Why I put myself in danger to tell the stories of Gaza | Ameera Harouda

Translator: Qemal Halili Reviewer: Helena Bedalli

Hello.

Pershendetje.

This is my first trip,

Ky eshte udhetimi im i pare,

first time in life I'm outside of the walls of Gaza.

hera e pare ne jeten time qe jam jashte mureve te Gazes.

I'm so happy to be here.

Jam shume e gezuar qe jam ketu.

(Applause)

(Duartrokitje)

My ambition always was to be a pilot, to fly a plane,

Ambicja ime ka qene gjithmone te behesha pilote, te pilotoja nje avion,

to feel free to fly the sky, to touch the sky.

te isha e lire te fluturoja ne qiell, te prekja qiellin.

But that didn't happen.

Por kjo nuk ndodhi.

Simply, I live in Gaza, there is no airport.

Une, thjesht jetoj ne Gaza, nuk ka aeroport.

All borders are closed on every side.

Te gjithe kufijte jane mbyllur ne cdo ane.

We live in one of the biggest prisons in the world.

Ne jetojme ne nje nga burgjet me te medha ne bote.

The only thing I can do is just to look up to the sky.

E vetmja gje qe mund te bej eshte thjesht te shoh qiellin lart.

On some days, we are lucky if we have electricity

Ne disa dite, jemi me fat nese kemi energji elektrike

for four or five hours.

per kater apo pese ore.

When it's cold, we make a fire on the front or on the roof of our homes.

Kur eshte ftohte, bejme zjarr perpara ose ne catite e shtepive tona.

Sometimes we make food, too.

Ndonjehere gatuajme, gjithashtu.

My job in Gaza is to arrange everything for journalists who come to my homeland

Puna ime ne Gaza eshte te sistemoj gjithcka per gazetaret qe vizitojne atdheun tim

to tell the stories about what's going on in Gaza.

per te treguar historite e asaj cfare po ndodh ne Gaza.

Many mornings, I had to go to the border area

Shume mengjese, me eshte dashur te shkoj ne zonen e kufirit

to collect a journalist.

per te pritur nje gazetar.

If anything should happen to the journalist,

Nese ndonje gje i ndodh gazetarit,

or if the journalist decides to cover a story

ose nese gazetari vendos tregoje nje lajm

the government doesn't want us to cover,

qe qeveria nuk do qe te dale,

bad things could happen.

gjera te keqija mund te ndodhin.

Navigating through my country helping journalists,

Te udhetoj permes vendit tim duke ndihmuar gazetaret,

filmmakers, news crews, is my working life.

prodhuesit e filmave, ekipet e lajmeve eshte jeta ime e punes.

I believe my success comes from building a relationship

Besoj qe suksesi im vjen nga ngritja e nje lidhjeje

not only with journalists and the news crews,

jo vetem me gazetaret dhe ekipet e lajmeve,

but also with the communities in the Gaza Strip.

por gjithashtu me komunitetet ne Rripin e Gazes.

These communities who don't want their stories to be told,

Keto komunitete qe nuk duan qe historite e tyre te rrefehen,

I never looked to them as stories or numbers.

Nuk i kam pare kurre si histori apo numra.

But like me, they are human beings.

Por si une, ata jane qenie njerezore.

I have built up many relationships over 10 years.

Kam ndertuar shume marredhenie gjate 10 viteve.

And guess what?

Dhe a e dini cfare?

This gives me the chance to get access to people,

Kjo me jep shansin te kem akses tek njerezit,

to stories that others can't.

tek histori qe te tjeret nuk munden.

In some certain situations, I feel, as a woman, I have more power.

Ne disa situata te vecanta, ndjej, si grua, kam me shume force.

Many male journalists in my society,

Shume gazetare meshkuj ne shoqerine time,

they want to cover a story about drug addiction in my country.

duan te tregojne nje histori per vartesine nga droga ne vendin tim.

That problem started when the Gaza tunnel was being built.

Problemi nisi kur tuneli i Gazes po ndertohej.

With the siege on Gaza,

Me rrethimin e Gazes,

tunnels brought people all the basic needs

tunelet i sillnin njerezve gjithe nevojat baze

like food, building material, other stuff we needed.

si ushqim, materiale ndertimi, gjera te tjera qe na duheshin.

But not anymore, because the Egyptian side flooded them up with water

Por tani jo me, sepse pala Egjiptiane i permbyti me uje

and they are not working anymore.

dhe nuk jane me ne pune.

Drugs were being smuggled,

Po trafikoheshin edhe narkotike,

and many young people got addicted, too.

dhe shume te rinj krijuan vartesi, gjithashtu.

In the tradition of the Palestinian society,

Ne traditen e shoqerise Palestineze,

it's forbidden for men to enter the household.

eshte e ndaluar per burrat te futen ne shtepi.

So, no male journalists get the story.

Keshtu, asnje gazetar mashkull nuk e merr lajmin.

But I did.

Por une ia dola.

I have a wonderful husband,

Une kam nje bashkeshort te mrekullueshem,

a wonderful husband who supports me

nje bashkeshort te mrekullueshem, qe me mbeshtet

despite all the criticism he gets from the society.

megjithe kritiken qe merr nga shoqeria.

He's at home now with my two kids,

Ai tani eshte ne shtepi me dy femijet e mi,

and I have another one that's growing in here.

dhe kam edhe nje tjeter qe po rritet ketu.

(Applause)

(Duartrokitje)

When I'm working, I call him every two hours,

Kur punoj e marr ne telefon cdo dy ore,

and he knows if he doesn't hear from me,

dhe ai e di nese nuk merr lajme nga une,

he should call my contact,

duhet te marrre ne telefon kontaktin tim,

the one who gives me access to the story,

ate qe me jep akses per lajmin,

which is the one who I trust.

qe eshte ai tek i cili kam besim.

One of the times in Gaza,

Ne nje nga heret ne Gaza,

during the kidnapping of the British journalist Alan Johnston,

gjate rrembimit te gazetarit Britanik Alan Johnston,

I was asked by an American magazine

Mu kerkua nga nje reviste amerikane

to set up a meeting with the kidnappers in Gaza, and I did.

te rregulloj nje takim me rrembyesit ne Gaza, dhe une e bera.

The journalist covering the story and I

Gazetarit qe mbulonte lajmin dhe mua

were asked to meet outside of his hotel.

na u kerkua te takoheshim ne dalje te ketij hoteli.

They came, they picked us up in a black van with black windows,

Erdhen, na moren me nje furgon te zi me xhama te zi,

they were wearing masks on that day.

mbanin maska ate dite.

And they drove us away, far away in the middle of a field.

Dhe na derguan me makine larg, ne mes te nje fushe.

They took our cell phones

Na moren telefonat celulare

and we did the interview with the kidnapper outside in that field.

dhe e beme intervisten me rrembyesin jashte ne ate fushe.

I was so scared that day,

Isha kaq e frikesuar ate dite,

a day I will never forget.

nje dite qe nuk do ta harroj.

So, why do I do what I do?

Pra, pse e bej kete qe bej?

I do it because I believe if I didn't,

E bej sepse besoj se nese nuk e bej,

a huge part of the story about Gaza will be missing.

nje pjese e madhe e historise per Gazen do te humbase.

There are some more stories I could tell you about my country.

Ka dhe disa histori te tjera qe mund t'ju tregoj per vendin tim

And not all of them are bad.

Dhe jo te gjitha jane te keqija.

I love my country, despite the terrible situation we live in --

Une e dua vendin tim, megjithe situaten e tmerrshme ku jetojme--

siege, poverty, unemployment --

rrethim, varferi, papunesi--

but there is life.

por ka dhe jete.

There are people who are dreamers and amazing people full of energy.

Ka njerez qe jane enderrimtare dhe njerez te mrekullueshem plot energji.

We have wonderful music, and a great music school.

Kemi muzike mahnitese, dhe nje shkolle muzike te madhe.

We have parkour dancers who dance in the rubble of their homes.

Kemi kercimtare parkur qe kercejne ne mbetjet e shtepive te tyre.

And Gaza is the only place in the Arab world

Dhe Gaza eshte i vetmi vend ne boten Arabe

where Muslims and Christians live in strong brotherhood.

ku muslimanet dhe kristianet jetojne ne nje vellazeri te forte.

(Applause)

(Duartrokitje)

During the time of war,

Gjate kohes se luftes,

the hardest part for me is leaving the house early in the morning,

gjeja me e veshtire per mua eshte largimi nga shtepia heret ne mengjes,

leaving my children.

lenia e femijeve.

I take a picture of them everyday

U bej nje fotografi cdo dite

because I never know if I will make it back to them.

sepse asnjehere nuk e di nese do te kthehem apo jo tek ta.

Being a fixer and a journalist is difficult and dangerous in Gaza.

Te jesh nje rregulluese dhe gazetare, eshte e veshtire dhe e rrezikshme ne Gaza.

But when I hear the sound of the shelling or the sound of the bombing,

Por kur degjoj zhurmen e predhave apo zhurmen e bombave,

I just head straight toward it,

thjesht shkoj drejt tyre,

because I want to be there first,

sepse dua te jem e para,

because these stories should be told.

sepse keto histori duhen treguar.

When my children were small and we heard the sound of the war,

Kur femijet ishin te vegjel dhe degjonim zhurmen e luftes,

I used to tell them that they were fireworks.

u thoja qe ishin fishekzjarre.

Now they are older, they understand.

Tani jane me te rritur, kuptojne.

I do have terrible nightmares

Kam makthe te tmerrshme

because of all that I witnessed during war times,

per shkak te gjithe asaj qe kam qene deshmitare gjate kohes se luftes,

especially these lifeless bodies of young children.

vecanerisht ato trupa pajete femijesh te vegjel.

I still remember a little girl, her name is Hala.

Akoma e kujtoj nje vajze te vogel, e ka emrin Hala

She's the only survivor from her family.

Eshte e mbijetuara e vetme nga familja e saj.

Her picture will be with me forever.

Pamja e saj do te me ndjeke kudo.

I will never forget her.

Nuk do ta harroj kurre.

I'm proud that I can stand here and be here today with you.

Jam krenare qe mund te qendroj ketu dhe te jem sot ketu me ju.

I'm proud that I can tell you stories, sad and happy,

Jam krenare qe mund t'ju tregoj histori, te trishta e te gezuara,

stories about my small corner of the world, Gaza.

histori rreth cepit tim te vogel te botes, Gazen.

I'm proud that I am the first female fixer working in Gaza.

Jam krenare qe jam rregulluesja e pare femer qe punon ne Gaza.

And the funny thing is they call me Mr. Rambo in Gaza.

C'ka eshte per te qeshur eshte se ne Gaza me quajne z. Rambo.

(Laughter)

(Te qeshura)

I hope one day, I will get the chance to tell the stories of all other women,

Shpresoj nje dite, do me jepet rasti te tregoj historite e gjithe grave te tjera,

all other amazing women I know in my country.

gjithe grave te tjera te mrekullueshme qe njoh ne vendin tim.

I hope that one day I can help other women in my country

Shpresoj qe nje dite mund te ndihmoj grate e tjera ne vendin tim

to be fixers like me.

te jene rregulluese si une.

And of course sometimes, I feel I can't do this work anymore,

Sigurisht ndonjehere, ndjej qe nuk mund da bej me kete pune,

it's just too much for me.

eshte teper per mua.

But I remember these words:

Por kujtoj keto fjale:

"Don't limit your challenge, but challenge your limit.

"Mos kufizo sfiden, por sfido kufirin.

Don't allow others to stand in front of your dreams."

Mos lejo qe te tjeret te pengojne endrrat e tua."

Thank you.

Faleminderit.

(Applause)

(Duartrokitje)