Boyd Varty: What I learned from Nelson Mandela

Translator: Nika Kotnik Reviewer: Klavdija Cernilogar

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

Sem človek, ki poskuša živeti s srcem na dlani,

and so just before I get going,

tako da preden začnem,

I wanted to tell you as a South African

vam želim povedati kot Južnoafričan,

that one of the men who has inspired me most

da je eden izmed ljudi, ki so me najbolj navdihovali,

passed away a few hours ago.

preminil pred nekaj urami.

Nelson Mandela has come to the end

Nelson Mandela je prišel do konca

of his long walk to freedom.

svoje dolge poti k svobodi.

And so this talk is going to be for him.

Zato bo ta govor zanj.

I grew up in wonder.

Odrasel sem v čudenju.

I grew up amongst those animals.

Odrasel sem med temi živalmi.

I grew up in the wild eastern part of South Africa

Odrasel sem v divjem vzhodnem delu Južne Afrike

at a place called Londolozi Game Reserve.

v kraju imenovanem Rezervat divjine Londolozi.

It's a place where my family has been

To je kraj, kjer je moja družina

in the safari business for four generations.

v poslu safarijev že štiri generacije.

Now for as long as I can remember,

Že odkar pomnim,

my job has been to take people out into nature,

je moja naloga odpeljati ljudi v naravo

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

in mislim, da je to lep obrat usode

to have the opportunity

da imam priložnost,

to bring some of my experiences out in nature

da prinesem nekaj svojih izkušenj iz narave

in to this gathering.

v tole srečanje.

Africa is a place

Afrika je kraj,

where people still sit under starlit skies

kjer ljudje še zmeraj sedijo pod zvezdnim nebom

and around campfires and tell stories,

in okrog ognja in si pripovedujejo zgodbe,

and so what I have to share with you today

in kar bom danes delil z vami,

is the simple medicine of a few campfire stories,

je preprosto zdravilo, nekaj tabornih zgodb,

stories about heroes of heart.

zgodb o herojih srca.

Now my stories are not the stories

Moje zgodbe niso zgodbe,

that you'll hear on the news,

ki jih slišite v novicah,

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

in medtem ko je res, da je Afrika grob kraj,

I also know it to be a place

jaz prav tako vem, da je kraj,

where people, animals and ecosystems

kjer nas ljudje, živali in ekosistemi

teach us about a more interconnected world.

učijo o bolj med seboj povezanem svetu.

When I was nine years old,

Ko sem bil star devet let,

President Mandela came to stay with my family.

je predsednik Mandela prišel živet k moji družini.

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

Bil je ravno izpuščen po 27 letih zapora

and was in a period of readjustment

in se je ravno privajal

to his sudden global icon status.

na svoj nenadni status globalne ikone.

Members of the African National Congress

Člani Afriškega Nacionalnega Kongresa

thought that in the bush

so menili, da bo v divjini

he would have time to rest and recuperate

imel čas za počitek in okrevanje,

away from the public eye,

proč od oči javnosti

and it's true that lions tend to be

in res je, da so levi

a very good deterrent to press and paparazzi.

zelo dobra obramba pred tiskom in paparaci.

(Laughter)

(Smeh)

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

To je bil odločilen čas zame kot mladega fanta.

I would take him breakfast in bed,

Prinesel sem mu zajtrk v posteljo,

and then, in an old track suit and slippers,

in potem, v stari trenirki in natikačih,

he would go for a walk around the garden.

je šel na sprehod po vrtu.

At night, I would sit with my family

Zvečer sem sedel z družino

around the snowy, bunny-eared TV,

okrog snežnega televizorja z zajčjimi ušesi

and watch images of that same

in gledal slike tega istega

quiet man from the garden

tihega moža z vrta,

surrounded by hundreds and thousands of people

obdanega z na stotine in tisoče ljudi,

as scenes from his release were broadcast nightly.

saj so prizore njegovega izpusta predvajali vsako noč.

He was bringing peace

Prinašal je mir

to a divided and violent South Africa,

v razdvojeno in nasilno Južno Afriko,

one man with an unbelievable sense of his humanity.

en moški z neverjetnim občutkom za človečnost.

Mandela said often that the gift of prison

Mandela je pogosto dejal, da je bilo darilo zapora

was the ability to go within and to think,

zmožnost iti vase in razmišljati,

to create in himself

ustvarjati v sebi

the things he most wanted for South Africa:

stvari, ki si jih je najbolj želel za južno Afriko

peace, reconciliation, harmony.

mir, spravo, harmonijo.

Through this act of immense open-heartedness,

Skozi svoja neizmerna dejanja odprtega srca,

he was to become the embodiment

je postal poosebljenje

of what in South Africa we call "ubuntu."

tistega, čemur v Južni Afriki pravimo "ubuntu".

Ubuntu: I am because of you.

Ubuntu: Jaz obstajam zaradi tebe.

Or, people are not people

Ali, ljudje niso ljudje

without other people.

brez drugih ljudi.

It's not a new idea or value

To ni nova ideja ali vrednota,

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

ampak je tista, na kateri je v teh časih

is worth building on.

vredno graditi.

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

Pravzaprav naj bi v kolektivni zavesti Afrike

we get to experience the deepest parts

izkusili najgloblje dele

of our own humanity

svoje lastne človečnosti

through our interactions with others.

skozi naše interakcije z drugimi.

Ubuntu is at play right now.

Ubuntu se dogaja prav zdaj.

You are holding a space for me

Zame imate poseben prostor,

to express the deepest truth of who I am.

da izrazim najglobljo resnico o tem, kdo sem.

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

Brez vas sem samo tip, ki govori prazni sobi,

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

in prejšnji teden sem to pogosto počel,

and it's not the same as this.

in ni enako kot tole.

(Laughter)

(Smeh)

If Mandela was the national and international embodiment,

Če je bil Mandela nacionalna in mednarodna poosebitev,

then the man who taught me the most

je moški, ki me je naučil največ

about this value personally was this man,

o tej vrednoti osebno,

Solly Mhlongo.

Solly Mhlongo.

Solly was born under a tree

Solly se je rodil pod drevesom,

60 kilometers from where I grew up in Mozambique.

60 km stran od mojega doma v Mozambiku.

He would never have a lot of money,

Nikoli ni imel veliko denarja,

but he was to be

a postal je

one of the richest men I would ever meet.

eden najbogatejših ljudi, kar sem jih srečal.

Solly grew up tending to his father's cattle.

Solly je med odraščanjem skrbel za očetovo živino.

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

Povem vam, ne vem, kaj je z ljudmi, ki med odraščanjem skrbijo za živino,

but it makes for über-resourcefulness.

ampak postanejo neverjetno iznajdljivi.

The first job that he ever got in the safari business

Prva služba, ki jo je dobil v poslu safarijev,

was fixing the safari trucks.

je bila popravljanje tovornjakov za safari.

Where he had learned to do that out in the bush

Kje v divjini se je tega naučil, ne vem,

I have no idea, but he could do it.

a to je znal početi.

He then moved across into what we called

Nato se premaknil v nekaj, čemur pravimo

the habitat team.

ekipa habitata.

These were the people on the reserve

To so ljudje v rezervatu,

who were responsible for its well-being.

ki so odgovorni za njegovo dobro stanje.

He fixed roads, he mended wetlands,

Popravljal je ceste, skrbel za mokrišča,

he did some anti-poaching.

boril se je proti krivolovu.

And then one day we were out together,

Nekega dne, ko sva bila skupaj zunaj,

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

je naletel na sledi, kjer je hodila samica leoparda.

And it was an old track,

In bila je stara sled,

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

ampak za zabavo se je obrnil in ji začel slediti,

and I tell you, I could tell by the speed

in glede na hitrost premikanja

at which he moved on those pad marks

po teh sledeh, sem vedel,

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

da je ta človek diplomiran sledilec.

If you drove past Solly

Če si se peljal mimo Solly-a,

somewhere out on the reserve,

nekje v rezervatu,

you look up in your rearview mirror,

in pogledal v vzvratno ogledalo,

you'd see he'd stopped the car

si ga videl, kako je ustavil avto

20, 50 meters down the road

20, 50 metrov stran,

just in case you need help with something.

če bi slučajno potreboval pomoč.

The only accusation I ever heard leveled at him

Edina obtožba, ki je kdajkoli letela nanj,

was when one of our clients said,

je bila, ko je naših strank dejala,

"Solly, you are pathologically helpful."

"Solly, ti si patološko ustrežljiv."

(Laughter)

(Smeh)

When I started professionally guiding people

Ko sem začel profesionalno voditi ljudi

out into this environment,

v to okolje,

Solly was my tracker.

je bil Solly moj sledilec.

We worked together as a team.

Skupaj sva delala kot ekipa.

And the first guests we ever got

In prvi gosti, ki sva jih imela,

were a philanthropy group from your East Coast,

so bili skupina dobrodelnikov z vaše Vzhode obale,

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

in rekli so Sollyu,

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

"Preden sploh gremo pogledat leve in leoparde,

we want to see where you live."

želimo videti, kje živiš."

So we took them up to his house,

Peljala sva jih do njegove hiše

and this visit of the philanthropist to his house

in ta obisk dobrodelnikov

coincided with a time when Solly's wife,

je sovpadal z obdobjem, ko je bila Sollyeva žena,

who was learning English,

ki se je učila angleško,

was going through a phase where she would open the door

v fazi, da je odprla vrata

by saying, "Hello, I love you.

z vzklikom, "Pozdravljen, rada te imam.

Welcome, I love you." (Laughter)

Dobrodošel, rada te imam." (Smeh)

And there was something so beautifully African

In v tem je bilo nekaj tako čudovito afriškega

about it to me, this small house

zame, ta mala hiša

with a huge heart in it.

z velikim srcem.

Now on the day that Solly saved my life,

Na dan, ko mi je Solly rešil življenje,

he was already my hero.

je bil že moj heroj.

It was a hot day,

Bil je vroč dan

and we found ourselves down by the river.

in znašla sva se ob reki.

Because of the heat, I took my shoes off,

Zaradi vročine sem si sezul čevlje,

and I rolled up my pants,

zavihal hlačnice

and I walked into the water.

in zakorakal v vodo.

Solly remained on the bank.

Solly je ostal na bregu.

The water was clear running over sand,

Voda je bila čista, tekla je nad peskom

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

in obrnila sva se in začela hoditi proti toku.

And a few meters ahead of us,

Nekaj metrov pred nama

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

je bil kraj, kjer je drevo padlo z brega,

and its branches were touching the water,

in njegove veje so se dotikale vode

and it was shadowy.

in bilo je senčno.

And if had been a horror movie,

In če bi to bila grozljivka,

people in the audience would have started saying,

bi ljudje v občinstvu dejali,

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

"Ne pojdi tja. Ne pojdi tja." (Smeh)

And of course, the crocodile was in the shadows.

In seveda, v senci je bil krokodil.

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

Prva stvar, ki jo opaziš pri njegovem napadu

is the ferocity of the bite.

je silovitost ugriza.

Wham! It hits me by my right leg.

Bam! Ugrizne me naravnost v desno nogo.

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

Povleče me. Obrne se. Iztegnem roko. Uspe mi zagrabiti vejo.

It's shaking me violently.

Divje me trese.

It's a very strange sensation

Zelo čuden občutek je,

having another creature try and eat you,

ko te hoče neko drugo bitje pojesti,

and there are few things that promote vegetarianism like that.

in malo je stvari, ki tako dobro promovirajo vegetarijanstvo.

(Laughter)

(Smeh)

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

Solly na bregu vidi, da sem v težavah.

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

Obrne se. Odpravi se proti meni.

The croc again continues to shake me.

Krokodil me še zmeraj trese.

It goes to bite me a second time.

Hoče me še enkrat ugrizniti.

I notice a slick of blood in the water around me

Opazim madež krvi v vodi okoli mene,

that gets washed downstream.

ki teče po reki.

As it bites the second time, I kick.

Ko me drugič ugrizne, brcnem.

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

Moja noga gre v njegovo grlo. Izpljune me.

I pull myself up into the branches,

Potegnem se med veje

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

in ko pridem iz vode, pogledam čez ramo.

My leg from the knee down

Moja noga je od kolena navzdol

is mangled beyond description.

razmesarjena prek besed.

The bone is cracked.

Kost je polomljena.

The meat is torn up.

Meso raztrgano.

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

Takoj se odločim, da tega ne pogledam nikoli več.

As I come out of the water,

Ko pridem vem iz vode,

Solly arrives at a deep section,

Solly prispe do globokega dela,

a channel between us.

kanala med nama.

He knows, he sees the state of my leg,

Ve, vidi stanje moje noge,

he knows that between him and I

ve, da je med nama

there is a crocodile,

krokodil.

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

Povem vam, ta človek se ne ustavi niti za sekundo.

He comes straight into the channel.

Naravnost v kanal gre.

He wades in to above his waist.

Zabrede noter čez pas.

He gets to me. He grabs me.

Pride do mene. Zgrabi me.

I'm still in a vulnerable position.

Še vedno sem v ranljivem položaju.

He picks me and puts me on his shoulder.

Pobere me in si me vrže na ramo.

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

Še ena stvar glede Sollya, neznansko je močan.

He turns. He walks me up the bank.

Obrne se. Ponese me po bregu.

He lays me down. He pulls his shirt off.

Položi me dol. Potegne si dol srajco.

He wraps it around my leg,

Ovije jo okrog moje noge,

picks me up a second time,

in me spet pobere,

walks me to a vehicle,

me ponese do vozila

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

in priskrbi zdravniško pomoč.

And I survive.

In preživim.

Now — (Applause)

Sedaj-- (Aplavz)

Now I don't know how many people you know

,Ne vem, koliko ljudi poznate,

that go into a deep channel of water

ki gredo v globoko vodo,

that they know has a crocodile in it

vedoč, da je v njej krokodil,

to come and help you,

da bi vam pomagali,

but for Solly, it was as natural as breathing.

a za Sollya je bilo to tako naravno kot dihanje.

And he is one amazing example

In on je samo en neverjeten primer

of what I have experienced all over Africa.

tega, kar sem doživel po vsej Afriki.

In a more collective society,

V bolj povezani družbi

we realize from the inside

spoznamo od znotraj,

that our own well-being is deeply tied

da je naše dobro počutje globoko povezano

to the well-being of others.

z dobrim počutjem drugih.

Danger is shared. Pain is shared.

Nevarnost se deli. Bolečina se deli.

Joy is shared. Achievement is shared.

Radost se deli. Dosežki se delijo.

Houses are shared. Food is shared.

Hiše se delijo. Hrana se deli.

Ubuntu asks us to open our hearts

Ubuntu nas prosi, naj odpremo svoja srca

and to share,

in delimo,

and what Solly taught me that day

in kar me je Solly naučil tistega dne,

is the essence of this value,

je bistvo njegove vrednosti,

his animated, empathetic action

njegove animirane, empatične akcije

in every moment.

v vsakem trenutku.

Now although the root word is about people,

Ker koren besede zadeva ljudi,

I thought that maybe ubuntu was only about people.

sem mislil, da Ubuntu velja samo za ljudi.

And then I met this young lady.

In potem sem spoznal to mlado damo.

Her name was Elvis.

ime ji je Elvis.

In fact, Solly gave her the name Elvis

Solly jo je poimenoval Elvis,

because he said she walked like she was doing

ker je rekel, da hodi, kot da bi

the Elvis the pelvis dance.

plesala kot Elvis.

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

Rodila se je z zelo deformiranima zadnjima nogama in medenico.

She arrived at our reserve from a reserve

Prispela je k nam iz rezervata

east of us on her migratory route.

vzhodno od nas na njeni poti.

When I first saw her,

Ko sem jo prvič videl,

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

sem pomislil, da bo umrla v nekaj dneh.

And yet, for the next five years

Ampak naslednjih 5 let

she returned in the winter months.

se je vračala v zimskih mesecih.

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

In bili smo tako vznemirjeni, ko smo bili v divjini

and to come across this unusual track.

in naleteli na to nenavadno sled.

It looked like an inverted bracket,

Izgledala je kot narobe obrnjen oklepaj

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

in spustili smo vse iz rok in ji sledili

and then we would come around the corner,

in potem smo prišli izza ovinka

and there she would be with her herd.

in bila je tam s svojo čredo.

And that outpouring of emotion

In izbruh čustev

from people on our safari trucks

ljudi v naših safari tovornjakih,

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

ko so jo videli, je dal občutek povezanosti.

And it reminded me

In opomnila me je,

that even people who grow up in cities

da celo ljudje, ki so odrasli v mestih,

feel a natural connection

čutijo naravno povezavo

with the natural world and with animals.

s svetom narave in z živalmi.

And yet still I remained amazed that she was surviving.

A še zmeraj sem bil osupel, da je preživela.

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

In nekega dne smo jih srečali v neki mali luknji z vodo.

It was sort of a hollow in the ground.

Bila je nekakšna vdolbina v tleh.

And I watched as the matriarch drank,

Gledal sem, kako je matriarhinja pila

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

in se potem obrnila v tistem prelepem počasnem gibanju slonov,

looks like the arm in motion,

ki izgleda kot roka v gibanju,

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

ter si začela utirati pot po strmem bregu.

The rest of the herd turned and began to follow.

Ostali del črede se je obrnil in ji sledil.

And I watched young Elvis

Gledal sem mlado Elvis,

begin to psych herself up for the hill.

kako se je začela vzpenjati po hribu.

She got visibly -- ears came forward,

Vidno se je trudila--ušesa je dala naprej,

she had a full go of it and halfway up,

dobro ji je šlo in na pol poti

her legs gave way, and she fell backwards.

so se njene noge vdale in padla je nazaj.

She attempted it a second time,

Poskusila je znova

and again, halfway up, she fell backwards.

in spet so se njene noge vdale na pol poti.

And on the third attempt,

V tretjem poskusu

an amazing thing happened.

se je zgodilo nekaj neverjetnega.

Halfway up the bank,

Na pol poti po bregu

a young teenage elephant came in behind her,

se je za njo postavil mlad najstniški slon,

and he propped his trunk underneath her,

jo spodaj podprl z rilcem

and he began to shovel her up the bank.

in jo začel potiskati po bregu.

And it occurred to me

Spoznal sem,

that the rest of the herd

da ostali člani črede

was in fact looking after this young elephant.

pravzaprav skrbijo za to mlado slonico.

The next day I watched again

Naslednji dan sem spet opazoval,

as the matriarch broke a branch

ko je matriarhinja odlomila vejo

and she would put it in her mouth,

in jo dala v usta,

and then she would break a second one

nato odlomila še eno

and drop it on the ground.

in jo spustila na tla.

And a consensus developed between all of us

Med vodiči na tem območju

who were guiding people in that area

se je razvilo splošno mnenje,

that that herd was in fact moving slower

da se ta čreda premika počasneje,

to accommodate that elephant.

da se prilagodi tej slonici.

What Elvis and the herd taught me

Elvis in njena čreda so me naučili,

caused me to expand my definition of ubuntu,

da sem razširil svoje razumevanje ubuntuja,

and I believe that in the cathedral of the wild,

in verjamem, da v katedrali divjine

we get to see the most beautiful parts of ourselves

vidimo naše najlepše dele,

reflected back at us.

kako se zrcalijo nazaj v nas.

And it is not only through other people

Ne izkusimo naše človeškosti

that we get to experience our humanity

samo skozi druge ljudi,

but through all the creatures that live on this planet.

ampak skozi vsa živa bitja, ki živijo na tem planetu.

If Africa has a gift to share,

Če ima Afrika darilo, ki ga lahko deli,

it's a gift of a more collective society.

je to darilo bolj povezane družbe.

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

In čeprav je ubuntu afriška ideja,

what I see is the essence of that value

vidim, da bistvo te ideje

being invented here.

nastaja tu.

Thank you.

Hvala.

(Applause)

(Aplavz)

Pat Mitchell: So Boyd,

Pat Mitchell: Torej, Boyd,

we know that you knew President Mandela

vemo, da si predsednika Mandelo poznal

from early childhood

od zgodnjega otroštva

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

in da si novico slišal danes, tako kot mi vsi tu

and deeply distraught

in si globoko pretresen,

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

vemo, kakšna tragična izguba je to za svet.

But I just wondered if you wanted

Ampak zanima me samo, če si želel

to share any additional thoughts,

deliti kakšno dodatno misel,

because we know that you heard that news

ker vemo, da si slišal novico,

just before coming in to do this session.

tik preden si prišel sem na to seanso.

Boyd Varty: Well thanks, Pat.

Boyd Varty: Hvala, Pat.

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

Zelo sem vesel, ker je prišel njegov čas.

He was suffering.

Trpel je.

And so of course there's the mixed emotions.

In seveda so tu mešani občutki.

But I just think of so many occurrences

Ampak spomnim se toliko različnih stvari,

like the time he went on the Oprah show

na primer takrat, ko je odšel na Oprah show

and asked her what the show would be about.

in jo vprašal, o čem bo oddaja govorila.

(Laughter)

(Smeh)

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

In rekla je,"No, o tebi bo govorila."

I mean, that's just incredible humility.

Mislim, ta neverjetna skromnost.

(Laughter)

(Smeh)

He was the father of our nation

Bil je oče našega naroda

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

in imamo pot, ki ji moramo v Južni Afriki slediti.

And everything, they used to call it Madiba magic.

Vsemu temu skupaj so rekli Madiba čarovnija.

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

Veste, šel je gledat tekmo ragbija in smo zmagali.

Anywhere he went, things went well.

Kamorkoli je šel, so se stvari dobro odvile.

But I think that magic will be with us,

Ampak mislim, da bo ta čarovnija z nami,

and the important thing is that we carry

in pomembno je, da prenašamo naprej tisto,

what he stood for.

kar je zagovarjal.

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

To je tisto, kar bom poskušal storiti

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

in to poskušajo storiti ljudje po vsej Južni Afriki.

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

PM: In to si storil danes. BV: Oh, hvala vam.

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

PM: Hvala. BV: Hvala. Najlepša hvala.

(Applause)

(Aplavz)