TEDGlobal 2009
Becky Blanton: The year I was homeless
Becky Blanton: Tahun Ketika Saya Tuna Wisma
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Becky Blanton berencana tinggal di van-nya selama setahun dan berkeliling, tapi ketika dia dilanda depresi dan pekerjaan lepasnya hilang, perjalanannya berubah menjadi ketunawismaan. Dalam pembicaraan intimnya, dia menjelaskan tentang pengalamannya menjadi salah satu tuna wisma yang bekerja di Amerika.
Becky Blanton - Writer
Becky Blanton is a writer, photographer and former journalist who found herself homeless, but bounced back to tell her story and inspire others. Full bio
Becky Blanton is a writer, photographer and former journalist who found herself homeless, but bounced back to tell her story and inspire others. Full bio
Double-click the English transcript below to play the video.
00:15
I'm a writer and a journalist,
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Saya adalah penulis dan jurnalis.
00:18
and I'm also an insanely curious person,
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dan saya juga orang yang sangat ingin tahu.
00:21
so in 22 years as a journalist,
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Jadi selama 22 tahun sebagai seorang jurnalis
00:23
I've learned how to do a lot of new things.
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saya belajar bagaimana melakukan banyak hal baru.
00:25
And three years ago, one of the things I learned how to do
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Tiga tahun lalu, salah satu hal yang saya pelajari adalah
00:28
was to become invisible.
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menjadi tak terlihat.
00:31
I became one of the working homeless.
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Saya menjadi salah satu tuna wisma yang bekerja.
00:34
I quit my job as a newspaper editor
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Saya berhenti pekerjaan saya sebagai editor koran
00:36
after my father died in February of that same year,
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setelah ayah saya meninggal pada Februari di tahun yang sama,
00:40
and decided to travel.
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dan saya memutuskan untuk bepergian.
00:43
His death hit me pretty hard.
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Kematian ayah saya membuat saya sangat terpukul.
00:45
And there were a lot of things that I wanted to feel and deal with while I was doing that.
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Dan ada banyak hal yang ingin saya rasakan dan hadapi ketika melakukannya.
00:49
I've camped my whole life. And I decided
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Saya biasa berkemah. Dan saya memutuskan
00:51
that living in a van for a year to do this
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bahwa hidup di sebuah van selama setahun untuk melakukannya
00:53
would be like one long camping trip.
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akan terasa seperti perjalanan perkemahan yang sangat panjang.
00:55
So I packed my cat, my Rottweiler
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Jadi saya membawa kucing, anjing rottweiler,
00:58
and my camping gear into a 1975 Chevy van,
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dan perlengkapan camping saya ke dalam van Chevy tahun 1975,
01:02
and drove off into the sunset,
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mengemudi ke arah matahari tenggelam,
01:04
having fully failed to realize three critical things.
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dan melupakan tiga hal penting.
01:08
One: that society equates
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Satu: masyarakat menghubungkan
01:10
living in a permanent structure, even a shack,
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hidup di bangunan permanen, bahkan gubuk,
01:14
with having value as a person.
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dengan nilai seseorang.
01:16
Two: I failed to realize how quickly
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Dua: Saya tak menyadari betapa cepatnya
01:19
the negative perceptions of other people
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anggapan negatif orang
01:21
can impact our reality, if we let it.
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bisa mempengaruhi kenyataan kita, jika kita biarkan.
01:24
Three: I failed to realize
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Tiga: Saya tak menyadari
01:26
that homelessness is an attitude,
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bahwa menjadi tuna wisma adalah sebuah sikap,
01:28
not a lifestyle.
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bukan gaya hidup.
01:31
At first, living in the van was great.
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Awalnya, tinggal di van itu bagus.
01:33
I showered in campgrounds. I ate out regularly.
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Saya mandi di perkemahan. Saya makan di luar secara teratur.
01:36
And I had time to relax and to grieve.
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Dan saya punya waktu untuk bersantai dan berduka cita.
01:40
But then the anger and the depression about my father's death set in.
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Tapi kemudian kemarahan dan depresi tentang ayah saya datang.
01:44
My freelance job ended. And I had to get a full-time job
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Pekerjaan penulis lepas saya hilang. Dan saya harus mencari pekerjaan penuh waktu
01:47
to pay the bills.
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untuk membayar tagihan.
01:49
What had been a really mild spring
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Musim semi yang nyaman
01:51
turned into a miserably hot summer.
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berubah menjadi musim panas yang menyedihkan.
01:53
And it became impossible to park anywhere --
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Dan sulit sekali mencari tempat parkir..
01:55
(Laughs)
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(tertawa)
01:56
-- without being very obvious
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..tanpa kelihatan
01:58
that I had a cat and a dog with me, and it was really hot.
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bahwa saya membawa kucing dan anjing, dan saat itu sangat panas.
02:01
The cat came and went through an open window in the van.
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Kucing saya keluar masuk melalui jendela van.
02:04
The doggy went into doggy day care.
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Anjing saya dititipkan di tempat penitipan anjing.
02:06
And I sweated.
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Dan saya berkeringat.
02:08
Whenever I could, I used
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Di manapun saya bisa, saya menggunakan
02:10
employee showers in office buildings and truck stops.
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kamar mandi karyawan di kantor-kantor dan tempat pemberhentian truk.
02:14
Or I washed up in public rest rooms.
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Atau saya mandi di kamar mandi umum.
02:18
Nighttime temperatures in the van rarely dropped below 80 degrees Fahrenheit,
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Suhu malam hari di van jarang sekali di bawah 27 derajat Celsius,
02:21
making it difficult or impossible to sleep.
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sehingga sulit sekali tidur.
02:24
Food rotted in the heat.
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Makanan basi karena panas.
02:27
Ice in my ice chest melted within hours,
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Es di kotak es meleleh dalam hitungan jam,
02:30
and it was pretty miserable.
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dan ini sangat menyedihkan
02:38
I couldn't afford to find an apartment,
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Saya tak bisa mendapatkan apartemen,
02:40
or couldn't afford an apartment that would allow me
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atau saya tak mendapatkan apartemen yang memperbolehkan saya
02:42
to have the Rottweiler and the cat.
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membawa rottweiler dan kucing.
02:44
And I refused to give them up,
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Dan saya tak mau meninggalkan mereka.
02:46
so I stayed in the van.
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Jadi saya tinggal di van.
02:52
And when the heat made me too sick
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Dan ketika panas membuat saya sungguh sakit sehingga tak bisa
02:54
to walk the 50 feet to the public restroom
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berjalan 15 meter ke kamar mandi umum
02:57
outside my van at night,
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di luar van saya di malam hari
02:59
I used a bucket and a trash bag as a toilet.
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saya menggunakan ember dan tas plastik sebagai toilet.
03:02
When winter weather set in, the temperatures dropped
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Saat musim dingin, suhu turun
03:05
below freezing. And they stayed there.
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di bawah titik beku. Dan tidak berubah.
03:07
And I faced a whole new set of challenges.
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Dan saya menghadapi tantangan baru.
03:12
I parked a different place every night
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Saya parkir di tempat berbeda tiap malam
03:15
so I would avoid being noticed and hassled by the police.
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sehingga orang tak mengenali saya dan tak terganggu oleh polisi.
03:18
I didn't always succeed.
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Saya tak selalu berhasil.
03:20
But I felt out of control of my life.
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Tapi saya merasa tak bisa mengendalikan hidup.
03:27
And I don't know when or how it happened,
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Dan saya tak tahu kapan atau bagaimana ini bisa terjadi,
03:31
but the speed at which I went
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tapi cepatnya perubahan
03:33
from being a talented writer and journalist
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dari jurnalis dan penulis berbakat
03:36
to being a homeless woman, living in a van,
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ke wanita tuna wisma yang hidup di van,
03:39
took my breath away.
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membuat saya tercengang.
03:41
I hadn't changed. My I.Q. hadn't dropped.
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Saya tidak berubah. Kecerdasan saya tidak turun.
03:44
My talent, my integrity, my values,
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Bakat, integritas, nilai,
03:50
everything about me remained the same.
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apapun tentang saya tidak berubah.
03:53
But I had changed somehow.
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Tapi bagaimanapun saya berubah.
03:55
I spiraled deeper and deeper into a depression.
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Saya makin tenggelam dalam depresi.
03:58
And eventually someone referred me to a homeless health clinic.
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Dan akhirnya seseorang menyuruh saya pergi ke klinik kesehatan tuna wisma.
04:01
And I went. I hadn't bathed in three days.
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Dan saya ke sana. Saya tidak mandi selama tiga hari.
04:04
I was as smelly and as depressed as anyone in line.
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Saya sama baunya dan sama depresinya dengan orang lain dalam antrian.
04:08
I just wasn't drunk or high.
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Tapi saya tidak mabuk atau high (dari narkoba).
04:11
And when several of the homeless men realized that,
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Dan ketika beberapa pria tuna wisma mengetahuinya,
04:14
including a former university professor,
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termasuk seorang mantan dosen,
04:16
they said, "You aren't homeless. Why are you really here?"
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mereka berkata, "Anda bukan tuna wisma. Mengapa Anda di sini?"
04:20
Other homeless people didn't see me as homeless,
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Tuna wisma lain tidak melihat saya sebagai tuna wisma,
04:22
but I did.
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tapi saya melihatnya demikian.
04:25
Then the professor listened to my story and he said,
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Kemudian dosen tadi mendengar cerita saya dan berkata,
04:29
"You have a job. You have hope.
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"Anda punya pekerjaan. Anda punya harapan.
04:32
The real homeless don't have hope."
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Tuna wisma sebenarnya tak punya harapan."
04:36
A reaction to the medication the clinic gave me for my depression
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Reaksi obat yang diberikan oleh klinik untuk depresi saya
04:39
left me suicidal. And I remember thinking,
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membuat saya ingin bunuh diri. Dan saya ingat ketika berpikir,
04:41
"If I killed myself, no one would notice."
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"Jika saya bunuh diri, tak akan ada yang memperhatikan."
04:52
A friend told me, shortly after that,
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Seorang teman mengatakan, beberapa saat setelah itu,
04:57
that she had heard that Tim Russert,
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bahwa dia mendengar Tim Russert,
04:59
a nationally renowned journalist,
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jurnalis nasional terkemuka
05:01
had been talking about me on national T.V.
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telah membicarakan saya di T.V. nasional.
05:03
An essay I'd written about my father,
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Sebuah tulisan tentang ayah saya,
05:05
the year before he died, was in Tim's new book.
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setahun sebelum kematiannya, ada dalam buku baru Tim.
05:09
And he was doing the talk show circuit. And he was talking about my writing.
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Dan dia sedang menghadiri acara-acara talk show. Dan dia menceritakan tulisan saya.
05:12
And when I realized that Tim Russert, former moderator of "Meet the Press,"
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Dan ketika saya menyadari bahwa Tim Russert, mantan moderator Meet the Press,
05:16
was talking about my writing,
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membicarakan tulisan saya,
05:18
while I was living in a van in a Wal-Mart parking lot,
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sementara saya tinggal di van di lapangan parkir Wal-Mart,
05:20
I started laughing.
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Saya tertawa.
05:22
You should too.
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Sebaiknya Anda juga.
05:24
(Laughter)
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(tertawa)
05:25
I started laughing
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Saya mulai tertawa
05:27
because it got to the point where,
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karena saya sadar,
05:29
was I a writer, or was I a homeless woman?
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apakah saya penulis, atau apakah saya wanita tuna wisma?
05:32
So I went in the bookstore. And I found Tim's book.
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Jadi saya ke toko buku. Dan saya menemukan buku Tim.
05:35
And I stood there. And I reread my essay.
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Dan saya berhenti di sana. Dan saya membaca ulang tulisan saya.
05:38
And I cried.
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Dan saya menangis.
05:40
Because I was a writer.
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Karena saya penulis.
05:43
I was a writer.
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Saya penulis.
05:45
Shortly after that I moved back to Tennessee.
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Tak berapa lama setelah itu saya pindah ke Tennessee.
05:48
I alternated between living in a van and couch surfing with friends.
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Saya pindah antara hidup di van dan tidur di sofa di rumah teman-teman.
05:51
And I started writing again.
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Dan saya mulai menulis lagi.
05:54
By the summer of the following year I was a working journalist.
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Musim panas tahun berikutnya saya menjadi jurnalis yang bekerja.
05:57
I was winning awards. I was living in my own apartment.
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Saya memenangkan penghargaan. Saya tinggal di apartemen sendiri.
06:00
I was no longer homeless.
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Saya tak lagi tuna wisma.
06:02
And I was no longer invisible.
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Dan saya tak lagi tak terlihat.
06:05
Thousands of people work full and part-time jobs,
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Ribuan orang bekerja penuh dan paruh waktu,
06:08
and live in their cars.
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dan tinggal di mobil.
06:10
But society continues to stigmatize and criminalize
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Tapi masyarakat terus mencela dan mengkriminalisasi
06:13
living in your vehicle or on the streets.
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orang yang hidup di mobil atau di jalan.
06:16
So the homeless, the working homeless, primarily remain invisible.
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Jadi tuna wisma, tuna wisma yang bekerja, terus tak terlihat.
06:20
But if you ever meet one,
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Tapi jika anda bertemu salah satu dari mereka,
06:22
engage them, encourage them, and offer them hope.
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berhubunganlah dengan mereka, dorong mereka, dan beri harapan.
06:26
The human spirit can overcome anything if it has hope.
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Semangat manusia bisa mengatasi apapun jika ada harapan.
06:31
And I'm not here to be the poster girl for the homeless.
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Dan saya tak berada di sini untuk menjadi gadis poster untuk tuna wisma.
06:33
I'm not here to encourage you to give money to the next panhandler you meet.
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Saya tak di sini untuk mendorong anda agar memberi uang pada pengemis.
06:36
But I am here to tell you that, based on my experience,
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Tapi saya di sini untuk mengatakan bahwa, berdasarkan pengalaman saya,
06:39
people are not where they live,
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orang bukanlah di mana mereka tinggal,
06:42
where they sleep,
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di mana mereka tidur,
06:44
or what their life situation is at any given time.
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atau apapun dan kapanpun situasi hidup mereka.
06:49
Three years ago I was living in a van
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Tiga tahun lalu saya hidup di van
06:52
in a Wal-Mart parking lot,
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di lapangan parkir Wal-Mart.
06:54
and today I'm speaking at TED.
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Dan sekarang saya berbicara di TED.
06:57
Hope always, always finds a way. Thank you.
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Harapan selau, selalu, memberi jalan keluar. Terima kasih.
07:02
(Applause)
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(Tepuk tangan)
ABOUT THE SPEAKER
Becky Blanton - WriterBecky Blanton is a writer, photographer and former journalist who found herself homeless, but bounced back to tell her story and inspire others.
Why you should listen
Primarily, Becky Blanton is a writer. She was a journalist for more than 22 years, working as a reporter, photojournalist and editor. Today, she is best known for her independent writing. Tim Russert selected her essay "The Monster," to be included in his last book, Wisdom of Our Fathers. On the heels of this success, Becky won a competition held by Dan Pink to come up with an additional lesson for his bestselling book The Adventures of Johnny Bunko. The prize was admission to TEDGlobal 2009, where she gave a talk on her personal journey through homelessness.
Blanton is now working on her first book, to be titled Staying Hungry, the Official Guide for Never Settling for What Life Puts on Your Plate, as well as a second about how her dog saved her life while she was homeless. The proceeds from the second book will be donated to The Humane Society. Blanton also continues to blog and post photos from her adventures at beckyblanton.com
Becky Blanton | Speaker | TED.com