Chika Ezeanya-Esiobu: How Africa can use its traditional knowledge to make progress
تشيكا إزيانيا-إسيوبو: كيف يمكن لأفريقيا أن تستخدم معرفتها التقليدية لإحراز التقدم
Working across disciplines, Chika Ezeanya-Esiobu explores homegrown and grassroots approaches to the sustainable advancement of Sub-Saharan Africa. Full bio
Double-click the English transcript below to play the video.
I was visiting this East African city,
لزيارة هذه المدينة في شرق أفريقيا،
approaches my window
to spread it on the floor
and I quickly grabbed a copy,
وسحبتُ سريعًا نسخة منها.
the alphabet sheet
لفتح ورقة الأحرف الأبجدية كاملةً
to teach my daughter.
reminded me of the fact
في ورقة الأحرف الأبجدية بحقيقة
out of a similar alphabet sheet.
كنتُ أتعلمُ من نفس ورقة الأحرف الأبجدية.
I struggled for years.
with the formal education I received
مع التعليم الرسمي الذي تلقيته
I looked at my lineage with disrespect.
نظرة دونية.
for what my life had to offer around me.
in that part of the world
هي لطفلة في ذلك الجزء من العالم
with her mom and sees red,
وترى الأحمر،
of all shapes and colors and sizes.
من كل الأشكال والألوان والأحجام.
education to this child
functions of education,
of the learner's environment
in order to add value.
من أجل إضافة قيمة.
with brown dots, you know,
كما تعلمون،
warehouses, sorting --
في مخازن تبريد،
would not regularly feature
بشكل أساسي في النظام الغذائي
with "A is for apple,"
to constantly and perpetually seek
باستمرار وعلى نحوٍ دائم لنيل
within it and with it.
it would be tough for anyone.
وسيكون قاسيًا على أي شخص.
from my education.
discovered the Niger River.
اكتشف مناطق نهر النيجر.
of the Niger River.
thousands of miles from Europe
للسفر آلاف الأميال من أوروبا
right under their nose?
ويشوون اليام الطازج،
was preparing me to go somewhere else
يهيئني للذهاب إلى مكانٍ آخر
environment that it belonged to.
في بيئة أخرى تستحق.
where and when I grew up.
and some studies
وبعض الدراسات
a change of mindset.
of the remarkable ones with us.
in Washington, DC
عاصمة الولايات المتحدة الأمريكية
with the World Bank Africa Region.
في البنك الدولي التابع لمنطقة أفريقيا.
a conversation on some project,
حول أحد المشاريع،
World Bank project,
that cost millions of dollars
يكلفُ الملايين من الدولارات
wasn't so sustainable,
that instituted the whole package.
وضعوا الصفقة بالكامل.
a particular project,
that was hugely successful
where the World Bank project was failing.
حيث فشل مشروع البنك الدولي.
and 20- to 30-centimeter-deep holes
وبعمق 20 إلى 30 سنتيمتر
around the field,
across the surface area.
that the plant needs the water.
as much water as needed
that is a life-or-death situation,
بمثابة حالة حياة أو موت،
were used in the experiment,
في هذه التجربة،
constructed on it.
also were planted on both plots.
في كلا القطعتين.
of millet per hectare.
لكل هكتار.
of millet per hectare.
لكن هكتار.
and I looked at myself.
agriculture for 12 years,
في الثانوي، كما نقول في شرق أفريقيا،
as we say in East Africa,
أو الصف الثاني عشر.
African knowledge of cultivation --
للزراعة
and actually succeed,
وينجح في الواقع،
would struggle to succeed.
وكافح للنجاح.
to dedicate my life, concern my life work,
حياتي العملية،
on Africa's own knowledge system
على النظام المعرفي الإفريقي
for its mainstreaming
and experience I had at the bank
of where I was going to go,
فيما أريدُ التوجه إليه،
research to go into,
للتوجه إليه،
that he likes to go to Africa
أنه يرغبُ في الذهاب إلى أفريقيا
and to work on World Bank projects.
والعمل على مشاريع البنك الدولي.
في واشنطن العاصمة،
and my project proposal in Washington, DC,
just get signed.
موقعة.
"I hate going to Asia or ..."
"لا أحبُ الذهاب إلى آسيا أو ..."
Asia and some of these countries.
محاولين الحصول على أفضل صفقة لدولهم.
to get the best deal for their countries.
that clause will not work for us
"أوه، لن يعمل هذا البند لأجلنا
It's just so Western.'
we have enough experts
"أوه، لدينا ما يكفي من الخبراء
through all these things.
إنهم يحصلون على أفضل صفقة،
yes, they get the best deal,
ولا أحصلُ على أفضل صفقة من أجل البنك،
the best deal for the bank,
a loan negotiating session
في جلسة تفاوض بشأن قرض
positions during summer,
with the World Bank team,
مع فريق البنك الدولي،
with organizational matters.
يساعدُ في الأمور التنظيمية.
the negotiating session.
with me from Washington, DC.
من الأمريكيين-الأوروبين من واشنطن العاصمة.
at my African brothers and sisters.
لإخوتي وأخواتي الأفارقة.
على وجوههم.
they had anything to offer
of Mungo Park --
"Oh, just give us, let us sign.
"أعطونا فقط، دعونا نوقع.
Show us, let us sign."
أرونا، دعونا نوقع."
They didn't believe in themselves.
لم يؤمنوا بأنفسهم.
on Africa's knowledge system,
في أفريقيا،
traditional knowledge.
has been implemented in Africa,
في أفريقيا،
successes recorded.
judicial system
في أعقاب الإبادة الجماعية
was in shambles:
في هرج ومرج،
hundreds of thousands of genocide cases.
من حالات الإبادة الجماعية.
came up with this idea
judicial system known as Gacaca.
المعروف باسم غاشاشا.
judicial system,
يستندُ إلى المجتمع المحلي،
ممن عرف عنهم النزاهة
within these communities.
التي ارتكبت في حق هذه المجتمعات.
its trial of genocide cases in 2012,
لحالات الإبادة الجماعية في عام 2012،
had tried approximately 1.2 million cases.
ما يقرب من 1.2 مليون حالة.
Rwanda's traditional philosophy
تؤكدُ على فلسفة رواندا التقليدية
punitive and banishment idea
في الوقت الحالي.
that it really emphasized
أنها أكدت على
Africa's advancement,
validation and mainstreaming
والتحقق من صحة وتعميم
original, indigenous knowledge
الخاصة بأفريقيا
in policy making and across sectors.
وعبر القطاعات.
used to being told how to think,
اعتادت لأن يقال لها كيف تفكر،
to the intellectual guidance
أو وسائل الإعلام الدولية
to make progress.
لنحرز التقدم.
of Joseph Shabalala,
Ladysmith Black Mambazo.
في جنوب أفريقيا "ليدي سميث بلاك مامبازو".
can never, ever be greater
التي تنتظرنا أن تكون أكبر
on our reality and our knowledge.
ومعرفتنا.
ABOUT THE SPEAKER
Chika Ezeanya-Esiobu - Indigenous knowledge expertWorking across disciplines, Chika Ezeanya-Esiobu explores homegrown and grassroots approaches to the sustainable advancement of Sub-Saharan Africa.
Why you should listen
Chika Ezeanya-Esiobu is convinced of the ability of Africans to transform the continent by acknowledging the significance of its indigenous knowledge in all fields of human endeavor. A researcher, fiction and non-fiction writer, public intellectual and teacher, Ezeanya-Esiobu has published several research papers on aspects of Africa's indigenous knowledge. She has also been commissioned to conduct indigenous knowledge-based research by the International Development Research Center Canada, United Nations University World Institute for Development Economics Research,(UNU-WIDER) United Nations Research Institute for Social Development (UNRISD) and The Swedish International Development Agency (Sida), among others.
Ezeanya-Esiobu is the author of the historical fiction book Before We Set Sail. In its manuscript form, Before We Set Sail was one of six shortlisted out of over 250 submissions, made to the Penguin Publishers Award for African Writing in 2010. Following her TEDGlobal 2017 talk, Ezeanya-Esiobu shared an alphabet book series she had written for her daughter: Dr. Chika's ABC for the African Child (2017).
Ezeanya-Esiobu has lived and worked in four countries across three continents, and through her travels she has learned to value integrity, dignity, respect for self and others ... to be open to knowledge, to be happy and to smile a lot with her heart. Her lifetime passion is to contribute to efforts that would see to the unleashing of the suppressed creative and innovative energies buried deep in the hearts and minds of all Africans. She blogs at chikaforafrica.com.
Chika Ezeanya-Esiobu | Speaker | TED.com