TEDGlobal 2007
Joseph Lekuton: A parable for Kenya
Joseph Lekuton priča parabolu o Keniji
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Joseph Lekuton, član Kenijskog parlamenta, započinje s pričom o svom izvanrednom obrazovanju, a zatim nudi parabolu o mogućem afričkom rastu. Njegova poruka nade nikad nije bila važnija.
Joseph Lekuton - Kenyan MP
A teacher, writer and member of the Kenyan parliament, Joseph Lekuton has an inspiring vision for Kenya. Full bio
A teacher, writer and member of the Kenyan parliament, Joseph Lekuton has an inspiring vision for Kenya. Full bio
Double-click the English transcript below to play the video.
00:18
My name is Joseph, a Member of Parliament in Kenya.
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Moje ime je Joseph, član sam Kenijskog parlamenta.
00:21
Picture a Maasai village,
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I slika Masai sela.
00:23
and one evening, government soldiers come, surround the village
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Jedne večeri, vladini vojnici su došli, opkolili selo,
00:27
and ask each elder to bring one boy to school.
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i zamolili svakog starješinu da dovede jednog dječaka u školu.
00:29
That's how I went to school --
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Tako sam ja išao u školu --
00:31
pretty much a government guy pointing a gun
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više-manje vladin čovjek s uperenim pištoljem,
00:33
and told my father, "You have to make a choice."
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koji je rekao mom ocu, "Morate odabrati."
00:35
So, I walked very comfortably to this missionary school
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Stoga sam vrlo ugodno išao u tu misionarsku školu,
00:38
that was run by an American missionary,
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koju su vodili američki misionari,
00:40
and the first thing the American missionary gave me was a candy.
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i prva stvar koju su mi američki misionari dali je bio slatkiš.
00:43
I had never in my life ever tasted candy.
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Nikad u životu nisam probao slatkiš.
00:45
So I said to myself, with all these hundred other boys,
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Stoga sam sebi rekao, sa stotinama drugih dječaka,
00:47
this is where I belong. (Laughter)
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ovdje pripadam. Ostao sam --
00:50
Stayed
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(Smijeh)
00:51
when everybody else was dropping out.
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-- kada su svi drugi odlazili.
00:53
My family moved; we're nomads.
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Moja obitelj se preselila. Mi smo nomadi.
00:55
Every time school closed -- it was a boarding school and I was seven --
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Svaki put kad bi se škola zatvorila -- bio je to internat, a meni je bilo sedam godina --
00:57
you had to travel until you find them.
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morali biste putovati kako biste ih pronašli.
00:59
Fifty miles, 40 miles, it doesn't matter.
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50 milja, 40 milja, nije bitno.
01:01
You slept in the bush, but you kept going.
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Spavali biste u grmlju, ali biste nastavili.
01:03
And I stayed. I don't know why I stayed, but I stayed.
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I ostao sam. Ne znam zašto sam ostao, ali sam ostao.
01:06
And all of a sudden I passed the national examination,
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I odjednom, prošao sam nacionalna testiranja,
01:10
found myself in a very beautiful high school in Kenya.
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našao se u jako lijepoj srednjoj školi u Keniji.
01:13
And I finished high school. And just walking, I found a man
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I završio sam srednju školu. I samo hodajući, pronašao sam čovjeka
01:17
who gave me a full scholarship to the United States.
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koji mi je dao punu stipendiju za SAD.
01:20
My mother still lives in a cow-dung hut,
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Moja majka još uvijek živi u kolibi od kravljeg izmeta,
01:22
none of my brothers are going to school,
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nijedno od moje braće ne ide u školu,
01:24
and this man told me, "Here, go."
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a taj čovijek mi je rekao, "Evo, idi."
01:26
So I got a scholarship to St. Lawrence University, Upstate New York;
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Dakle, dobio sam stipendiju za Sveučilište St. Lawrence, na sjeveru države New York.
01:30
finished that. And then after that I went to Harvard Graduate School;
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Završio sam to, i zatim sam, nakon toga, otišao na Harvard Graduate School.
01:35
finished that. And then I worked in DC a little bit:
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Završio sam to, i zatim sam malo radio u Washingtonu.
01:38
I wrote a book for National Geographic and taught history, U.S. history.
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Napisao sam knjigu za National Geographic, i podučavao sam povijest, povijest SAD-a.
01:41
And every time, I kept going back home
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I svaki put kad bih se vraćao kući,
01:44
listening to the problems of these people --
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slušao sam probleme svih tih ljudi,
01:46
sick people, people with no water, all this stuff --
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bolesnih ljudi, ljudi bez vode, sve te stvari.
01:48
and every time I go back to America, I kept thinking about them.
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I svaki put kad se vratim u Ameriku, razmišljam o njima.
01:51
Then one day, an elder gave me a story and this story went like this:
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Zatim, jednog dana, jedan starješina mi je ispričao priču, koja je išla nekako ovako.
01:55
long time ago, there was a big war between tribes.
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Prije dugo vremena, vodio se rat između plemena.
02:00
And there was this specific tribe that was really afraid of this other Luhya tribe.
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I postojalo je specifično pleme koje se uistinu bojalo ovog drugog Luhya plemena.
02:03
And every time, they sent scouts out there to make sure no one attacked them.
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I svaki put bi poslali izviđače u izvidnicu kako bi se uvjerili da ih nitko ne napada.
02:06
So one day, the scouts came running and told the villagers,
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Tako su jednog dana, izviđači dotrčali i rekli seljanima,
02:10
"The enemies are coming. Only half an hour away, they'll be here."
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"Neprijatelji dolaze, samo su na pola sata udaljenosti -- biti će ovdje."
02:13
So people scrambled, took their things and ready to go, move out.
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Stoga su se ljudi uznemirili, uzeli svoje stvari i bili spremni za odlazak, da se isele.
02:17
But there were two men:
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Ali bila su dvojica muškaraca,
02:19
one man was blind, one man had no legs -- he was born like that.
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jedan od njih je bio slijep, drugi nije imao noge -- takav se rodio.
02:22
The leader of the chiefs said, "No, sorry. We can't take you. You'll slow us down.
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Vođa poglavica je rekao, "Ne, žao nam je, ne možemo vas povesti, vi biste nas usporili.
02:26
We have to flee our women and children, we have to run."
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Naše žene i djeca moraju pobjeći, mi moramo bježati."
02:30
And they were left behind, waiting to die.
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I ostavljeni su iza, čekajući na smrt.
02:33
But these two people worked something out.
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Ali ta dvojica su nešto dokučila.
02:36
The blind man said, "Look, I'm a very strong man but I can't see."
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Slijepac je rekao, "Gledaj, ja sam veoma snažan čovjek, ali ne mogu vidjeti."
02:39
The man with no legs says, "I can see as far as the end of the world,
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Muškarac bez nogu je rekao, "Ja mogu vidjeti do kraja svijeta,
02:42
but I can't save myself from a cat, or whatever animals."
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ali ne mogu spasiti sebe od mačke ili bilo kojih životinja."
02:47
So the blind man went down on his knees, down like this,
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Stoga se slijepac spustio na koljena, ovako dolje,
02:51
and told the man with no legs to go over his back, and stood up.
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i rekao je muškarcu bez nogu da mu se popne na leđa, i ustao je.
02:54
The man on top can see, the blind man can walk.
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Muškarac na vrhu može vidjeti, slijepac može hodati.
02:57
And these guys took off, followed the footsteps of the villagers
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I njih dvojica su otišla, slijedeći stope seljana,
03:00
until they found and passed them.
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sve dok ih nisu pronašli i pretekli.
03:05
So, this was told to me in a setup of elders.
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To mi je ispričano na skupu starješina.
03:09
And it's a really poor area. I represent Northern Kenya:
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I doista je to siromašno područje, ja zastupam Sjevernu Keniju --
03:12
the most nomadic, remote areas you can even find.
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najnomadičnija, udaljena područja koja možete pronaći.
03:16
And that man told me, "So, here you are.
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I taj mi je čovjek rekao, "Ovdje si,
03:18
You've got a good education from America,
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imaš dobro obrazovanje iz Amerike,
03:20
you have a good life in America; what are you going to do for us?
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imaš dobar život u Americi, što ćeš napraviti za nas?
03:25
We want you to be our eyes, we'll give you the legs.
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Želimo da budeš naše oči, mi ćemo ti dati noge.
03:28
We'll walk you, you lead us."
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Mi ćemo hodati, ti nas vodi."
03:30
So the opportunity came, and I was always thinking about that:
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Dakle, prilika se pružila, i uvijek sam razmišljao o tome,
03:33
"what can I do to help my people?
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što mogu učiniti da pomognem svojim ljudima?
03:35
Every time you go to an area where for 43 years of independence,
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Svaki put odete u područje gdje, u 43 godine nezavisnosti,
03:38
we still don't have basic health facilities.
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još uvijek nemamo osnovne zdravstvene ustanove.
03:41
A man has to be transported in a wheelbarrow
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Čovjek mora biti transportiran u tačkama
03:43
20, 30 kilometers for a hospital. No clean drinking water.
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u bolnicu udaljenu 20, 30 kilometara. Bez pitke vode.
03:45
So I said, "I'm going to dedicate myself.
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Stoga sam rekao, Posvetit ću se,
03:48
I'm leaving America. I'm going to run for office."
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napuštam Ameriku. Kandidirat ću se za ured."
03:51
So last July ... I moved from America in June, ran in July election and won.
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Stoga sam prošlog srpnja -- doselio sam se iz Ameriku u lipnju, kandidirao se na izborima u srpnju i pobijedio.
03:59
And I came for them, and that's my goal.
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I došao sam zbog njih, i to je moj cilj.
04:03
And right now I have in place, for the last nine months,
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I upravo sada, već posljednjih devet mjeseci imam
04:06
a plan that in five years, every nomad will have clean drinking water.
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plan kako će u pet godina, svaki nomad imati čistu, pitku vodu.
04:14
We're building dispensaries across that constituency.
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Gradimo ambulante diljem te izborne jedinice.
04:17
I'm asking my friends from America to help
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Molim svoje prijatelje iz Amerike za pomoć
04:19
with bringing nurses or doctors to help us out.
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u dovođenju sestara ili doktora da nam pomognu.
04:22
I'm trying to improve infrastructure.
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Pokušavam poboljšati infrastrukturu.
04:25
I'm using the knowledge I received from the United States
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Koristim znanje koje sam dobio u Sjedinjenim Državama
04:27
and from my community to move them forward.
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i u svojoj zajednici kako bih ih pomicao naprijed.
04:30
I'm trying to develop homegrown solutions to our issues
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Pokušavam razviti domaća riješenja za naše probleme.
04:34
because we realize that people from outside can come and help us,
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Jer znamo, shvaćamo kako ljudi izvana mogu doći i pomoći nam,
04:37
but if we don't help ourselves, there's nothing we can do.
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ali ako ne pomognemo sami sebi, ne možemo ništa učiniti.
04:40
So my plan right now as I continue with introducing students to different fields --
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Dakle, moj plana sada je da, kako nastavljam s uvođenjem studenata u razna polja --
04:45
some become doctors, some lawyers --
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neki postanu doktori, neki odvjetnici --
04:47
we want to produce a comprehensive group of people, students,
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želimo proizvesti veliku grupu ljudi, studenata,
04:49
who can come back and help us see a community grow
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koji se mogu vratiti i pomoći nam u izgradnji zajednice
04:52
that is in the middle of a huge economic recession.
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koja se nalazi usred ogromne ekonomske recesije.
04:56
So as I continue to be a Member of Parliament
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Kao član Parlamenta,
04:59
and as I continue listening to all of you talking about botany,
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i nastavljajući slušati sve vas kako pričate o botanici,
05:02
talking about health, talking about democracy, talking about new inventions,
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kako pričate o zdravlju, kako pričate o demokraciji, kako pričate o novim izumima,
05:05
I'm hoping that one day in my own little community --
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nadam se kako ćemo jednog dana, u mojoj maloj zajednici -
05:08
which is 26,000 square kilometers,
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koja ima površinu od 26.000 četvornih kilometara,
05:10
maybe five times the size of Rhode Island -- with no roads,
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možda pet puta veličine Rhode Islanda, bez cesta --
05:14
we'll be able to become a model to help others develop.
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postati model koji će pomoći drugima da se razviju.
05:18
Thank you very much. (Applause)
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Puno vam hvala.
ABOUT THE SPEAKER
Joseph Lekuton - Kenyan MPA teacher, writer and member of the Kenyan parliament, Joseph Lekuton has an inspiring vision for Kenya.
Why you should listen
Born into a Maasai tribe in Northern Kenya, Joseph Lekuton was chosen to attend a missionary boarding school as a child -- sometimes walking 50 miles during vacations to find and rejoin his nomadic family. He won a scholarship to St. Lawrence University, then attended Harvard, and worked as a writer and history teacher in Virginia. He was named a National Geographic Energing Explorer for his work in sharing the culture of Kenya with America, including efforts to share educational resources with nomadic children through the BOMA Fund and Cows for Kids.
In 2006, after a plane crash killed five members of the Kenyan parliament, Lekuton decided to return to Kenya and stand for election to fill the seat in his region. He won a parliamentary seat in the 2006 by-election, and was a member of the winning party in the December 2007 elections -- the results of which continue to be contested throughout Kenya.
Joseph Lekuton | Speaker | TED.com