Mother and daughter doctor-heroes: Hawa Abdi + Deqo Mohamed

97,309 views ・ 2011-02-09

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00:16
Hawa Abdi: Many people -- 20 years for Somalia --
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[were] fighting.
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So there was no job, no food.
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Children, most of them,
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became very malnourished, like this.
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00:31
Deqo Mohamed: So as you know,
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always in a civil war,
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the ones affected most [are] the women and children.
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So our patients are women and children.
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And they are in our backyard.
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It's our home. We welcome them.
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That's the camp that we have in now
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90,000 people,
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where 75 percent of them are women and children.
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00:53
Pat Mitchell: And this is your hospital. This is the inside.
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00:55
HA: We are doing C-sections and different operations
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because people need some help.
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01:01
There is no government to protect them.
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DM: Every morning we have about 400 patients,
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maybe more or less.
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But sometimes we are only five doctors
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01:12
and 16 nurses,
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and we are physically getting exhausted to see all of them.
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But we take the severe ones,
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01:20
and we reschedule the other ones the next day.
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01:23
It is very tough.
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And as you can see, it's the women who are carrying the children;
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it's the women who come into the hospitals;
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it's the women [are] building the houses.
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01:32
That's their house.
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01:34
And we have a school. This is our bright --
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we opened [in the] last two years [an] elementary school
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where we have 850 children,
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and the majority are women and girls.
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01:45
(Applause)
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PM: And the doctors have some very big rules
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about who can get treated at the clinic.
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Would you explain the rules for admission?
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01:59
HA: The people who are coming to us,
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we are welcoming.
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02:03
We are sharing with them
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whatever we have.
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But there are only two rules.
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02:09
First rule:
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there is no clan distinguished and political division
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in Somali society.
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[Whomever] makes those things we throw out.
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The second:
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no man can beat his wife.
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If he beat,
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we will put [him] in jail,
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and we will call the eldest people.
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Until they identify this case,
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we'll never release him.
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That's our two rules.
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02:38
(Applause)
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The other thing that I have realized,
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that the woman is the most strong person
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all over the world.
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Because the last 20 years,
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the Somali woman has stood up.
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They were the leaders,
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and we are the leaders
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of our community
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and the hope of our future generations.
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We are not just the helpless
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and the victims of the civil war.
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We can reconcile.
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We can do everything.
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(Applause)
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03:18
DM: As my mother said, we are the future hope,
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and the men are only killing in Somalia.
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So we came up with these two rules.
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In a camp with 90,000 people,
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you have to come up with some rules or there is going to be some fights.
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So there is no clan division,
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and no man can beat his wife.
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03:34
And we have a little storage room
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where we converted a jail.
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So if you beat your wife, you're going to be there.
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03:40
(Applause)
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So empowering the women and giving the opportunity --
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we are there for them. They are not alone for this.
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PM: You're running a medical clinic.
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It brought much, much needed medical care
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to people who wouldn't get it.
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You're also running a civil society.
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03:58
You've created your own rules,
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in which women and children
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are getting a different sense of security.
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Talk to me about your decision, Dr. Abdi,
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and your decision, Dr. Mohamed,
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to work together --
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for you to become a doctor
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and to work with your mother in these circumstances.
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04:17
HA: My age --
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because I was born in 1947 --
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we were having, at that time,
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government, law and order.
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But one day, I went to the hospital --
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my mother was sick --
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and I saw the hospital, how they [were] treating the doctors,
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how they [are] committed
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to help the sick people.
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I admired them,
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and I decided to become a doctor.
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My mother died, unfortunately,
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when I was 12 years [old].
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Then my father allowed me
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to proceed [with] my hope.
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My mother died
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in [a] gynecology complication,
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so I decided to become
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a gynecology specialist.
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That's why I became a doctor.
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So Dr. Deqo has to explain.
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05:11
DM: For me, my mother was preparing [me] when I was a child
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to become a doctor, but I really didn't want to.
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05:17
Maybe I should become an historian,
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05:19
or maybe a reporter.
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05:21
I loved it, but it didn't work.
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05:23
When the war broke out -- civil war --
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I saw how my mother was helping
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and how she really needed the help,
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and how the care is essential to the woman
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to be a woman doctor in Somalia
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and help the women and children.
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And I thought, maybe I can be a reporter and doctor gynecologist.
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05:39
(Laughter)
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05:41
So I went to Russia, and my mother also,
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[during the] time of [the] Soviet Union.
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So some of our character,
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maybe we will come with a strong Soviet background of training.
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So that's how I decided [to do] the same.
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My sister was different.
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She's here. She's also a doctor.
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She graduated in Russia also.
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06:00
(Applause)
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And to go back and to work with our mother
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is just what we saw in the civil war --
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when I was 16, and my sister was 11,
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when the civil war broke out.
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So it was the need and the people we saw
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in the early '90s --
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that's what made us go back
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and work for them.
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06:22
PM: So what is the biggest challenge
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working, mother and daughter,
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in such dangerous
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and sometimes scary situations?
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HA: Yes, I was working in a tough situation,
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very dangerous.
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And when I saw the people who needed me,
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I was staying with them to help,
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because I [could] do something for them.
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Most people fled abroad.
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But I remained with those people,
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and I was trying to do something --
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[any] little thing I [could] do.
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I succeeded in my place.
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Now my place is 90,000 people
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who are respecting each other,
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who are not fighting.
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But we try to stand on our feet,
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to do something, little things, we can for our people.
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And I'm thankful for my daughters.
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When they come to me,
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they help me to treat the people,
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to help.
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They do everything for them.
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They have done what I desire to do for them.
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PM: What's the best part
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of working with your mother,
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and the most challenging part for you?
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DM: She's very tough; it's most challenging.
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She always expects us to do more.
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And really when you think [you] cannot do it,
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she will push you, and I can do it.
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That's the best part.
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She shows us, trains us how to do
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and how to be better [people]
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and how to do long hours in surgery --
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300 patients per day,
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10, 20 surgeries,
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and still you have to manage the camp --
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that's how she trains us.
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It is not like beautiful offices here,
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20 patients, you're tired.
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You see 300 patients, 20 surgeries
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and 90,000 people to manage.
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PM: But you do it for good reasons.
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08:21
(Applause)
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Wait. Wait.
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08:27
HA: Thank you.
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08:29
DM: Thank you.
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08:31
(Applause)
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08:35
HA: Thank you very much. DM: Thank you very much.
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