How to turn your dissatisfaction into action | Yvonne Aki-Sawyerr

Prevoditelj: Ivana Vukovic Recezent: Sanda L

Sometimes,

Ponekad

you have a negative feeling about things.

imate negativne osjećaje o nečemu.

You're not happy about the way things are going.

Niste sretni s time kako stvari idu.

You feel frustrated and dissatisfied,

Osjećate se frustrirano i nezadovoljno,

and so often, we choose to live with it.

a često odlučujemo živjeti s tim.

It's a negative that we tell ourselves we have to endure.

Kažemo si da to negativno moramo pretrpjeti.

And yet, I passionately believe

Ali ipak, ja snažno vjerujem

that we all have the ability

da svi možemo

to turn that negative feeling

pretvoriti taj negativan osjećaj

into a positive

u pozitivan,

by allowing our dissatisfaction

tako da dozvolimo da naše nezadovoljstvo

to give birth to change.

iznjedri promjenu.

On January 6, 1999,

6. siječnja 1999.

I was working in London

radila sam u Londonu

when the news channels began to report

kada se na vijestima počelo izvještavati

the rebel invasion of my hometown,

o pobunjeničkom napadu na moj rodni grad,

Freetown, Sierra Leone.

Freetown, Sijera Leone.

Thousands of people lost their lives,

Tisuće je ljudi izgubilo život,

and there were bodies littering the streets of Freetown.

a ulice Freetowna su bile pune trupla.

My husband's elderly aunt was burned alive,

Postarija ujna moga muža živa je spaljena,

and I thought of my own two-year old

a mislila sam na svoje dvogodišnje dijete

as I saw images of little children with amputated limbs.

dok sam gledala slike male djece s amputiranim udovima.

Colleagues said to me,

Kolege su me pitali,

"How could we help?"

„Kako možemo pomoći?”

I didn't know,

Nisam znala.

so I began to call the telephone numbers that came up on my screen

Zato sam počela zvati brojeve koji su se pojavljivali na televiziji

as international aid agencies started to make appeals

kada su međunarodne agencije za pomoć

počele skupljati novac za ovu tragediju.

to raise money to address the tragedy.

The vagueness of those telephone conversations disappointed me.

Nejasnoća tih razgovora me razočarala.

It felt like the people who were raising the money

Imala sam osjećaj da su ljudi koji skupljaju novac

seemed so far removed from the crisis,

uveliko udaljeni od ove krize,

and understandably so,

što je razumljivo,

but I wasn't satisfied

ali nisam bila zadovoljna

and I wasn't convinced

ni uvjerena

that the interventions they would eventually implement

da će intervencije koje će na kraju uvesti

would actually have the level of impact that was so clearly needed.

imati učinak koji je toliko bio potreban.

There were butterflies in my stomach for days

Imala sam leptiriće u trbuhu danima

as I continued to watch horrors unfold on television,

dok sam na televiziji pratila razvoj događaja

and I continuously asked myself,

i stalno sam se pitala,

what could I be doing?

što bih ja mogla činiti?

What should I be doing?

Što bih trebala činiti?

What I wanted to do was to help children affected by the war.

Htjela sam pomoći djeci pogođenoj ratom.

So that's what we did.

Pa smo to i učinili.

Myself, my sister and some friends

Moja sestra, nekoliko prijatelja i ja

started the Sierra Leone War Trust For Children, SLWT.

osnovali smo zakladu za djecu (SLWT).

We decided to focus on the thousands of displaced people

Odlučili smo se fokusirati na tisuće raseljenih ljudi

that fled the fighting

koji su pobjegli od rata

and were now living in really poor, difficult conditions

i sad su živjeli u siromaštvu i lošim uvjetima

in camps in Freetown.

u kampovima u Freetownu.

Our work started with the Ross Road Camp

Započeli smo u Ross Road kampu

at the east end of the city.

na istoku grada.

Working with a local health organization,

Surađujući s lokalnom zdravstvenom organizacijom,

we identified about 130 of the most vulnerable single mothers

identificirali smo oko 130 najranjivijih samohranih majki

with children under the age of five,

s djecom mlađom od pet godina.

supporting them by providing business skills,

Pomagali smo im tako da smo im dali poslovne vještine,

microcredit,

male kredite,

whatever they asked us.

štogod su nas tražile.

Working in those difficult conditions,

Raditi u tim teškim uvjetima,

just getting the basics right, was no small task,

samo osnove napraviti ispravno, nije bio lak zadatak.

but our collective sense of dissatisfaction

Ali naše kolektivno nezadovoljstvo

at an unacceptable status quo

neprihvatljivim statusom quo

kept us focused on getting things done.

pomoglo nam je da se fokusiramo na djelovanje.

Some of those women went on to open small businesses,

Neke su od tih žena otvorile mala poduzeća,

repaid their loans

otplatile kredite

and allowed other mothers and their children

i omogućile drugim majkama i njihovoj djeci

to have the same opportunity they did.

da dobiju istu priliku kao i one.

And we, we kept on going.

A mi, mi smo nastavili.

In 2004, we opened an agricultural training center

Godine 2004. otvorili smo poljoprivredni edukacijski centar

for ex-child soldiers,

za bivšu djecu vojnike,

and when the war was behind us,

a kada je rat završio,

we started a scholarship program for disadvantaged girls

započeli smo program stipendiranja za djevojke u nepovoljnom položaju

who would otherwise not be able to continue in school.

koje inače ne bi mogle nastaviti školovanje.

Today, Stella, one of those girls,

Danas, Stella, jedna od tih djevojaka,

is about to qualify as a medical doctor.

završava kvalifikaciju za liječnicu.

It's amazing what a dose of dissatisfaction can birth.

Nevjerojatno je što malo nezadovoljstva može iznjedriti.

(Applause)

(Pljesak)

Ten years later, in 2014,

Deset godina kasnije, 2014.,

Sierra Leone was struck by Ebola.

Sijeru Leone pogodila je ebola.

I was working in Freetown at the time on a hotel construction project on May 25

Tada sam radila u Freetownu na projektu konstrukcije hotela

25. svibnja kada su se pojavili prvi slučajevi,

when the first cases were announced,

but I was back in London on July 30

ali bila sam u Londonu 30. lipnja,

when the state of emergency was announced,

kada je proglašeno izvanredno stanje.

the same day that many airlines stopped their flights to Sierra Leone.

Na isti dan kada su mnoge zračne linije zaustavile letove za Sijeru Leone.

I remember crying for hours,

Sjećam se da sam satima plakala

asking God, why this? Why us?

i propitivala Boga, zašto ovo? Zašto mi?

But beyond the tears,

Ali osim suza,

I began to feel again

ponovno sam osjećala

that profound sense of dissatisfaction.

to duboko nezadovoljstvo.

So when, six months after those first cases had been confirmed,

Tako da sam, šest mjeseci nakon pojave prvih slučajeva,

the disease was still spreading rapidly in Sierra Leone

kada se bolest i dalje brzo širila u Sijeri Leone,

and the number of people infected and dying continued to rise,

a broj zaraženih i umrlih nastavio je rasti,

my level of frustration and anger

bila toliko frustrirana i ljuta

got so much that I knew I could not stay

da sam znala da ne mogu ostati

and watch the crisis from outside Sierra Leone.

i gledati krizu izvan Sijere Leone.

So, in mid-November,

Tako sam se u sredini studenog

I said goodbye to my much loved

pozdravila s veoma voljenom

and very understanding husband and children,

djecom i mužem koji su bili puni razumijevanja,

and boarded a rather empty plane

te sjela u poprilično prazan avion

to Freetown.

za Freetown.

Freetown was now the epicenter of the outbreak.

Freetown je tada bio epicentar izbijanja epidemije.

There were hundreds of new cases every week.

Svaki tjedan je bilo stotine novih slučajeva.

I spoke to many medical experts,

Razgovarala sam s mnogim medicinskim stručnjacima,

epidemiologists

epidemiolozima

and ordinary people every day.

i običnim ljudima svaki dan.

Everyone was really scared.

Svi su bili veoma preplašeni.

"We won't succeed until we're talking to people under the mango tree."

„Nećemo uspjeti dok ne razgovaramo s ljudima ispod drveta manga.“

So said Dr. Yoti,

Tako je rekao dr. Yoti,

a Ugandan doctor who worked for WHO

ugandski liječnik koji je radio za Svjetsku zdravstvenu organizaciju

and who had been involved in pretty much every Ebola outbreak

i koji je bio uključen u gotovo svako izbijanje ebole

in Africa previously.

u Africi prije toga.

He was right,

Bio je u pravu,

and yet there was no plan to make that happen.

ali nije bilo plana za ostvarivanje toga.

So during a weekend in early December,

Tako da sam tijekom jednog vikenda u prosincu

I developed a plan that became known as the Western Area Surge plan.

razvila plan koji je postao poznat kao Western Area Surge plan.

We needed to talk with people,

Morali smo razgovarati s ljudima,

not at people.

a ne im samo govoriti.

We needed to work with the community influencers

Morali smo surađivati s utjecajnim ljudima u zajednici

so people believed our message.

da bi ljudi vjerovali našoj poruci.

We needed to be talking under the mango tree,

Morali smo razgovarati ispod drveta manga,

not through loudspeakers.

a ne kroz zvučnike.

And we needed more beds.

I trebali smo više kreveta.

The National Ebola Response Center, NERC,

Nacionalni krizni stožer za ebolu (NERC)

built on and implemented that plan,

nadogradio je i proveo taj plan

and by the third week of January,

te je do kraja trećeg tjedna u siječnju

the number of cases had fallen dramatically.

broj slučajeva drastično smanjen.

I was asked to serve

Pitali su me da budem

as a new Director of Planning for NERC,

nova ravnateljica za planiranje u NERC-u,

which took me right across the country,

što me odvelo na drugi kraj zemlje.

trying to stay ahead of the outbreak

Pokušavala sam preduhitriti epidemiju,

but also following it

ali sam je i pratila

to remote villages in the provinces

u udaljena sela u provincijama

as well as to urban slum communities.

kao i u urbane slamove.

On one occasion, I got out of my car

Jednom sam prilikom izašla iz auta

to call for help for a man who had collapsed on the road.

kako bih pozvala pomoć za čovjeka koji se srušio na cesti.

I accidentally stepped in liquid

Slučajno sam stala u tekućinu

that was coming down the road from where he lay.

koja je tekla cestom od mjesta gdje je ležao.

Požurila sam do svojih roditelja,

I rushed to my parents' house,

washed my feet in chlorine.

oprala sam stopala u kloru.

I'll never forget waiting for that man's test results

Nikad neću zaboraviti čekanje rezultata testiranja tog čovjeka

as I constantly checked my temperature then and throughout the outbreak.

uz konstantno mjerenje temperature tad i tijekom epidemije.

The Ebola fight was probably the most challenging

Borba protiv ebole vjerojatno je bilo najteže,

but rewarding experience of my life,

ali najkorisnije iskustvo mog života

and I'm really grateful

i veoma sam zahvalna

for the dissatisfaction

za nezadovoljstvo

that opened up the space

koje mi je otvorilo prostor

for me to serve.

za djelovanje.

Dissatisfaction can be a constant presence in the background,

Nezadovoljstvo može biti konstantno prisutno u pozadini

or it can be sudden,

ili može biti iznenadno,

triggered by events.

pokrenuto događajima.

Sometimes it's both.

Ponekad je oboje.

With my hometown, that's the way it was.

S mojim rodnim gradom je bilo tako.

For years, our city had changed,

Godinama se naš grad mijenjao

and it had caused me great pain.

i to mi je zadavalo veliku bol.

I remember a childhood

Sjećam se djetinjstva,

growing up climbing trees,

odrastala sam penjući se na drveća,

picking mangoes and plums

berući manga i šljive

on the university campus where my father was a lecturer.

na sveučilišnom kampusu gdje je moj otac predavao.

Went fishing in the streams deep in the botanical gardens.

Išla sam pecati u potocima duboko u botaničkim vrtovima.

The hillsides around Freetown were covered with lush green vegetation,

Brda oko Freetowna bila su prekrivena bujnom zelenom vegetacijom,

and the beaches were clean and pristine.

a plaže su bile čiste i netaknute.

The doubling of the population of Freetown in the years that followed the civil war,

Udvostručenje stanovništva Freetowna u godinama nakon građanskog rata

and the lack of planning and building control

te nedostatak planiranja i kontrole građenja

resulted in massive deforestation.

doveli su do masovnog krčenja šuma.

The trees, the natural beauty, were destroyed as space was made

Drveće i prirodne ljepote bili su uništeni kako se stvarao prostor

for new communities, formal or informal,

za nove zajednice, formalne ili neformalne,

and for the cutting down of firewood.

te za sječu ogrjevnog drva.

I was deeply troubled and dissatisfied.

Bila sam jako uznemirena i nezadovoljna.

It wasn't just the destruction of the trees and the hillsides

Nije samo uništenje drveća i brda

that bothered me.

to što me mučilo.

It was also the impact of people,

Mučio me i utjecaj ljudi

as infrastructure failed to keep up with the growth of the population:

jer infrastruktura nije uspjevala ostati u toku s rastom populacije:

no sanitation systems to speak of,

nije bilo kanalizacijskog sustava,

a dirty city with typhoid, malaria and dysentery.

grad prljav i pun tifusa, malarije i dizenterije.

I didn't know the statistics at the time,

Tada nisam znala statističke podatke,

but it turned out that by 2017,

ali ispada da je do 2017. godine

only six percent of liquid waste and 21 percent of solid waste

samo 6 posto tekućeg otpada i 21 posto čvrstog otpada

was being collected.

prikupljano.

The rest was right there with us,

Ostatak je bio tamo s nama,

in backyards, in fields, rivers

u dvorištima, na poljima, u rijekama

and deposited in the sea.

i odloženo u more.

The steps to address that deep sense of anger and frustration I felt

Koraci za rješavanje duboke ljutnje i frustracije koje sam osjećala

didn't unfold magically or clearly.

nisu se odvijali ni čarobno ni jasno.

That's not how the power of dissatisfaction works.

Moć nezadovoljstva ne funkcionira tako.

It works when you know that things can be done better,

Funkcionira kada znate da se stvari mogu napraviti bolje,

and it works when you decide to take the risks to bring about that change.

te kada odlučite riskirati kako biste ostvarili tu promjenu.

And so it was that in 2017

Pa sam se tako 2017.

I ended up running for mayor,

kandidirala za gradonačelnicu

because I knew things could be better.

jer sam znala da može biti bolje.

It seemed the people agreed with me, because I won the election.

Čini se da su se ljudi slagali sa mnom jer sam pobijedila na izborima.

(Applause)

(Pljesak)

Today, we are implementing an ambitious plan

Danas provodimo ambiciozan plan

to transform our city,

za promjenu našeg grada,

and when I say we,

a kada kažem mi,

what gets me really excited

veoma me uzbuđuje

is that I mean the whole Freetown community,

što mislim na cijelu zajednicu u Freetownu,

whether it's being part of competitions like rewarding the neighborhood

bilo da se radi o natjecanjima kao što je nagrađivanje četvrti

that makes the most improvement in overall cleanliness,

koja najviše poboljša cjelokupnu čistoću

or whether it's our programs

ili se radi o našim programima

that are leading and joining people and waste collectors

koji vode i spajaju ljude i sakupljače otpada

through our apps.

putem naših aplikacija.

In Freetown today,

Freetown je danas

it's a much cleaner city,

mnogo čišći grad,

and those trees that we're so well known for,

a ono drveće po kojem smo dobro poznati,

we planted 23,000 of them last rainy season.

zasadili smo ih 23 000 prošle kišne sezone.

(Applause)

(Pljesak)

A u 2020.

And in 2020,

planiramo posaditi milijun drveća kao dio naše kampanje „Freetown the Tree Town”.

we plan to plant a million trees as part of our "Freetown the Tree Town" campaign.

(Applause)

(Pljesak)

Sometimes, sometimes we have a negative feeling about things.

Ponekad imamo negativne osjećaje o nečemu.

We're not happy about the way things are going.

Nismo sretni s time kako stvari idu.

We feel dissatisfied,

Osjećamo se nezadovoljno

and we feel frustrated.

i frustrirano.

We can change that negative into a positive.

Možemo promijeniti to negativno u pozitivno.

If you believe that things can be better,

Ako vjerujete da stvari mogu biti bolje,

then you have the option to do something rather than to do nothing.

onda imate mogućnost da učinite nešto radije nego da ne činite ništa.

The scale and circumstances of our situations will differ,

Razmjeri i okolnosti naših situacija razlikovat će se,

but for each of us,

ali svi mi,

we all have one thing in common.

svi mi imamo jednu stvar zajedničku.

We can take risks to make a difference,

Možemo riskirati kako bismo pokrenuli promjenu.

and I will close in saying,

I za kraj ću reći,

step out,

istupite,

take a risk.

riskirajte.

If we can unite behind the power of dissatisfaction,

Ako se možemo ujediniti pomoću moći nezadovoljstva,

the world will be a better place.

svijet će biti bolji.

Thank you.

Hvala vam.

(Applause)

(Pljesak)