What I discovered in New York City trash | Robin Nagle

Translator: Joachim Mangilima Reviewer: Nelson Simfukwe

I was about 10 years old

Nilikuwa na miaka 10

on a camping trip with my dad

katika tukiwa safari ya kambi na baba yangu

in the Adirondack Mountains, a wilderness area

Katika milima ya Adirondack, eneo la nyika

in the northern part of New York State.

Kaskazini mwa jimbo la New York.

It was a beautiful day.

Ilikuwa ni siku nzuri sana.

The forest was sparkling.

Msitu ulikuwa unang'aa.

The sun made the leaves glow like stained glass,

Jua lilifanya majani yawake kama kioo,

and if it weren't for the path we were following,

na kama si kwa njia tuliyofuata,

we could almost pretend we were

tungejifanya kama

the first human beings to ever walk that land.

wanadamu wa kwanza kupita eneo lile.

We got to our campsite.

tukafika katka eneo letu la kufanyia kambi.

It was a lean-to on a bluff

ilikuwa ni eneo

looking over a crystal, beautiful lake,

linalotazama ziwa zuri sana,

when I discovered a horror.

nilipogundua kitu kibaya.

Behind the lean-to was a dump,

nyuma ya eneo hilo kulikuwa na dampo

maybe 40 feet square

kama futi za mraba 40

with rotting apple cores

likiwa na matufaa yaliyooza

and balled-up aluminum foil,

na makaratasi ya madini ya aluminium

and a dead sneaker.

na vitu vilivyokufa,

And I was astonished,

nilishangazwa sana,

I was very angry, and I was deeply confused.

niliingiwa na hasira, na kuchanganyikiwa pia.

The campers who were too lazy

Wapiga kambi wazembe

to take out what they had brought in,

walioshindwa kuchukua vile walivyokuja navyo,

who did they think would clean up after them?

walifikiri ni nani atakayesafisha kama si wao?

That question stayed with me,

Swali hili lilikaa ndani yangu,

and it simplified a little.

lilirahisishwa kidogo.

Who cleans up after us?

nani atakayesafisha baada yetu?

However you configure

vyovyote utakavyofanya

or wherever you place the us,

au popote utakapotuweka,

who cleans up after us in Istanbul?

nani takayesafisha baada yetu Instanbul?

Who cleans up after us in Rio

nani takayesafisha baada yetu Rio?

or in Paris or in London?

au Paris na London?

Here in New York,

Hapa New York,

the Department of Sanitation cleans up after us,

Idara ya Usafi wa mazingira inasafisha baada yetu,

to the tune of 11,000 tons of garbage

kiasi cha tani 11,000 za uchafu

and 2,000 tons of recyclables every day.

na tani 2000 za uchafu wa kuchakatwa kila siku.

I wanted to get to know them as individuals.

nilitaka niwajue kama watu binafsi.

I wanted to understand who takes the job.

nilitaka kujua nani anyefanya kazi hii.

What's it like to wear the uniform

inakuwaje kuvaa sare

and bear that burden?

na kuchukua mzigo huo?

So I started a research project with them.

kwa hiyo nikaazisha utafiti nao.

I rode in the trucks and walked the routes

nilipanda magari yao na nikaanza kuzunguka nao

and interviewed people in offices and facilities

nikawahoji watu katika ofisi na maeneo mengine

all over the city,

kila sehemu ya mji,

and I learned a lot,

nilijifunza mengi,

but I was still an outsider.

lakini bado nilikuwa mtu wa nje tu.

I needed to go deeper.

nilitaka kujua zaidi.

So I took the job as a sanitation worker.

kwa hiyo niomba kazi ya usafi wa mazingira.

I didn't just ride in the trucks now. I drove the trucks.

sikupanda tu magari tena. bali niliyaendesha.

And I operated the mechanical brooms and I plowed the snow.

nikatumia mafagio ya kwenye magari na nikawa nakusanya barafu.

It was a remarkable privilege

ilikuwa ni neema ya ajabu

and an amazing education.

na elimu moja ya ajabu sana.

Everyone asks about the smell.

kila mtu anauliza juu ya harufu.

It's there, but it's not as prevalent as you think,

ipo,lakini si kama kali unavyofikiri,

and on days when it is really bad,

na katika siku ambazo inakuwa kali sana,

you get used to it rather quickly.

unaizoe mara moja.

The weight takes a long time to get used to.

uzito unachukua muda kuuzoea.

I knew people who were several years on the job

Niliwafahamu watu waliokuwa katika kazi miaka kadhaa

whose bodies were still adjusting to the burden

ambao miili yao ilikuwa inaendelea kuzoea

of bearing on your body

mzigo huo katika miili yao

tons of trash every week.

tani za uchafu kila wiki.

Then there's the danger.

halafu pia kuna hatari.

According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics,

Kulingana na idara ya takwimu za kazi,

sanitation work is one of the 10 most dangerous

Kazi ya usafi wa mazingira ni moja kati ya kazi 10 za hatari sana

occupations in the country,

Katika nchi,

and I learned why.

na nilijifunza kwa nini.

You're in and out of traffic all day,

Uko katika foleni kila siku,

and it's zooming around you.

inakuzunguka

It just wants to get past you, so it's often

wanataka kukupita, kwa hiyo

the motorist is not paying attention.

madereva hawajali.

That's really bad for the worker.

hii ni mbaya sana kwa mfanyakazi.

And then the garbage itself is full of hazards

na uchafu wenyewe umejaa sumu nyingi

that often fly back out of the truck

ambao unaruka nje ya gari

and do terrible harm.

na kusababisha madhara.

I also learned about the relentlessness of trash.

nikajifunza pia uking'ang'ani wa taka

When you step off the curb

unapushuka

and you see a city from behind a truck,

na kuuangalia mji kutokea kwenye gari la taka,

you come to understand that trash

unaelewa kuwa taka

is like a force of nature unto itself.

ni kama nguvu ya asili.

It never stops coming.

haiachi kuja.

It's also like a form of respiration or circulation.

na pia ni kama aina ya upumuaji au mzunguko.

It must always be in motion.

lazima iwe katika mwendo wakati wote.

And then there's the stigma.

halafu tena kuna unyanyapaa.

You put on the uniform, and you become invisible

unavaa sare , unakuwa kama hauonekani

until someone is upset with you for whatever reason

mpaka mtu anapokasirishwa na kwa sababu kama

like you've blocked traffic with your truck,

umezuia magari kwa kutumia gari lako,

or you're taking a break too close to their home,

au umepumzika karibu sana na nyumba yake,

or you're drinking coffee in their diner,

au unakunywa kahawa katika sehemu yao ya kulia chakula,

and they will come and scorn you,

watakuja na kukushutumu,

and tell you that they don't want you anywhere near them.

na kukwambia hawatak kukuona karibu yao.

I find the stigma especially ironic,

unyanyapaa huu naona unashangaza sana,

because I strongly believe that sanitation workers

kwa sababu naamini kuwa wafanyakazi wa usafi wa mazingira

are the most important labor force

ni wafanyakazi muhimu sana

on the streets of the city, for three reasons.

katika mitaa ya mji, kwa sababu tatu.

They are the first guardians of public health.

wao ndio walinzi wa kwanza wa afya ya jamii.

If they're not taking away trash

kama hawakusanyi taka

efficiently and effectively every day,

kwa ufanisi na usahihi kila siku,

it starts to spill out of its containments,

zinaanza kutoka katika sehemu zilizotunzwa

and the dangers inherent to it threaten us

na madhara yake yanatutishia wote

in very real ways.

katika ya halisi kabisa.

Diseases we've had in check for decades and centuries

magonjwa tuliyoyadhibiti kwa miaka mingi

burst forth again and start to harm us.

yanaibuka tena na kutudhuru.

The economy needs them.

Uchumi unahitaji wanyakazi hawa.

If we can't throw out the old stuff,

Kama hatuwezi kutupa vitu vya zamani,

we have no room for the new stuff,

hakuwezi kukawa na nafasi ya vitu vipya,

so then the engines of the economy

kwa hiyo injini za uchumi

start to sputter when consumption is compromised.

zinashindwa kuendelea kwa kuwa hakuna matumizi

I'm not advocating capitalism, I'm just pointing out their relationship.

Sipigii debe ubepari,lakini najaribu kuonyesha uhusiano uliopo.

And then there's what I call

Lakini pia kuna kile nachoita

our average, necessary quotidian velocity.

na mwendo wa wastani wetu

By that I simply mean

Na hii namaanisha

how fast we're used to moving

ni haraka kiasi gani tumezoea kwenda

in the contemporary day and age.

katika siku hizi za sasa.

We usually don't care for, repair, clean, carry around

Hatujali ,marekebisho,safi

our coffee cup, our shopping bag,

tulichochukua katika kikombe cha kahawa,

our bottle of water.

chupa yetu ya maji.

We use them, we throw them out, we forget about them,

Tunatumia,tunatupa,tunazisahau,

because we know there's a workforce

Kwa sababu tunajua kuna wafanyakazi

on the other side that's going to take it all away.

upande wa pili wataochukua wote.

So I want to suggest today a couple of ways

Sasa nataka nitoe mapendekezo

to think about sanitation that will perhaps help

ya kufikiria kuhusu usafi ambayo

ameliorate the stigma

yatapunguza unyanyapaa

and bring them into this conversation

na kuwaingiza katika mazungumzo haya

of how to craft a city that is sustainable and humane.

ya jinsi ya kuwa na mji unaokua kistaarabu.

Their work, I think, is kind of liturgical.

Kazi yao ni ile inayojirudia rudia.

They're on the streets every day, rhythmically.

wako mitaani kila siku,

They wear a uniform in many cities.

Wakiwa na sare zao katika miji mingi

You know when to expect them.

Unajua wakati gani wa kuwategemea.

And their work lets us do our work.

Kazi yao inasabisha sisi pia tufanye kazi.

They are almost a form of reassurance.

Ni kama uhakikisho

The flow that they maintain

Ambao unaendelea

keeps us safe from ourselves,

kutufanya tuwe salama,

from our own dross, our cast-offs,

mbali na uchafu wetu wenyewe

and that flow must be maintained always

na hali lazima iendelezwe kila wakati

no matter what.

bila kujali chochote.

On the day after September 11 in 2001,

Siku ya Septemba 11, 2001,

I heard the growl of a sanitation truck on the street,

Na nilisikia muungurumo wa gari la usafi mtaani,

and I grabbed my infant son and I ran downstairs

nikamchukua mwanangu mchanga na kukimbilia chini

and there was a man doing his paper recycling route

kulikuwa na mtu ambaye alikuwa anachakata karatasi

like he did every Wednesday.

kama afanyavyo kila Jumatano.

And I tried to thank him for doing his work

Na nikawa najaribu kumshukuru kwa kazi yake

on that day of all days,

katika siku hii,

but I started to cry.

lakini nikaanza kulia.

And he looked at me,

akaniangalia,

and he just nodded, and he said,

akatingisha kichwa,akisema,

"We're going to be okay.

"Tutakuwa salama.

We're going to be okay."

"Tutakuwa salama."

It was a little while later that I started

Ilikuwa ni baadae nilipoanza

my research with sanitation,

utafiti wangu wa usafi wa mazingira,

and I met that man again.

nikakutana na mtu yule tena.

His name is Paulie, and we worked together many times,

Jina lake ni Paulie,tulifanya kazi pamoja mara nyingi,

and we became good friends.

tulikuwa marafiki wazuri.

I want to believe that Paulie was right.

Nataka kuamini Paulie alikuwa sahihi.

We are going to be okay.

Kwamba tutakuwa salama.

But in our effort to reconfigure

lakini katika jitahidi zetu za kutengeneza

how we as a species exist on this planet,

jinsi kama viumbe tutakavyoendelea kuishi katika dunia hii,

we must include and take account of

lazima tuunganishe na kuangalia

all the costs, including the very real human cost

gharama zote, ikiwemo gharama

of the labor.

za kazi.

And we also would be well informed

pia tutakuwa na taarifa

to reach out to the people who do that work

za kuwafikia watu wanaofanya kazi hizo

and get their expertise

na kupata utaalam wao

on how do we think about,

jinsi tunavyofikiri kuhusu,

how do we create systems around sustainability

kutengeneza mifumo endelevu

that perhaps take us from curbside recycling,

ambayo inatuchukua kutoka katika uchakataji,

which is a remarkable success across 40 years,

ambao ni mafanikio makubwa katika miaka 40,

across the United States and countries around the world,

Katika nchi yote ya Marekani, na nchi mbalimbali duniani kote,

and lift us up to a broader horizon

na kutupeleka juu zaidi

where we're looking at other forms of waste

ambako tutaangalia aina nyingine za uchafu

that could be lessened

ambazo zinaweza zikapunguzwa

from manufacturing and industrial sources.

kutoka viwandani.

Municipal waste, what we think of when we talk about garbage,

uchafu katika miji, jinsi tunavyofikiri tunapoongelea uchafu,

accounts for three percent of the nation's waste stream.

unakaribia asilimia tatu ya uchafu wote katika taifa

It's a remarkable statistic.

ni takwimu za kushangaza.

So in the flow of your days,

katika siku zako,

in the flow of your lives,

katika maisha yako,

next time you see someone whose job is

utakapomwona mtu ambaye kazi yake ni

to clean up after you,

kufanya usafi,

take a moment to acknowledge them.

chukua muda kuwatambua.

Take a moment to say thank you.

chukua muda wako kuwashukuru.

(Applause)

(Makofi)