Nadia Al-Sakkaf: See Yemen through my eyes

Translator: Klavdija Cernilogar Reviewer: Matej Divjak

Pat Mitchell: You have brought us images from the Yemen Times.

Prinesli ste nam fotografije iz Yemen Timesa.

And take us through those,

Popeljite nas skoznje

and introduce us to another Yemen.

in nam predstavite tisti drugi Jemen.

Nadia Al-Sakkaf: Well, I'm glad to be here.

Vesela sem, da sem z vami.

And I would like to share with you all

In rada bi delila z vami

some of the pictures that are happening today in Yemen.

nekaj podob današnjega dogajanja v Jemnu.

This picture shows a revolution

Tale fotografija prikazuje revolucijo,

started by women,

ki so jo začele ženske.

and it shows women and men

Kaže ženske in moške

leading a mixed protest.

med mešanim protestom.

The other picture

Naslednja fotografija

is the popularity of the real need for change.

odraža popularnost dejanske potrebe po spremembah.

So many people are there.

Tako veliko ljudi je tam.

The intensity of the upspring.

Gre za intenzivnost upora.

This picture shows that the revolution

Tale fotografija kaže, kako je revolucija

has allowed opportunities for training,

odprla priložnosti za usposabljanje,

for education.

za izobraževanje.

These women are learning about first aid

Te ženske se učijo o prvi pomoči

and their rights according to the constitution.

in o svojih ustavnih pravicah.

I love this picture.

Ta fotografija mi je zelo všeč.

I just wanted to show

Hotela sem pač pokazati,

that over 60 percent of the Yemeni population

da je več kot 60 odstotkov prebivalstva Jemna

are 15 years and below.

starega 15 let ali manj.

And they were excluded from decision-making,

In izključeni so bili iz procesov odločanja,

and now they are in the forefront of the news,

zdaj pa so na prvih straneh vesti,

raising the flag.

z zastavami v rokah.

English --

Angleške...

you will see, this is jeans

vidite, to so kavbojke

and tights,

in oprijeta mikica

and an English expression --

in angleški napis...

the ability to share with the world

možnost deliti s svetom,

what is going on in our own country.

kaj se dogaja v lastni državi.

And expression also,

Gre tudi za izražanje,

it has brought talents.

ki je odkrilo talente.

Yemenis are using cartoons

Jemenčani uporabljajo risbe

and art,

in umetnost

paintings, comics,

ter slikanje, stripe,

to tell the world and each other

da bi svetu in drug drugemu povedali,

about what's going on.

kaj se dogaja.

Obviously, there's always the dark side of it.

Seveda je tu tudi temna stran.

And this is just one of the less-gruesome pictures

To je le ena od manj grozljivih fotografij

of the revolution

revolucije

and the cost that we have to pay.

in cene, ki jo plačujemo.

The solidarity

Solidarnost

of millions of Yemenis across the country

milijonov Jemenčanov po vsej državi,

just demanding the one thing.

ki zahtevajo samo eno.

And finally, lots of people are saying

In končno, veliko ljudi pravi,

that Yemen's revolution

da bo jemenska revolucija

is going to break the country.

razcepila državo.

Is it going to be so many different countries?

Bo nastalo veliko različnih držav?

Is it going to be another Somalia?

Bo to še ena Somalija?

But we want to tell the world that, no,

Svetu hočemo povedati, da ne;

under the one flag, we'll still remain as Yemeni people.

pod eno zastavo bomo ostali jemenski narod.

PM: Thank you for those images, Nadia.

Hvala za te slike, Nadia.

And they do, in many ways,

Na veliko načinov

tell a different story

nam povedo drugačno zgodbo,

than the story of Yemen,

kot je tista o Jemnu,

the one that is often in the news.

ki je pogosto v poročilih.

And yet, you yourself

In kljub vsemu, vi sami

defy all those characterizations.

kljubujete vsem tem oznakam.

So let's talk about the personal story for a moment.

Posvetiva se za trenutek vaši osebni zgodbi.

Your father is murdered.

Vašega očeta so umorili.

The Yemen Times already has

Yemen Times v Jemnu že ima

a strong reputation in Yemen

velik ugled

as an independent English language newspaper.

kot neodvisen časopis v angleškem jeziku.

How did you then

Kako ste se torej

make the decision and assume the responsibilities

odločili, da prevzamete odgovornost

of running a newspaper,

za vodenje časopisa,

especially in such times of conflict?

predvsem v teh konfliktnih časih?

NA: Well, let me first warn you

Naj vas najprej opozorim,

that I'm not the traditional Yemeni girl.

da nisem tradicionalno jemensko dekle.

I've guessed you've already noticed this by now.

Verjetno ste to že opazili.

(Laughter)

(smeh)

In Yemen, most women are veiled

V Jemnu je večina žensk zakritih

and they are sitting behind doors

in ostanejo za zaprtimi vrati

and not very much part of the public life.

ter niso del javnega življenja.

But there's so much potential.

Vendar obstaja velik potencial;

I wish I could show you my Yemen.

rada bi vam pokazala svoj Jemen.

I wish you could see

Rada bi, da bi videli

Yemen through my eyes.

Jemen skozi moje oči.

Then you would know

Potem bi vedeli,

that there's so much to it.

da ima veliko pokazati.

And I was privileged because I was born into a family,

Sama sem bila privilegirana, saj sem se rodila v družini,

my father would always encourage the boys and the girls.

kjer je oče vedno spodbujal tako fante kot dekleta.

He would say we are equal.

Govoril je, da smo enakopravni.

And he was such an extraordinary man.

Bil je res izjemen človek.

And even my mother -- I owe it to my family.

Tudi moja mati... to dolgujem svoji družini...

A story:

to zgodbo.

I studied in India.

Študirala sem v Indiji.

And in my third year, I started becoming confused

V tretjem letniku sem postala zmedena,

because I was Yemeni,

ker sem bila Jemenčanka,

but I was also mixing up

hkrati pa sem se družila

with a lot of my friends in college.

tudi z veliko prijatelji s fakultete.

And I went back home and I said,

Vrnila sem se domov in rekla:

"Daddy, I don't know who I am.

"Očka, ne vem, kdo sem.

I'm not a Yemeni; I'm not an Indian."

Nisem Jemenčanka, nisem Indijka."

And he said, "You are the bridge."

Odgovoril je: "Ti si most."

And that is something I will keep in my heart forever.

To je nekaj, kar bom za vedno nosila v srcu.

So since then I've been the bridge,

Od tedaj sem torej most,

and a lot of people have walked over me.

ki ga je pohodilo že veliko ljudi.

PM: I don't think so. (Laughter)

Mislim, da ne.

NA: But it just helps tell

Pomaga pa vedeti,

that some people are change agents

da so nekateri ljudje nosilci sprememb.

in the society.

v družbi.

And when I became editor-in-chief

Ko sem postala odgovorna urednica,

after my brother actually --

pravzaprav za svojim bratom,

my father passed away in 1999,

moj oče je umrl leta 1999,

and then my brother until 2005 --

moj brat je bil na položaju do leta 2005...

and everybody was betting that I will not be able to do it.

in vsi so bili prepričani, da mi ne bo uspelo.

"What's this young girl coming in and showing off

"Kaj se to dekle postavlja,

because it's her family business," or something.

samo zato, ker gre za družinsko podjetje," in podobno.

It was very hard at first.

Na začetku je bilo zelo težko.

I didn't want to clash with people.

Nisem se hotela spopadati z ljudmi.

But with all due respect

Toda z vsem spoštovanjem

to all the men, and the older men especially,

do vseh moških, posebej do starejših,

they did not want me around.

oni me niso hoteli imeti zraven.

It was very hard, you know,

Bilo je zelo težko, veste,

to impose my authority.

da sem vzpostavila avtoriteto.

But a woman's got to do what a woman's got to do.

Toda ženska mora narediti, kar pač mora.

(Applause)

(aplavz)

And in the first year,

In v prvem letu

I had to fire half of the men.

sem morala odpustiti polovico moških.

(Laughter)

(smeh)

(Applause)

(aplavz)

Brought in more women.

Pripeljala sem več žensk.

Brought in younger men.

Pripeljala sem mlajše moške.

And we have a more gender-balanced newsroom today.

In danes imamo v uredništvu večje ravnotežje med spoloma.

The other thing is that it's about professionalism.

Druga stvar je, da gre za profesionalnost.

It's about proving who you are and what you can do.

Gre za to, da človek dokaže, kdo je in kaj zna.

And I don't know if I'm going to be boasting now,

In ne vem, ali bo tole zvenelo kot samohvala,

but in 2006 alone,

ampak samo v letu 2006

we won three international awards.

smo dobili tri mednarodne nagrade.

One of them is the IPI

Ena od njih je nagrada Mednarodnega medijskega inštituta

Free Media Pioneer Award.

Free Media Pioneer Award.

So that was the answer

To je bil torej odgovor

to all the Yemeni people.

vsem Jemenčanom.

And I want to score a point here,

In rada bi nekaj poudarila,

because my husband is in the room over there.

moj mož je tamle v dvorani.

If you could please stand up, [unclear].

Bi lahko prosim vstal?

He has been very supportive of me.

V veliko podporo mi je.

(Applause)

(aplavz)

PM: And we should point out

Povedati je treba,

that he works with you as well at the paper.

da tudi on dela z vami pri časopisu.

But in assuming this responsibility

S tem, ko ste prevzeli odgovornost,

and going about it as you have,

in delovali na svoj način,

you have become a bridge

ste postali most

between an older and traditional society

med starejšo tradicionalno družbo

and the one that you are now creating at the paper.

in tisto, ki jo ustvarjate s časopisom.

And so along with changing who worked there,

Torej, z zamenjavo zaposlenih

you must have come up against another positioning

ste se morali soočiti s še enim stališčem,

that we always run into, in particular with women,

ob katerega vedno trčimo, posebej v zvezi z ženskami,

and it has to do with outside image,

in ki je povezano z zunanjim videzom,

dress, the veiled woman.

obleko, zakrito žensko.

So how have you dealt with this

Kako ste torej opravili s tem

on a personal level

na osebni ravni,

as well as the women who worked for you?

kot tudi na ravni žensk, ki so delale z vami?

NA: As you know,

Kot veste,

the image of a lot of Yemeni women is a lot of black

je predstava o veliko Jemenčankah tista o veliko črnine

and covered, veiled women.

in zakritih ženskah.

And this is true.

In to je tudi res.

And a lot of it is

V veliki meri je to zato,

because women are not able, are not free,

ker ženske ne morejo, nimajo svobode,

to show their face to their self.

da bi same sebi pokazale obraz.

It's a lot of traditional imposing

Gre za veliko tradicionalnih pritiskov

coming by authority figures

s strani ljudi z avtoriteto,

such as the men, the grandparents and so on.

kot so možje, stari starši in podobno.

And it's economic empowerment

Pomembno je ekonomsko opolnomočenje

and the ability for a woman to say,

in zmožnost ženske, da reče:

"I am as much contributing to this family, or more,

"Prav toliko prispevam k tej družini kot ti,

than you are."

ali še več."

And the more empowered the women become,

In močnejše ko postajajo ženske,

the more they are able to remove the veil, for example,

lažje denimo odkrijejo obraz

or to drive their own car

ali vozijo svoj avto

or to have a job or to be able to travel.

ali imajo službo ali pa potujejo.

So the other face of Yemen

Drugi obraz Jemna

is actually one

je torej tisti,

that lies behind the veil,

skrit za tančico.

and it's economic empowerment mostly

In večinoma res ekonomska moč

that allows the woman to just uncover it.

omogoči ženski, da ga enostavno odkrije.

And I have done this throughout my work.

To sem jaz naredila s svojim delom.

I've tried to encourage young girls.

Skušala sem opogumiti mlada dekleta.

We started with, you can take it off in the office.

Začeli smo s tem, da so se lahko odkrile v pisarni.

And then after that, you can take it off on assignments.

Potem so se lahko odkrile pri poročanju s terena.

Because I didn't believe a journalist can be a journalist with --

Ne verjamem namreč, da je lahko novinar res novinar z ...

how can you talk to people if you have your face covered? --

kako lahko govorite z ljudmi, če imate zakrit obraz? ...

and so on; it's just a movement.

In tako naprej; gre samo za gibanje.

And I am a role model in Yemen.

In jaz sem vzor v Jemnu.

A lot of people look up to me.

Veliko ljudi se zgleduje po meni.

A lot of young girls look up to me.

Veliko mladih deklet se zgleduje po meni.

And I need to prove to them that, yes, you can still be married,

In moram jim dokazati, da je ženska lahko poročena,

you can still be a mother,

lahko je mati

and you can still be respected within the society,

in še vedno jo bo družba spoštovala.

but at the same time,

Hkrati pa

that doesn't mean you [should] just be one of the crowd.

to ne pomeni, da naj bo samo del množice.

You can be yourself and have your face.

Lahko ste samosvoje in imate svoj obraz.

PM: But by putting yourself personally out there --

Toda s tem, ko ste se osebno zavzeli

both projecting a different image

in javnosti pokazali drugačno podobo

of Yemeni women,

jemenske ženske

but also what you have made possible

ter omogočili

for the women who work at the paper --

ženskam, ki delajo pri vas...

has this put you in personal danger?

vas je to osebno pripeljalo v nevarnost?

NA: Well the Yemen Times, across 20 years,

No, Yemen Times je v dvajsetih letih

has been through so much.

doživel veliko.

We've suffered prosecution;

Preganjali so nas,

the paper was closed down more than three times.

časopis so ukinili več kot trikrat.

It's an independent newspaper,

Gre za neodvisen časopis,

but tell that to the people in charge.

ampak razložite to tistim, ki odločajo.

They think that if there's anything against them,

Mislijo, da če pišemo proti njim,

then we are being an opposition newspaper.

smo opozicijski časopis.

And very, very difficult times.

In šli smo skozi zelo težke čase.

Some of my reporters were arrested.

Nekatere novinarje so aretirali.

We had some court cases.

Imeli smo nekaj primerov na sodišču.

My father was assassinated.

Mojega očeta so umorili.

Today, we are in a much better situation.

Danes nam gre veliko bolje.

We've created the credibility.

Postali smo verodostojni.

And in times of revolution or change like today,

In v časih revolucije ali sprememb, kakršni so danes,

it is very important for independent media to have a voice.

je pomembno, da imajo neodvisni mediji svoj glas.

It's very important

Zelo pomembno je,

for you to go to YemenTimes.com,

da obiščete YemenTimes.com

and it's very important

in pomembno je,

to listen to our voice.

da nam prisluhnete.

And this is probably something

To je nekaj,

I'm going to share with you

kar bom delila z vami

in Western media probably --

v zahodnih medijih verjetno...

and how there's a lot of stereotypes --

no, obstaja veliko stereotipov...

thinking of Yemen in one single frame:

razmišljajo o Jemnu na en sam način:

this is what Yemen is all about.

to je tisto, kar je zanje Jemen.

And that's not fair.

In to ni pošteno.

It's not fair for me; it's not fair for my country.

Ni pošteno do mene in do moje države.

A lot of reporters come to Yemen

Veliko novinarjev pride v Jemen

and they want to write a story on Al-Qaeda or terrorism.

in hoče napisati zgodbo o Al Kajdi ali terorizmu.

And I just wanted to share with you:

Hotela sem vam samo povedati:

there's one reporter that came.

prišel je neki novinar.

He wanted to do a documentary

Nameraval je posneti dokumentarec

on what his editors wanted.

o tem, kar so mu naročili uredniki.

And he ended up writing about a story that even surprised me --

Na koncu pa je naredil zgodbo, ki je presenetila celo mene...

hip hop --

hip hop...

that there are young Yemeni men

da obstajajo mladi Jemenčani,

who express themselves

ki se izražajo

through dancing and puchu puchu.

skozi ples in puču puču.

(Laughter)

(smeh)

That thing. (PM: Rap. Break dancing.)

Tistole. (Pam: Rap. Break dance.)

Yeah, break dancing.

Ja, break dance.

I'm not so old.

Nisem tako stara.

I'm just not in touch.

Samo nisem na tekočem.

(Laughter)

(smeh)

(Applause)

(aplavz)

PM: Yes, you are.

Pa ste.

Actually, that's a documentary

Pravzaprav je dokumentarec

that's available online; the video's online.

na voljo na spletu, video je na spletu.

NA: ShaketheDust.org.

ShaketheDust.org

PM: "Shake the Dust." (NA: "Shake the Dust.")

Shake the Dust.

PM: ShaketheDust.org.

ShaketheDust.org.

And it definitely does give a different image of Yemen.

In prav gotovo kaže drugačno podobo Jemna.

You spoke about the responsibility of the press.

Govorili ste o odgovornosti tiska.

And certainly, when we look

In res, ko pogledamo,

at the ways in which we have separated ourselves from others

kako smo se ločili od drugih

and we've created fear

in vzpostavili stanje strahu

and danger,

in nevarnosti,

often from lack of knowledge,

pogosto zaradi pomanjkanja znanja,

lack of real understanding,

pomanjkanja pravega razumevanja,

how do you see

kako vidite

the way that the Western press in particular

način, na katerega posebej zahodni tisk

is covering this and all other stories out of the region,

pokriva to in druge zgodbe iz regije,

but in particular, in your country?

še posebej pa v vaši državi?

NA: Well there is a saying that says,

Obstaja pregovor, ki pravi,

"You fear what you don't know,

"Bojite se tistega, česar ne poznate,

and you hate what you fear."

in sovražite tisto, česar se bojite."

So it's about the lack of research, basically.

Gre v osnovi za pomanjkanje raziskav.

It's almost, "Do your homework," --

Je skoraj kot: "Dajte, naredite domačo nalogo,"...

some involvement.

malo se zavzemite.

And you cannot do parachute reporting --

Ne morete biti padalski poročevalec...

just jump into a country for two days

kar skočiti v državo za dva dni

and think that you've done your homework and a story.

in misliti, da ste opravili nalogo in imate zgodbo.

So I wish

Zato želim,

that the world would know my Yemen,

da bi svet poznal moj Jemen,

my country, my people.

mojo deželo, moje ljudi.

I am an example, and there are others like me.

Jaz sem samo primer, so še drugi meni podobni.

We may not be that many,

Mogoče nas ni veliko,

but if we are promoted

ampak če bomo predstavljeni

as a good, positive example,

kot dober, pozitiven primer,

there will be others -- men and women --

bodo še drugi - moški in ženske -

who can eventually bridge the gap --

ki lahko sčasoma premostijo prepad...

again, coming to the bridge --

spet se vračam k mostu...

between Yemen and the world

med Jemnom in svetom

and telling first

in najprej povedo

about recognition

o priznanju

and then about communication

in potem o komunikaciji

and compassion.

in sočutju.

I think Yemen is going to be

Mislim, da bo Jemen

in a very bad situation

naslednji dve ali tri leta

in the next two or three years.

v zelo slabem položaju.

It's natural.

To je normalno.

But after the two years, which is a price we are willing to pay,

Ampak po dveh letih, kar je cena, ki smo jo pripravljeni plačati,

we are going to stand up again on our feet,

se bomo spet postavili na svoje noge,

but in the new Yemen

ampak v novem Jemnu,

with a younger and more empowered people --

z mlajšimi in močnejšimi ljudmi,

democratic.

in demokracijo.

(Applause)

(aplavz)

PM: Nadia, I think you've just given us

Nadia, mislim, da ste nam pravkar pokazali

a very different view of Yemen.

zelo drugačno podobo Jemna.

And certainly you yourself and what you do

In vsekakor ste nam vi z vašim delom

have given us a view of the future

dali pogled v prihodnost,

that we will embrace

ki ga bomo sprejeli

and be grateful for.

in bomo zanj hvaležni.

And the very best of luck to you.

Veliko sreče vam želim.

YemenTimes.com.

YemenTimes.com.

NA: On Twitter also.

Tudi na tviterju smo.

PM: So you are plugged in.

Torej ste priklopljeni.

(Applause)

(aplavz)