William Kamkwamba: How I harnessed the wind

Translator: Martin John Pedersen Reviewer: Louise Frilund

Thank you.

Mange tak.

Two years ago, I stood on the TED stage in Arusha, Tanzania.

For to år siden stod jeg på TED's scene i Arusha, Tanzania.

I spoke very briefly about one of my proudest creations.

Jeg talte meget kort om en af de kreationer jeg er mest stolt af.

It was a simple machine that changed my life.

Det var en simpel maskine der ændrede mit liv.

Before that time,

Før den tid

I had never been away from my home

havde jeg aldrig været borte fra mit hjem

in Malawi.

i Malawi.

I had never used a computer.

Jeg havde aldrig brugt en computer.

I had never seen an Internet.

Jeg havde aldrig set Internet.

On the stage that day, I was so nervous.

På scenen den dag, jeg var så nervøs.

My English lost,

Alt mit engelsk blev glemt,

I wanted to vomit.

jeg ville bare kaste op.

(Laughter)

(Latter)

I had never been surrounded by so many azungu,

Jeg havde aldrig været omringet af så mange azungu,

white people.

hvide folk.

(Laughter)

(Latter)

There was a story I wouldn't tell you then.

Der var en historie jeg ikke ville fortælle jer den dag.

But well, I'm feeling good right now.

Men nåja, jeg har det bedre lige nu.

I would like to share that story today.

Jeg kunne godt tænke mig at dele den historie med jer i dag.

We have seven children in my family.

Vi er syv børn i min familie.

All sisters, excepting me.

Alle piger, på nær mig.

This is me with my dad when I was a little boy.

Dette er mig med min far da jeg var en lille dreng.

Before I discovered the wonders of science,

Før jeg opdagede den vidunderlige videnskab,

I was just a simple farmer

var jeg bare en simpel bonde

in a country of poor farmers.

i et land af fattige bønder.

Like everyone else, we grew maize.

Lige som alle andre, såede vi majs.

One year our fortune turned very bad.

Et år vendte heldet sig imod os.

In 2001 we experienced an awful famine.

I 2001 oplevede vi en frygtelig hungersnød.

Within five months all Malawians began to starve to death.

Inden for fem måneder begynde alle malawianere at sulte ihjel.

My family ate one meal per day, at night.

Min familie spiste et måltid om dagen, aftensmad.

Only three swallows of nsima for each one of us.

Kun tre bidder af nsima til hver og en af os.

The food passes through our bodies.

Maden gik lige igennem vores kroppe.

We drop down to nothing.

Vi svandt ind til ingen ting.

In Malawi, the secondary school,

I Malawi, skal man på skolens anden dag,

you have to pay school fees.

betale skolepenge.

Because of the hunger, I was forced to drop out of school.

Pga. hungersnøden, var jeg nødt til at droppe ud af skolen.

I looked at my father

Jeg kiggede på min far,

and looked at those dry fields.

og jeg kiggede på de udtørrede marker.

It was the future I couldn't accept.

Det var en fremtid jeg ikke kunne acceptere.

I felt very happy to be at the secondary school,

Jeg var meget lykkelig over at være skole efter den anden dag.

so I was determined to do anything possible

Så jeg var fast besluttet på at gøre alt der var muligt

to receive education.

for at få en uddannelse.

So I went to a library.

Så jeg gik ned til biblioteket.

I read books, science books, especially physics.

Jeg læste bøger, videnskabsbøger, i særdeleshed fysik.

I couldn't read English that well.

Jeg var ikke så god til at læse engelsk.

I used diagrams and pictures

Jeg brugte diagrammerne og billederne

to learn the words around them.

for at lære ordene rundt om dem.

Another book put that knowledge in my hands.

En anden bog lade den nødvendige viden i mine hænder.

It said a windmill could pump water and generate electricity.

De sagde at en vindmølle kunne pumpe vand og genere elektricitet.

Pump water meant irrigation,

At pumpe vand betød kunstvanding.

a defense against hunger,

Et forsvar imod sult,

which we were experiencing by that time.

som vi oplevede på det tidspunkt.

So I decided I would build one windmill for myself.

Så jeg besluttede at bygge en vindmølle for mig selv.

But I didn't have materials to use,

Men jeg havde ikke de nødvendige materialer.

so I went to a scrap yard

Så jeg gik ned til skrothandleren

where I found my materials.

hvor jeg fandt mine materialer.

Many people, including my mother,

Mange folk, inklusiv min egen mor,

said I was crazy.

sagde jeg var gal.

(Laughter)

(Latter)

I found a tractor fan,

Jeg fandt en traktorblæser,

shock absorber, PVC pipes.

støddæmpere, PVC-rør.

Using a bicycle frame

Ved hjælp af en cykelramme

and an old bicycle dynamo,

og en gammel cykelgenerator,

I built my machine.

byggede jeg min maskine.

It was one light at first.

Først var der til et lys.

And then four lights,

Og senere fire lys,

with switches, and even a circuit breaker,

med kontakter, og endda også en sikringsboks,

modeled after an electric bell.

modeleret efter en elektrisk regning.

Another machine pumps water

En anden maskine pumpede vand

for irrigation.

til kunstvanding.

Queues of people start lining up at my house

Køer af mennesker begynde at stille sig op ved mit hus

(Laughter)

(Latter)

to charge their mobile phone.

for at lade deres mobiltelefoner op.

(Applause)

(Klapsalve)

I could not get rid of them.

Jeg kunne ikke slippe af med dem.

(Laughter)

(Latter)

And the reporters came too,

Og journalister kom også,

which lead to bloggers

hvilket førte til bloggere,

and which lead to a call from something called TED.

og det førte til et opkald fra noget der hed TED.

I had never seen an airplane before.

Jeg havde aldrig set en flyvemaskine før.

I had never slept in a hotel.

Jeg havde aldrig sovet på et hotel.

So, on stage that day in Arusha,

Så, på scenen den da i Arusha,

my English lost,

forsvandt mit engelsk,

I said something like,

jeg sagde noget i stil med,

"I tried. And I made it."

"Jeg prøvede. Og jeg gjorde det."

So I would like to say something

Så jeg kunne tænke mig at sige noget

to all the people out there like me

til alle de folk derude, ligesom mig,

to the Africans, and the poor

til afrikanerne, og de fattige

who are struggling with your dreams.

som kæmper for jeres drømme,

God bless.

Gud velsigne jer.

Maybe one day you will watch this on the Internet.

Måske en skønne dag vil I se dette på internettet.

I say to you, trust yourself and believe.

Jeg siger til jer, tro på jer selv og hav tillid.

Whatever happens, don't give up.

Hvad der så end sker - giv ikke op.

Thank you.

Tak skal I have.

(Applause)

(klap salve)