Leymah Gbowee: Unlock the intelligence, passion, greatness of girls | TED

Translator: Rebekka Steg Reviewer: Anders Finn Jørgensen

Many times

Mange gange

I go around the world to speak,

rejser jeg rundt i verdenen for at tale,

and people ask me questions

og folk stiller mig spørgsmål

about the challenges,

om udfordringerne,

my moments,

mine øjeblikke,

some of my regrets.

nogle af mine fortrydelser.

1998:

1998:

A single mother of four,

Enlig mor til fire,

three months after the birth of my fourth child,

tre måneder efter mit fjerde barns fødsel,

I went to do a job

tog jeg afsted for at arbejde

as a research assistant.

som forskningsassistent.

I went to Northern Liberia.

Jeg tog til det nordlige Liberia.

And as part of the work,

Og som en del af arbejdet,

the village would give you lodgings.

gav landsbyen dig logi.

And they gave me lodging with a single mother

Og de gav mig logi hos en enlig mor

and her daughter.

og hendes datter.

This girl happened to be

Denne pige var tilfældigvis

the only girl in the entire village

den eneste pige i hele landsbyen,

who had made it

som havde klaret det

to the ninth grade.

til niende klasse.

She was the laughing stock of the community.

Hele lokalsamfundet grinede af hende.

Her mother was often told by other women,

Hendes mor fik ofte af vide af de andre kvinder,

"You and your child

"Du og dit barn

will die poor."

vil dø fattige."

After two weeks of working in that village,

Efter at have arbejdet to uger i den landsby,

it was time to go back.

var det tid til at tage tilbage.

The mother came to me, knelt down,

Moderen kom til mig, knælte ned,

and said, "Leymah, take my daughter.

og sagde, "Leymah, tag min datter."

I wish for her

Jeg ønsker, at hun

to be a nurse."

bliver sygeplejerske."

Dirt poor, living in the home with my parents,

Extremt fattig, boende hjemme hos mine forældre,

I couldn't afford to.

havde jeg ikke råd til det.

With tears in my eyes,

Med tårer i mine øjne,

I said, "No."

sagde jeg, "Nej."

Two months later,

To måneder senere,

I go to another village

tog jeg til en anden landsby

on the same assignment

med den samme opgave

and they asked me to live with the village chief.

og de bad mig bo hos landsbyhøvdingen.

The women's chief of the village has this little girl,

Kvindernes landsbyhøvding havde denne lille pige,

fair color like me,

lys farve som mig,

totally dirty.

fuldstændig beskidt.

And all day she walked around

Og hele dagen gik hun rundt

only in her underwear.

kun i sit undertøj.

When I asked, "Who is that?"

Da jeg spurgte, "Hvem er det?"

She said, "That's Wei.

Sagde hun, "Det er Wei.

The meaning of her name is pig.

Hendes navn betyder gris.

Her mother died while giving birth to her,

Hendes mor døde, da hun fødte hende,

and no one had any idea who her father was."

og ingen havde nogen ide om, hvem hendes far var."

For two weeks, she became my companion,

I to uger var hun min følgesvend,

slept with me.

sov hos mig.

I bought her used clothes

Jeg købte brugt tøj til hende

and bought her her first doll.

og hendes første dukke.

The night before I left,

Aftenen før jeg skulle afsted,

she came to the room

kom hun til mit værelse

and said, "Leymah, don't leave me here.

og sagde, "Leymah, efterlad mig ikke her.

I wish to go with you.

Jeg ønsker at tage med dig.

I wish to go to school."

Jeg ønsker at gå i skole."

Dirt poor, no money,

Ekstremt fattig, ingen penge,

living with my parents,

boende hos mine forældre,

I again said, "No."

sagde jeg igen, "Nej."

Two months later,

To måneder senere,

both of those villages fell into another war.

røg begge de to landsbyer ind i endnu en krig.

Till today, I have no idea

Til dags dato har jeg ingen idé om,

where those two girls are.

hvor disse to piger er.

Fast-forward, 2004:

Spol frem til 2004:

In the peak of our activism,

Ved vores aktivismes højdepunkt,

the minister of Gender Liberia called me

ringer ministeren for Gender Liberia til mig

and said, "Leymah, I have a nine-year-old for you.

og sagde, "Leymah, jeg har en niårig til dig.

I want you to bring her home

Jeg vil gerne have, du tager hende hjem,

because we don't have safe homes."

fordi vi har ikke nogle tilflugtssteder."

The story of this little girl:

Denne lille piges historie:

She had been raped

Hun var blevet voldtaget

by her paternal grandfather

af sin farfar

every day for six months.

hver dag i seks måneder.

She came to me bloated,

Hun kom til mig oppustet,

very pale.

meget bleg.

Every night I'd come from work and lie on the cold floor.

Hver aften når jeg kom hjem fra arbejde og lå på det kolde gulv.

She'd lie beside me

Lagde hun sig ved siden af mig

and say, "Auntie, I wish to be well.

og sagde, "Tante, jeg ønsker at få det godt.

I wish to go to school."

Jeg ønsker at gå i skole."

2010:

2010:

A young woman stands before President Sirleaf

En ung kvinde står foran Præsident Sirleaf

and gives her testimony

og giver sit vidnesbyrd

of how she and her siblings live together,

om hvordan hun og hendes søskende bor sammen,

their father and mother died during the war.

deres far og mor døde under krigen.

She's 19; her dream is to go to college

Hun er 19, hendes drøm er at gå på universitetet

to be able to support them.

for at kunne forsørge dem.

She's highly athletic.

Hun er meget atletisk.

One of the things that happens

En af de ting, der sker,

is that she applies for a scholarship.

er, at hun ansøger om et legat.

Full scholarship. She gets it.

Fuldt studielegat. Hun får det.

Her dream of going to school,

Hendes drøm om at gå i skole,

her wish of being educated,

hendes ønske om at blive uddannet,

is finally here.

går endelig i opfyldelse.

She goes to school on the first day.

Hun går i skole den første dag.

The director of sports

Idrætslederen,

who's responsible for getting her into the program

som er ansvarlig for at få hende ind i programmet,

asks her to come out of class.

beder hende om at komme ud af klassen.

And for the next three years,

Og de næste tre år,

her fate will be

vil hendes skæbne være

having sex with him every day,

at have sex med ham hver dag,

as a favor for getting her in school.

som tak for, at han fik hende ind i skolen.

Globally, we have policies,

Globalt set har vi politikker,

international instruments,

internationale redskaber,

work leaders.

arbejdsledere.

Great people have made commitments --

Vidunderlige mennesker har forpligtet sig --

we will protect our children

vi vil beskytte vores børn

from want and from fear.

fra mangel og fra frygt.

The U.N. has the Convention on the Rights of the Child.

F.N. har børneretskonventionen.

Countries like America, we've heard things like No Child Left Behind.

Lande som Amerika, har vi ting som No Child Left Behind.

Other countries come with different things.

Andre lande har andre ting.

There is a Millennium Development called Three

FN's 2015-mål nummer Tre

that focuses on girls.

fokuserer på piger.

All of these great works by great people

Alt dette vidunderlige arbejde af vidunderlige mennesker

aimed at getting young people

med det mål at få unge mennesker

to where we want to get them globally,

til der, hvor vi globalt set ønsker, de er.

I think, has failed.

Tror jeg, har fejlet.

In Liberia, for example,

I Liberia, f.eks,

the teenage pregnancy rate

er hyppigheden af teenagegraviditeter

is three to every 10 girls.

tre ud af ti piger.

Teen prostitution is at its peak.

Teenageprostitution er på sit højeste.

In one community, we're told,

I et lokalsamfund fik vi af vide,

you wake up in the morning

at du vågner op om morgenen

and see used condoms like used chewing gum paper.

og ser brugte kondomer, ligesom brugt tyggegummipapir.

Girls as young as 12 being prostituted

Piger ned til 12 år bliver prostitueret

for less than a dollar a night.

for mindre end en dollar per nat.

It's disheartening, it's sad.

Det er nedslående, det er trist.

And then someone asked me,

Og så var der en, som spurgte mig,

just before my TEDTalk, a few days ago,

lige før min TEDTalk for et par dage siden,

"So where is the hope?"

"Så hvor er håbet?"

Several years ago, a few friends of mine

For adskillige år siden, besluttede nogle af mine venner,

decided we needed to bridge the disconnect

at vi blev nødt til at slå bro over den manglende forbindelse

between our generation

imellem vores generation

and the generation of young women.

og generationen af unge kvinder.

It's not enough to say

Det er ikke nok at sige,

you have two Nobel laureates from the Republic of Liberia

I har to Nobel prismodtagere fra Republikken Liberia,

when your girls' kids are totally out there

når jeres pigers' børn er helt derude

and no hope, or seemingly no hope.

og intet håb, eller tilsyneladende intet håb.

We created a space

Vi har skabt et sted,

called the Young Girls Transformative Project.

som hedder Young Girls Transformative Project.

We go into rural communities

Vi tager ud til lokale landsamfund

and all we do, like has been done in this room,

og det eneste vi gør, ligesom i dette rum,

is create the space.

er at skabe et sted.

When these girls sit,

Når disse piger sidder ned,

you unlock intelligence,

låser du op for intelligens,

you unlock passion,

du låser op for passion,

you unlock commitment,

du låser op for engagement,

you unlock focus,

du låser op for fokus,

you unlock great leaders.

du låser op for store ledere.

Today, we've worked with over 300.

I dag har vi arbejdet med mere end 300.

And some of those girls

Og nogle af disse piger,

who walked in the room very shy

som gik generte ind i rummet,

have taken bold steps, as young mothers,

har taget modige skridt som unge mødre,

to go out there and advocate

til at gå ud og kæmpe

for the rights of other young women.

for andre unge kvinders rettigheder.

One young woman I met,

En ung kvinde, som jeg mødte,

teen mother of four,

teenagemor til fire,

never thought about finishing high school,

havde aldrig tænkt på at gøre gymnasiet færdig,

graduated successfully;

færdiggjorde sin uddannelse,

never thought about going to college,

havde aldrig tænkt på at gå på universitetet,

enrolled in college.

tilmeldte sig universitetet.

One day she said to me,

En dag sagde hun til mig,

"My wish is to finish college

"Mit ønske er at blive færdig på universitetet

and be able to support my children."

og være i stand til at forsøge mine børn."

She's at a place where she can't find money

Hun er et sted, hvor hun ikke kan finde penge

to go to school.

til at gå i skole.

She sells water, sells soft drinks

Hun sælger vand, sodavand

and sells recharge cards for cellphones.

og taletidskort til mobiltelefoner.

And you would think she would take that money

Og man ville tro, at hun ville tage de penge

and put it back into her education.

og bruge dem på sin uddannelse.

Juanita is her name.

Hun hedder Juanita.

She takes that money

Hun tager de penge

and finds single mothers in her community

og finder enlige mødre i sit lokalsamfund,

to send back to school.

som hun sender tilbage i skole.

Says, "Leymah, my wish

Hun siger, "Leymah, mit ønske

is to be educated.

er at blive uddannet.

And if I can't be educated,

Og hvis jeg ikke kan blive uddannet,

when I see some of my sisters being educated,

når jeg ser nogle af mine søstre blive uddannet,

my wish has been fulfilled.

så bliver mit ønske opfyldt.

I wish for a better life.

Jeg ønsker et bedre liv.

I wish for food for my children.

Jeg ønsker at have mad til mine børn.

I wish that sexual abuse and exploitation in schools would stop."

Jeg ønsker, at det seksuelle misbrug og udnyttelse i skolerne ville stoppe."

This is the dream of the African girl.

Dette er den afrikanske piges drøm.

Several years ago,

For adskillige år siden

there was one African girl.

var der en afrikansk pige.

This girl had a son

Denne pige havde en søn,

who wished for a piece of doughnut

som ønskede sig et stykke doughnut,

because he was extremely hungry.

for han var ekstremt sulten.

Angry, frustrated,

Vred, frustreret,

really upset

rigtig ked af

about the state of her society

sit samfunds tilstand

and the state of her children,

og sine børns tilstand,

this young girl started a movement,

startede denne unge kvinde en bevægelse,

a movement of ordinary women

en bevægelse af almindelige kvinder

banding together

som slog sig sammen om

to build peace.

at skabe fred.

I will fulfill the wish.

Jeg vil opfylde det ønske.

This is another African girl's wish.

Dette er en anden afrikansk piges ønske.

I failed to fulfill the wish of those two girls.

Jeg kunne ikke opfylde de to pigers ønske.

I failed to do this.

Jeg var ikke i stand til det.

These were the things that were going through the head of this other young woman --

Dette var de ting, som kørte igennem denne anden unge kvindes hoved --

I failed, I failed, I failed.

jeg fejlede, jeg fejlede, jeg fejlede.

So I will do this.

Så jeg vil gøre dette.

Women came out,

Kvinder kom ud,

protested a brutal dictator,

protesterede mod en brutal diktator,

fearlessly spoke.

talte uden frygt.

Not only did the wish of a piece of doughnut come true,

Ikke nok med at ønsket om et stykke doughnut blev opfyldt,

the wish of peace came true.

men ønsket om fred blev opfyldt.

This young woman

Denne unge kvinde

wished also to go to school.

ønskede også at gå i skole.

She went to school.

Hun gik i skole.

This young woman wished for other things to happen,

Denne unge kvinde ønskede at andre ting skete,

it happened for her.

det skete for hende.

Today, this young woman is me,

I dag er denne unge kvinde mig,

a Nobel laureate.

en Nobel prisvinder.

I'm now on a journey

Jeg er nu på en rejse

to fulfill the wish,

for at opfylde ønsket,

in my tiny capacity,

i min lille kapacitet,

of little African girls --

for små afrikanske piger --

the wish of being educated.

ønsket om at blive uddannet.

We set up a foundation.

Vi har grundlagt en fond.

We're giving full four-year scholarships

Vi giver fulde, fire-årige studielegater

to girls from villages that we see with potential.

til piger fra landsbyer, som vi ser har potentiale.

I don't have much to ask of you.

Jeg har ikke meget at bede jer om.

I've also been to places in this U.S.,

Jeg har også været steder i dette U.S.A.,

and I know that girls in this country

og jeg ved at piger i dette land

also have wishes,

også har ønsker,

a wish for a better life somewhere in the Bronx,

et ønske om et bedre liv et sted i Bronx,

a wish for a better life

et ønske om et bedre liv

somewhere in downtown L.A.,

et sted i downtown L.A.,

a wish for a better life somewhere in Texas,

et ønske om et bedre liv et sted i Texas,

a wish for a better life somewhere in New York,

et ønske om et bedre liv et sted i New York,

a wish for a better life

et ønske om et bedre liv

somewhere in New Jersey.

et sted i New Jersey.

Will you journey with me

Vil du rejse med mig

to help that girl,

for at hjælpe den pige,

be it an African girl or an American girl

om det er en afrikansk pige eller en amerikansk pige

or a Japanese girl,

eller en japansk pige,

fulfill her wish,

opfyld hendes ønske,

fulfill her dream,

opfyld hendes drøm,

achieve that dream?

opnå den drøm?

Because all of these

Fordi alle disse

great innovators and inventors

store innovatører og opfindere,

that we've talked to and seen

som vi har talt med og set

over the last few days

de sidste par dage,

are also sitting in tiny corners

sidder også i bittesmå hjørner

in different parts of the world,

forskellige steder i verdenen,

and all they're asking us to do

og det eneste, de beder os om,

is create that space

er at skabe det sted,

to unlock the intelligence,

at låse op for intelligensen,

unlock the passion,

låse op for passionen,

unlock all of the great things

låse op for alle de store ting,

that they hold within themselves.

som de har inden i dem selv.

Let's journey together. Let's journey together.

Lad os rejse sammen. Lad os rejse sammen.

Thank you.

Tak.

(Applause)

(Bifald)

Chris Anderson: Thank you so much.

Chris Anderson: Tusind tak.

Right now in Liberia,

Lige nu i Liberia,

what do you see

hvad ser du,

as the main issue that troubles you?

som hovedproblemerne?

LG: I've been asked to lead

LG: Jeg er blevet bedt om at lede

the Liberian Reconciliation Initiative.

Liberian Reconciliation Initiative (det Liberianske Forsonings Initiativ).

As part of my work,

Som en del af mit arbejde,

I'm doing these tours

tager jeg på disse ture

in different villages and towns --

til forskellige landsbyer og byer --

13, 15 hours on dirt roads --

13, 15 timer på grusveje --

and there is no community that I've gone into

og der er intet lokalsamfund, som jeg har besøgt,

that I haven't seen intelligent girls.

hvor jeg ikke har set intelligente piger.

But sadly,

Men desværre,

the vision of a great future,

er visionen om en storslået fremtid,

or the dream of a great future,

eller drømmen om en storslået fremtid,

is just a dream,

kun en drøm,

because you have all of these vices.

fordi du har al den moralske fordærv.

Teen pregnancy, like I said, is epidemic.

Som jeg sagde er teenagegraviditet epidemisk.

So what troubles me

Så det, der bekymrer mig,

is that I was at that place

er, at jeg var det sted

and somehow I'm at this place,

og nu er jeg på en eller anden måde her,

and I just don't want to be the only one

og jeg vil bare ikke være den eneste,

at this place.

som er her.

I'm looking for ways

Jeg leder efter måder,

for other girls to be with me.

så andre piger kan være her med mig.

I want to look back 20 years from now

Jeg vil gerne se tilbage 20 år fra nu

and see that there's another Liberian girl,

og se, at der er en anden liberiansk pige,

Ghanaian girl, Nigerian girl, Ethiopian girl

ghanesisk pige, nigeriansk pige, ethiopisk pige

standing on this TED stage.

som står på denne TED scene.

And maybe, just maybe, saying,

Og måske, kun måske, siger,

"Because of that Nobel laureate

"På grund af den Nobel prisvinder

I'm here today."

står jeg her i dag."

So I'm troubled

Så jeg er bekymret,

when I see them like there's no hope.

når jeg ser dem, som om der intet håb er.

But I'm also not pessimistic,

Men jeg er heller ikke pessimistisk,

because I know it doesn't take a lot

fordi jeg ved, det ikke kræver særlig meget

to get them charged up.

at få dem ladet op.

CA: And in the last year,

CA: Og i det sidste år,

tell us one hopeful thing

fortæl os om en håbefuld ting,

that you've seen happening.

som du har set ske.

LG: I can tell you many hopeful things that I've seen happening.

LG: Jeg kan fortæller jer om mange håbefulde ting, som jeg har set ske.

But in the last year,

Men i det sidste år,

where President Sirleaf comes from, her village,

hvor Præsident Sirleaf kommer fra, hendes landsby,

we went there to work with these girls.

vi tog derhen for at arbejde med disse piger.

And we could not find 25 girls

Og vi kunne ikke finde 25 piger,

in high school.

som gik i gymnasiet.

All of these girls went to the gold mine,

Alle disse piger tog til guldminen,

and they were predominantly prostitutes

og de var hovedsageligt prostituerede

doing other things.

og lavede andre ting.

We took 50 of those girls

Vi tog 50 af disse piger

and we worked with them.

og vi arbejdede med dem.

And this was at the beginning of elections.

Og dette var i begyndelsen af valgene.

This is one place where women were never --

Dette er et sted, hvor kvinder aldrig --

even the older ones

selv de ældre

barely sat in the circle with the men.

sad knap nok i cirkel med mændene.

These girls banded together and formed a group

Disse piger slog sig sammen og formede en gruppe

and launched a campaign

og satte en kampagne igang

for voter registration.

for stemmeregistrering.

This is a real rural village.

Dette er virkelig en landlig landsby.

And the theme they used was:

Og det tema de brugte var:

"Even pretty girls vote."

"Selv smukke piger stemmer."

They were able to mobilize young women.

De var i stand til at mobilisere unge kvinder.

But not only did they do that,

Men ikke nok med det,

they went to those who were running for seats

de tog også hen til dem som stillede op til valg

to ask them, "What is it

for at spørge dem, "Hvad er det,

that you will give the girls of this community

du vil give til pigerne i dette lokalsamfund,

when you win?"

når du vinder?"

And one of the guys

Og en af fyrene,

who already had a seat was very --

som allerede havde et mandat, var meget --

because Liberia has one of the strongest rape laws,

fordi Liberia har en af de stærkeste voldtægtslove,

and he was one of those really fighting in parliament

og han var en af dem som virkelig kæmpede i parlamentet

to overturn that law

for at få den lov afskaffet,

because he called it barbaric.

fordi han kaldte den barbarisk.

Rape is not barbaric, but the law, he said, was barbaric.

Voldtægt er ikke barbarisk, men loven, sagde han, var barbarisk.

And when the girls started engaging him,

Og da pigerne begyndte at snakke med ham,

he was very hostile towards them.

var han meget fjendtlig imod dem.

These little girls turned to him and said,

Disse små piger vendte sig mod ham og sagde,

"We will vote you out of office."

"Vi vil stemme dig ud af parlamentet."

He's out of office today.

I dag er han ude af parlamentet.

(Applause)

(Bifald)

CA: Leymah, thank you. Thank you so much for coming to TED.

CA: Leymah, tak. Tusind tak fordi du ville komme til TED.

LG: You're welcome. (CA: Thank you.)

LG: Det var så lidt. (CA: Tak.)

(Applause)

(Bifald)