TEDGlobal 2007
Joseph Lekuton: A parable for Kenya
Joseph Lekuton spune o parabolǎ despre Kenya
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Joseph Lekuton, un membru al parlamentului din Kenya, începe sǎ povesteascǎ despre cum a primit o educaţie remarcabilǎ, iar apoi continuǎ cu o parabolǎ despre cum poate Africa sǎ creascǎ. Mesajul sǎu plin de speranţǎ este deosebit de relevant.
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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Numele meu este Joseph, sunt membru al Parlamentului din Kenya.
00:21
Picture a Maasai village,
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Imaginaţi-vǎ un sat, Masai.
00:23
and one evening, government soldiers come, surround the village
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Într-o searǎ, soldaţi guvernamentali vin şi înconjoarǎ satul,
00:27
and ask each elder to bring one boy to school.
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şi cer fiecǎrui bǎtrân sǎ trimitǎ un bǎiat la şcoalǎ.
00:29
That's how I went to school --
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Aşa am ajuns eu sǎ merg la şcoalǎ --
00:31
pretty much a government guy pointing a gun
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un om al guvernului cu arma îndreptatǎ
00:33
and told my father, "You have to make a choice."
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spre tatǎl meu, spunând, "Trebuie sǎ iei o hotǎrâre."
00:35
So, I walked very comfortably to this missionary school
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Aşa cǎ am mers liniştit pe jos pânǎ la o şcoalǎ misionarǎ,
00:38
that was run by an American missionary,
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condusǎ de misionari americani.
00:40
and the first thing the American missionary gave me was a candy.
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Primul lucru primit de la misionarul american a fost o bomboanǎ.
00:43
I had never in my life ever tasted candy.
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Nu gustasem niciodatǎ dulciuri.
00:45
So I said to myself, with all these hundred other boys,
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Aşa cǎ mi-am zis, la fel ca celălalte sute de bǎieţi,
00:47
this is where I belong. (Laughter)
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cǎ aici este locul meul. Am rǎmas --
00:50
Stayed
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(Râsete)
00:51
when everybody else was dropping out.
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-- atunci când toţi ceilalţi renunţau.
00:53
My family moved; we're nomads.
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Familia mea se mutase. Eram nomazi.
00:55
Every time school closed -- it was a boarding school and I was seven --
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Mereu când se termina şcoala -- era şcoalǎ cu internat, şi aveam şapte ani--
00:57
you had to travel until you find them.
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trebuia sǎ cǎlatoresc ca sǎ-i gǎsesc.
00:59
Fifty miles, 40 miles, it doesn't matter.
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50 de mile, 40 de mile, nu conta.
01:01
You slept in the bush, but you kept going.
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Dormeam în sǎlbǎticie, dar continuam sǎ merg.
01:03
And I stayed. I don't know why I stayed, but I stayed.
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Am rǎmas la şcoalǎ. Nu ştiu de ce am rǎmas, dar am rǎmas.
01:06
And all of a sudden I passed the national examination,
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Şi dintr-o datǎ, am trecut examenele naţionale,
01:10
found myself in a very beautiful high school in Kenya.
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şi m-am trezit într-un liceu foarte bun din Kenya.
01:13
And I finished high school. And just walking, I found a man
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Am terminat şi liceul. Am continuat, şi am gǎsit pe cineva
01:17
who gave me a full scholarship to the United States.
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care mi-a dat o bursǎ integralǎ în Statele Unite.
01:20
My mother still lives in a cow-dung hut,
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Mama mea încǎ locuia într-o colibǎ din bǎlegar
01:22
none of my brothers are going to school,
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niciunul din fraţii mei nu mergea la şcoalǎ
01:24
and this man told me, "Here, go."
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Iar acest om îmi spune, "Poftim, du-te."
01:26
So I got a scholarship to St. Lawrence University, Upstate New York;
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Am primit o bursǎ la Universitatea St. Lawrence, statul New York.
01:30
finished that. And then after that I went to Harvard Graduate School;
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Am terminat acolo, şi dupǎ asta am mers la Harvard Graduate School.
01:35
finished that. And then I worked in DC a little bit:
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Am terminat, iar apoi am lucrat un pic în DC.
01:38
I wrote a book for National Geographic and taught history, U.S. history.
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Am scris o carte pentru National Geographic, şi am predat istorie, istoria SUA.
01:41
And every time, I kept going back home
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De fiecare datǎ când mǎ duceam acasǎ,
01:44
listening to the problems of these people --
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ascultam problemele acestor oameni,
01:46
sick people, people with no water, all this stuff --
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oameni bolnavi, oameni fǎrǎ apǎ curentǎ, toate aceste lucruri.
01:48
and every time I go back to America, I kept thinking about them.
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De fiecare datǎ când mǎ întorceam în America, mǎ tot gândeam la ei.
01:51
Then one day, an elder gave me a story and this story went like this:
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Apoi, într-o zi, un bǎtrân mi-a spus o poveste, care era în felul urmǎtor:
01:55
long time ago, there was a big war between tribes.
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Demult, a fost un rǎzboi mare între triburi.
02:00
And there was this specific tribe that was really afraid of this other Luhya tribe.
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Şi era un anume trib cǎruia îi era foarte fricǎ de un alt trib, Luhya.
02:03
And every time, they sent scouts out there to make sure no one attacked them.
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Şi de fiecare datǎ, trimiteau iscoade sǎ se asigure cǎ nu vor fi atacaţi.
02:06
So one day, the scouts came running and told the villagers,
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Într-o zi, iscoadele se întorc în fugǎ, spunând:
02:10
"The enemies are coming. Only half an hour away, they'll be here."
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"Vin duşmanii, sunt la numai jumate de orǎ depǎrtare şi vin repede."
02:13
So people scrambled, took their things and ready to go, move out.
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Aşa cǎ oamenii s-au panicat, au luat ce au putut, şi au fugit.
02:17
But there were two men:
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Erau însǎ doi oameni,
02:19
one man was blind, one man had no legs -- he was born like that.
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unul orb, şi unul fǎrǎ picioare -- aşa se nǎscuseră.
02:22
The leader of the chiefs said, "No, sorry. We can't take you. You'll slow us down.
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Însǎ şeful cel mare le-a zis, "Ne pare rǎu, nu vǎ putem lua, ne veţi încetini.
02:26
We have to flee our women and children, we have to run."
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Trebuie sǎ ne gândim la femeile şi copiii noştrii, trebuie sǎ fugim."
02:30
And they were left behind, waiting to die.
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Au fost abandonaţi, lǎsaţi sǎ moarǎ.
02:33
But these two people worked something out.
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Însǎ cei doi au gǎsit o soluţie.
02:36
The blind man said, "Look, I'm a very strong man but I can't see."
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Cel orb spuse, "Iatǎ, sunt un om puternic, însǎ nu vǎd."
02:39
The man with no legs says, "I can see as far as the end of the world,
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Omul fǎrǎ picioare zise, "Eu pot sǎ vǎd pânǎ la capǎtul lumii,
02:42
but I can't save myself from a cat, or whatever animals."
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însǎ nu mǎ pot apǎra nici mǎcar de o pisicǎ, sau orice alt animal."
02:47
So the blind man went down on his knees, down like this,
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Aşǎ cǎ cel orb s-a lǎsat jos în genunchi,
02:51
and told the man with no legs to go over his back, and stood up.
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şi i-a zis celui fǎrǎ picioare sǎ se agaţe de spatele lui, şi s-a ridicat.
02:54
The man on top can see, the blind man can walk.
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Cel de sus putea sǎ vadǎ, iar cel orb, sǎ umble.
02:57
And these guys took off, followed the footsteps of the villagers
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Au pornit dupǎ urmele celorlalţi din sat,
03:00
until they found and passed them.
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pânǎ i-au ajuns şi i-au întrecut.
03:05
So, this was told to me in a setup of elders.
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Asta mi-a fost povestit de cǎtre un grup de bǎtrâni.
03:09
And it's a really poor area. I represent Northern Kenya:
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Fiind vorba de o zonǎ foarte sǎracǎ; eu reprezint nordul ţǎrii,
03:12
the most nomadic, remote areas you can even find.
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zonele cele mai inacesibile posibil, locuite de nomazi.
03:16
And that man told me, "So, here you are.
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Acel om mi-a zis, "Eşti aici,
03:18
You've got a good education from America,
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ai primit o educaţie bunǎ în America,
03:20
you have a good life in America; what are you going to do for us?
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ai o viaţǎ bunǎ în America, ce vei face pentru noi?
03:25
We want you to be our eyes, we'll give you the legs.
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vrem ca tu sǎ fii ochii noştri, iar noi îţi vom da picioarele.
03:28
We'll walk you, you lead us."
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Noi te vom duce, iar tu sǎ ne spui încotro."
03:30
So the opportunity came, and I was always thinking about that:
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Aşa cǎ s-a ivit oportunitatea, la care mǎ gândisem de mult,
03:33
"what can I do to help my people?
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ce pot sǎ fac sǎ-mi ajut poporul?
03:35
Every time you go to an area where for 43 years of independence,
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Mereu când mergi într-o zonǎ, unde de 43 de ani, de când suntem independenţi,
03:38
we still don't have basic health facilities.
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încǎ nu existǎ facilitǎţi sanitare de bazǎ.
03:41
A man has to be transported in a wheelbarrow
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Omul trebuie transportat cu roaba
03:43
20, 30 kilometers for a hospital. No clean drinking water.
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20, 30 de kilometrii pânǎ la spital. Nu existǎ apǎ potabilǎ.
03:45
So I said, "I'm going to dedicate myself.
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Aşa cǎ m-am hotǎrât, "Asta voi face,
03:48
I'm leaving America. I'm going to run for office."
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Voi pǎrǎsi America. Voi candida la alegeri."
03:51
So last July ... I moved from America in June, ran in July election and won.
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În iulie -- M-am mutat înapoi în iunie -- am candidat la alegerile din iulie şi am câştigat.
03:59
And I came for them, and that's my goal.
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Am venit înapoi pentru ei, acesta este scopul meu.
04:03
And right now I have in place, for the last nine months,
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Iar acum, de nouǎ luni, am implementat
04:06
a plan that in five years, every nomad will have clean drinking water.
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un plan ca în cinci ani, fiecare nomad sǎ aibǎ acces la apǎ potabilǎ.
04:14
We're building dispensaries across that constituency.
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Construim dispensare prin toatǎ circumscripţia.
04:17
I'm asking my friends from America to help
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Le cer prietenilor mei din America sǎ mǎ ajute
04:19
with bringing nurses or doctors to help us out.
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sǎ aduc asistente şi doctori care sǎ ne ajute.
04:22
I'm trying to improve infrastructure.
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Încerc sǎ îmbunǎtǎţesc infrastructura.
04:25
I'm using the knowledge I received from the United States
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Îmi folosesc cunoştinţele dobândite în Statele Unite
04:27
and from my community to move them forward.
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şi de la propria comunitate ca sǎ îi ajut sǎ progreseze.
04:30
I'm trying to develop homegrown solutions to our issues
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Încerc sǎ dezvolt soluţii locale pentru problemele noastre.
04:34
because we realize that people from outside can come and help us,
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Pentru cǎ ştim, ne dǎm seamǎ, cǎ alţii pot sǎ vinǎ şi sǎ ne ajute,
04:37
but if we don't help ourselves, there's nothing we can do.
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însǎ dacǎ nu ne ajutǎm noi înşine, nu rezolvǎm nimic.
04:40
So my plan right now as I continue with introducing students to different fields --
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Aşa cǎ planul meu acum, pe mǎsurǎ ce sprijin studenţi în diverse specializǎri--
04:45
some become doctors, some lawyers --
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unii vor devenii medici, alţii avocaţi --
04:47
we want to produce a comprehensive group of people, students,
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este sǎ creǎm un grup de oameni, studenţi
04:49
who can come back and help us see a community grow
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care se vor întoarce şi vor ajuta aceastǎ comunitate,
04:52
that is in the middle of a huge economic recession.
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aflatǎ intr-o recesiune economicǎ majorǎ, sǎ creascǎ.
04:56
So as I continue to be a Member of Parliament
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Aşa cǎ voi fi în continuare un parlamentar,
04:59
and as I continue listening to all of you talking about botany,
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şi vǎ voi asculta în continuare, în timp ce vorbiţi despre botanicǎ,
05:02
talking about health, talking about democracy, talking about new inventions,
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despre sǎnǎtate, despre democraţie, despre noi invenţii,
05:05
I'm hoping that one day in my own little community --
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cu speranţa ca într-o bună zi, în cadrul acestei mici comunitǎţi --
05:08
which is 26,000 square kilometers,
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de 26,000 kilometrii pǎtraţi,
05:10
maybe five times the size of Rhode Island -- with no roads,
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cam de cinci ori cât statul Rhode Island, fǎrǎ drumuri--
05:14
we'll be able to become a model to help others develop.
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vom reuşi sǎ devenim un model de urmat şi pentru dezvoltarea altora.
05:18
Thank you very much. (Applause)
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Vǎ mulţumesc foarte mult.
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