,

and it was shadowy.

og det var svært at se igennem.

And if had been a horror movie,

Havde det været en gyserfilm,

people in the audience would have started saying,

ville folk blandt publikum have sagt,

"Don't go in there. Don't go in there." (Laughter)

"Gå ikke derind. Gå ikke derind". (Latter)

And of course, the crocodile was in the shadows.

Og selvfølgelig, lå krokodillen i skyggen.

Now the first thing that you notice when a crocodile hits you

Det første man lægger mærke til når man bliver angrebet af en krokodille

is the ferocity of the bite.

er voldsomheden i bidet.

Wham! It hits me by my right leg.

Wham! Den får fat i mit ben.

It pulls me. It turns. I throw my hand up. I'm able to grab a branch.

Den trækker mig. Den vender. Jeg kaster mig efter en gren og får fat.

It's shaking me violently.

Den rusker mig voldsomt.

It's a very strange sensation

Det er en meget mærkelig fornemmelse,

having another creature try and eat you,

at et andet væsen prøver at spise en,

and there are few things that promote vegetarianism like that.

meget få ting der kan gøre en til vegetar hurtigere end det.

(Laughter)

(Latter)

Solly on the bank sees that I'm in trouble.

Solly ser inde fra bredden at jeg er i problemer.

He turns. He begins to make his way to me.

Han kommer ud imod mig.

The croc again continues to shake me.

Krokodillen fortsætter med at ruske mig.

It goes to bite me a second time.

Den lægger an til at bide mig igen.

I notice a slick of blood in the water around me

Jeg opdager en strøm af blod i vandet omkring mig,

that gets washed downstream.

som driver med strømmen.

As it bites the second time, I kick.

Da den bider anden gang, sparker jeg.

My foot goes down its throat. It spits me out.

Mi fod når ned i halsen på den. Den spytter mig ud.

I pull myself up into the branches,

Jeg trækker mig op i grenene,

and as I come out of the water, I look over my shoulder.

da jeg kommer op af vandet, kigger jeg mig over skulderen

My leg from the knee down

Mit ben er fra knæet og ned,

is mangled beyond description.

er fuldstændig ødelagt.

The bone is cracked.

Knoglen er brækket.

The meat is torn up.

Hud og muskel er flænset.

I make an instant decision that I'll never look at that again.

Jeg beslutter mig med det samme for aldrig at kigge på det igen. (Latter)

As I come out of the water,

Da jeg kommer op af vandet,

Solly arrives at a deep section,

er Solly nået til et dybt område i floden,

a channel between us.

en kanal imellem os.

He knows, he sees the state of my leg,

Han ser hvordan mit ben ser ud,

he knows that between him and I

han ved at imellem ham og jeg,

there is a crocodile,

er der en krokodille,

and I can tell you this man doesn't slow down for one second.

men det får ham ikke til at tøve et sekund.

He comes straight into the channel.

Han går lige ud i det dybe vand.

He wades in to above his waist.

Vandet når ham til livet.

He gets to me. He grabs me.

Han når frem til mig. Han får fat i mig.

I'm still in a vulnerable position.

Jer er stadig i en udsat position.

He picks me and puts me on his shoulder.

Han samler mig op og lægger mig over sin skulder.

This is the other thing about Solly, he's freakishly strong.

Det er en anden ting ved Solly, han er skræmmende stærk.

He turns. He walks me up the bank.

Han vender. Han bærer mig op på bredden.

He lays me down. He pulls his shirt off.

Han lægge mig ned. Tager sin skjorte af.

He wraps it around my leg,

Han binder den om mit ben,

picks me up a second time,

samler mig op igen,

walks me to a vehicle,

bærer mig til en bil,

and he's able to get me to medical attention.

og formår at få mig til lægehjælp.

And I survive.

Og jeg overlever.

Now — (Applause)

(Publikum klapper)

Now I don't know how many people you know

Jeg ved ikke hvor mange mennesker I kende,

that go into a deep channel of water

der ville gå ud i en dyb flod,

that they know has a crocodile in it

hvor de ved der ligger en krokodille

to come and help you,

for at komme dig til undsætning

but for Solly, it was as natural as breathing.

men for Solly, var det lige så naturligt som at trække vejret.

And he is one amazing example

Han er et fantastisk eksempel

of what I have experienced all over Africa.

på hvad jeg har oplevet overalt i Afrika.

In a more collective society,

I et mere kollektivt samfund,

we realize from the inside

opdager man indefra

that our own well-being is deeply tied

at vores egen trivsel er dybt forbundet

to the well-being of others.

til andres trivsel.

Danger is shared. Pain is shared.

Man deler farer. Man deler smerte.

Joy is shared. Achievement is shared.

Man deler glæde. Man deler bedrifter.

Houses are shared. Food is shared.

Man deler huse. Man deler mad.

Ubuntu asks us to open our hearts

Ubuntu beder os åbne vores hjerter

and to share,

og dele,

and what Solly taught me that day

og hvad jeg lærte af Solly den dag

is the essence of this value,

er at essensen af Ubuntu,

his animated, empathetic action

er levende, empatisk handling

in every moment.

til enhver tid.

Now although the root word is about people,

Det grundlæggende begreb handler om mennesker

I thought that maybe ubuntu was only about people.

så jeg troede at det kun handler om mennesker.

And then I met this young lady.

Men så mødte jeg denne unge pige.

Her name was Elvis.

Hendes navn var Elvis.

In fact, Solly gave her the name Elvis

Det var faktisk Solly, der gav hende navnet Elvis

because he said she walked like she was doing

fordi han sagde at hun gik som om hun dansede

the Elvis the pelvis dance.

"Elvis the pelvis" dansen.

She was born with very badly deformed back legs and pelvis.

Hun blev født med svært deforme bagben og bækken.

She arrived at our reserve from a reserve

Hun kom til reservatet fra et reservat

east of us on her migratory route.

øst for vores, på hendes migreringsrute.

When I first saw her,

Da jeg så hende første gang,

I thought she would be dead in a matter of days.

troede jeg at hun ville dø i løbet af et par dage.

And yet, for the next five years

Men alligevel, i de efterfølgende fem år,

she returned in the winter months.

kom hun tilbage i vintermånederne.

And we would be so excited to be out in the bush

Vi glædede os hver gang vi ude i bushen

and to come across this unusual track.

og stødte på dette usædvanlige spor.

It looked like an inverted bracket,

Det lignede en parentes, vendt på vrangen,

and we would drop whatever we were doing and we would follow,

hvad end vi var i gang med, stoppede vi og fulgte sporet

and then we would come around the corner,

og vi kunne komme rundt om et hjørne,

and there she would be with her herd.

og se hende stå sammen med sin flok.

And that outpouring of emotion

De følelser der blev udtrykt

from people on our safari trucks

af folk i safaribilerne

as they saw her, it was this sense of kinship.

når de så hende, det var følelsen af slægtskab.

And it reminded me

Det mindede mig om

that even people who grow up in cities

at selv folk som er opvokset i byen

feel a natural connection

føler et naturligt bånd

with the natural world and with animals.

til naturen og til dyr.

And yet still I remained amazed that she was surviving.

Men jeg var alligevel overrasket over at hun overlevede.

And then one day we came across them at this small water hole.

En dag så vi dem ved et lille vandhul.

It was sort of a hollow in the ground.

Det var i en fordybning i jorden.

And I watched as the matriarch drank,

Jeg kiggede mens leder hunnen drak,

and then she turned in that beautiful slow motion of elephants,

og så vendte hun sig, på den smukke langsomme måde elefanter bevæger sig,

looks like the arm in motion,

det ligner en arm i bevægelse,

and she began to make her way up the steep bank.

and hun begyndte at bevæge sig op ad den stejle bred.

The rest of the herd turned and began to follow.

Resten af flokken vendte sig for at følge efter.

And I watched young Elvis

Jeg hold øje med unge Elvis

begin to psych herself up for the hill.

forberede sig mentalt på at komme op ad bakken.

She got visibly -- ears came forward,

Hendes øre kom frem,

she had a full go of it and halfway up,

hun forsøgte af al kraft men på halvvejen,

her legs gave way, and she fell backwards.

gav hendes ben efter og hun faldt tilbage.

She attempted it a second time,

Hun forsøgte igen,

and again, halfway up, she fell backwards.

men endnu engang, halvvejs, faldt hun ned igen.

And on the third attempt,

Ved tredie forsøg,

an amazing thing happened.

skete der noget fantastisk.

Halfway up the bank,

Halvvejs oppe,

a young teenage elephant came in behind her,

kom en ung teenageelefant op bag hende,

and he propped his trunk underneath her,

støde sin snabel mod hende,

and he began to shovel her up the bank.

og begyndte at skubbe hende op ad bakken.

And it occurred to me

Det gik op for mig

that the rest of the herd

at resten af flokken

was in fact looking after this young elephant.

faktisk tog sig af denne unge elefant.

The next day I watched again

Dagen after holdt jeg øje igen.

as the matriarch broke a branch

Jeg så leder hunnen brække en gren af

and she would put it in her mouth,

og putte den i munden,

and then she would break a second one

hun brækkede endnu en gren af

and drop it on the ground.

og smed den på jorden.

And a consensus developed between all of us

Os der guidede folk rundt i det område

who were guiding people in that area

blev alle enige om

that that herd was in fact moving slower

at flokken faktisk bevægede sig langsommere

to accommodate that elephant.

af hensyn til den elefant.

What Elvis and the herd taught me

Det Elvis og hendes flok lærte mig,

caused me to expand my definition of ubuntu,

fik mig til at udvide min definition af ubuntu,

and I believe that in the cathedral of the wild,

og jeg tror på at vi i naturens katedral,

we get to see the most beautiful parts of ourselves

får vi lov til at se de smukkeste sider af os selv

reflected back at us.

reflekteret tilbage mod os.

And it is not only through other people

Og det er ikke kun igennem andre mennesker

that we get to experience our humanity

vi får lov at opleve vores menneskelighed

but through all the creatures that live on this planet.

men også igennem alle andre levende væsner på denne planet.

If Africa has a gift to share,

Afrika har en gave at dele med os,

it's a gift of a more collective society.

det er idéen om et mere kollektivt samfund.

And while it's true that ubuntu is an African idea,

Selvom ubuntu er en Afrikansk idé,

what I see is the essence of that value

så ser jeg essensen af denne idé

being invented here.

blive opfundet her.

Thank you.

Tak.

(Applause)

(Publikum klapper)

Pat Mitchell: So Boyd,

Pat Mitchell: Boyd,

we know that you knew President Mandela

vi ved at du kendte Præsident Mandela

from early childhood

helt fra du var barn

and that you heard the news as we all did today,

og at du hørte nyheden i dag ligesom vi andre gjorde,

and deeply distraught

og er dybt berørt

and know the tragic loss that it is to the world.

og ved hvor stort et tab det er for hele verden.

But I just wondered if you wanted

Men jeg tænkte på om du har

to share any additional thoughts,

andet på hjertet,

because we know that you heard that news

vi ved at du fik beskeden i dag

just before coming in to do this session.

lige før du skulle på scenen.

Boyd Varty: Well thanks, Pat.

Boyd Varty: Tak, Pat.

I'm so happy because it was time for him to pass on.

Jeg er utrolig glad på hans vegne, for hans tid var ovre.

He was suffering.

Han havde det rigtig skidt.

And so of course there's the mixed emotions.

Det er selvfølgelig med blandede følelser.

But I just think of so many occurrences

Men jeg mindes så mange situationer,

like the time he went on the Oprah show

som da han skulle deltage i Oprah

and asked her what the show would be about.

og spurgte hende hvad showet skulle handle om.

(Laughter)

(Latter)

And she was like, "Well, it'll be about you."

og hun svarer blot, "jamen, det skal handle om dig".

I mean, that's just incredible humility.

Det er en så utrolig ydmyghed.

(Laughter)

(Latter)

He was the father of our nation

Han var vores nations fader

and we've got a road to walk in South Africa.

og vi har lang vej at gå i Sydafrika.

And everything, they used to call it Madiba magic.

Der er en ting vi kalder Madiba magi.

You know, he used to go to a rugby match and we would win.

Hvis han var til en rugbykamp vandt vores hold.

Anywhere he went, things went well.

Hvad end han deltog i lykkedes.

But I think that magic will be with us,

Jeg tror at den magi vil blive hos os,

and the important thing is that we carry

og det vigtige er at vi udlever

what he stood for.

det han stod for.

And so that's what I'm going to try and do,

Det er det jeg vil forsøge at gøre,

and that's what people all over South Africa are trying to do.

og det er det folk i Sydafrika forsøger at gøre.

PM: And that's what you've done today. BV: Oh, thank you.

PM: ...og det ar hvad du har gjort i dag. BV: Mange tak.

PM: Thank you. BV: Thank you. Thanks very much.

PM: Tak. BV: Tak. Mange tak.

(Applause)

(Publikum klapper)