TEDGlobal 2007
Joseph Lekuton: A parable for Kenya
Joseph Lekuton rozpráva podobenstvo o Keni
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Joseph Lekuton, člen parlamentu Kene, najprv porozpráva príbeh svojho pozoruhodného vzdelania a potom ponúkne podobenstvo o tom, ako môže Afrika rásť. Jeho posolstvo nádeje nikdy nebolo aktuálnejšie.
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 meno je Joseph, člen parlamentu Kene.
00:21
Picture a Maasai village,
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Predstavte si Masaiskú dedinu.
00:23
and one evening, government soldiers come, surround the village
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Jeden večer tam prídu vojaci, dedinu obsadia
00:27
and ask each elder to bring one boy to school.
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a požiadajú všetkých starších, aby do školy priviedli jedného chlapca.
00:29
That's how I went to school --
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Takto som sa dostal do školy --
00:31
pretty much a government guy pointing a gun
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chlap z vlády mieril zbraňou na môjho otca
00:33
and told my father, "You have to make a choice."
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a povedal mu: "Musíš sa rozhodnúť."
00:35
So, I walked very comfortably to this missionary school
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A tak som šiel rád do misionárskej školy,
00:38
that was run by an American missionary,
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ktorú viedol americký misionár.
00:40
and the first thing the American missionary gave me was a candy.
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Prvou vecou, ktorú mi dal, bol cukrík.
00:43
I had never in my life ever tasted candy.
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Nikdy predtým som nedostal cukrík.
00:45
So I said to myself, with all these hundred other boys,
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A tak som si povedal, spolu s ďalšou stovkou chlapcov,
00:47
this is where I belong. (Laughter)
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že sem patrím. Zostal som --
00:50
Stayed
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(Smiech)
00:51
when everybody else was dropping out.
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-- keď všetci ostatní zo školy odchádzali.
00:53
My family moved; we're nomads.
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Moja rodina sa presťahovala. Boli sme kočovníkmi.
00:55
Every time school closed -- it was a boarding school and I was seven --
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Vždy, keď školu zavreli -- bola to internátna škola a ja som mal sedem rokov --
00:57
you had to travel until you find them.
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musel som cestovať, kým som ich nenašiel.
00:59
Fifty miles, 40 miles, it doesn't matter.
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80 kilometrov, 60 kilometrov, na tom nezáležalo.
01:01
You slept in the bush, but you kept going.
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Spával som v kríkoch, ale potom som znovu pokračoval v ceste.
01:03
And I stayed. I don't know why I stayed, but I stayed.
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Ale zostal som v škole. Neviem prečo, ale zostal som.
01:06
And all of a sudden I passed the national examination,
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A potom som zrazu urobil národné skúšky
01:10
found myself in a very beautiful high school in Kenya.
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a začal som chodiť na nádhernú strednú školu v Keni.
01:13
And I finished high school. And just walking, I found a man
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Dokončil som ju. Potom som na ulici našiel muža,
01:17
who gave me a full scholarship to the United States.
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ktorý mi dal plné štipendium do USA.
01:20
My mother still lives in a cow-dung hut,
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Moja matka stále žije v špinavej chatrči,
01:22
none of my brothers are going to school,
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žiadny z mojich bratov nechodí do školy
01:24
and this man told me, "Here, go."
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a tento muž mi povedal" "Tu máš, choď."
01:26
So I got a scholarship to St. Lawrence University, Upstate New York;
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Dostal som štipendium na Univerzitu St. Lawrence v štáte New York.
01:30
finished that. And then after that I went to Harvard Graduate School;
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Tú som dokončil a potom som šiel na Harvard.
01:35
finished that. And then I worked in DC a little bit:
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Po promóciách som chvíľu pracoval vo Washingtone.
01:38
I wrote a book for National Geographic and taught history, U.S. history.
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Napísal som knihu pre National Geographic a vyučoval som históriu, americkú históriu.
01:41
And every time, I kept going back home
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Stále som sa vracal domov
01:44
listening to the problems of these people --
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a vždy som počúval problémy ľudí,
01:46
sick people, people with no water, all this stuff --
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chorých ľudí, ľudí bez vody, všetko toto.
01:48
and every time I go back to America, I kept thinking about them.
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A vždy keď som sa potom vrátil do Ameriky, neprestal som o nich premýšľať.
01:51
Then one day, an elder gave me a story and this story went like this:
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Jedného dňa mi starší povedal príbeh.
01:55
long time ago, there was a big war between tribes.
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V dávnych časoch proti sebe bojovali dva kmene.
02:00
And there was this specific tribe that was really afraid of this other Luhya tribe.
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Jeden tento kmeň sa naozaj bál toho druhého, kmeňu Luhya.
02:03
And every time, they sent scouts out there to make sure no one attacked them.
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A zakaždým poslali zvedov, aby sa ubezpečili, že ich nikto nenapadne.
02:06
So one day, the scouts came running and told the villagers,
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Jedného dňa títo zvedovia pribehli a hovoria dedinčanom,
02:10
"The enemies are coming. Only half an hour away, they'll be here."
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"Nepriatelia prichádzajú, sú len polhodinu cesty odtiaľto."
02:13
So people scrambled, took their things and ready to go, move out.
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Ľudia si rýchlo vzali svoje veci, pripravili sa na cestu a odišli.
02:17
But there were two men:
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Ale boli tam dvaja muži,
02:19
one man was blind, one man had no legs -- he was born like that.
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jeden z nich bol slepý a ten druhý nemal nohy -- tak sa narodil.
02:22
The leader of the chiefs said, "No, sorry. We can't take you. You'll slow us down.
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Vodca kmeňa povedal: "Nie, prepáčte, ale nemôžeme vás vziať. Spomaľovali by ste nás.
02:26
We have to flee our women and children, we have to run."
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Musíme odviesť do bezpečia naše ženy a deti, musíme ísť rýchlo."
02:30
And they were left behind, waiting to die.
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A nechali ich tam, aby čakali na smrť.
02:33
But these two people worked something out.
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Ale oni na niečo prišli.
02:36
The blind man said, "Look, I'm a very strong man but I can't see."
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Slepý muž povedal: "Pozri sa, som veľmi silný, ale nevidím."
02:39
The man with no legs says, "I can see as far as the end of the world,
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A muž bez nôh povedal: "Ja dovidím až na koniec sveta,
02:42
but I can't save myself from a cat, or whatever animals."
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ale neutečiem pred šelmou ani pred iným zvieraťom."
02:47
So the blind man went down on his knees, down like this,
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Slepý muž si takto kľakol
02:51
and told the man with no legs to go over his back, and stood up.
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a povedal mužovi bez nôh, aby mu vyliezol na chrbát, a postavil sa.
02:54
The man on top can see, the blind man can walk.
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Muž na vrchu videl a slepý mohol chodiť.
02:57
And these guys took off, followed the footsteps of the villagers
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Spolu šli v šľapajách dedinčanov,
03:00
until they found and passed them.
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až kým ich nenašli a nepredbehli.
03:05
So, this was told to me in a setup of elders.
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Toto mi povedali na zhromaždení starších.
03:09
And it's a really poor area. I represent Northern Kenya:
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Reprezentujem veľmi chudobnú oblasť, severnú Keňu --
03:12
the most nomadic, remote areas you can even find.
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najodľahlejšie, kočovnícke oblasti, aké nájdete.
03:16
And that man told me, "So, here you are.
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A ten muž mi povedal: "Si tu
03:18
You've got a good education from America,
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a máš dobré vzdelanie z Ameriky,
03:20
you have a good life in America; what are you going to do for us?
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máš v Amerike dobrý život, a čo urobíš pre nás?
03:25
We want you to be our eyes, we'll give you the legs.
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Chceme, aby si bol našimi očami, dáme ti nohy.
03:28
We'll walk you, you lead us."
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My budeme kráčať, ty nás budeš viesť."
03:30
So the opportunity came, and I was always thinking about that:
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Prišla príležitosť. Vždy som rozmýšľal o tom,
03:33
"what can I do to help my people?
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ako môžem pomôcť mojim ľuďom?
03:35
Every time you go to an area where for 43 years of independence,
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Hoci sme nezávislou krajinou už 43 rokov,
03:38
we still don't have basic health facilities.
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stále nemáme základné zdravotnícke zariadenia.
03:41
A man has to be transported in a wheelbarrow
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Muža musia previesť 20, 30 kilometrov
03:43
20, 30 kilometers for a hospital. No clean drinking water.
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na fúriku do najbližšej nemocnice. Žiadna pitná voda.
03:45
So I said, "I'm going to dedicate myself.
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A tak som si povedal: "Tomuto zasvätím môj život.
03:48
I'm leaving America. I'm going to run for office."
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Odídem z Ameriky a pokúsim sa dostať do úradu."
03:51
So last July ... I moved from America in June, ran in July election and won.
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A tak som minulý júl -- z Ameriky som sa odsťahoval v júni, v júli boli voľby a vyhral som.
03:59
And I came for them, and that's my goal.
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Prišiel som tu kvôli nim a to je môj cieľ.
04:03
And right now I have in place, for the last nine months,
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V úrade som už deväť mesiacov
04:06
a plan that in five years, every nomad will have clean drinking water.
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a mojim cieľom na najbližších päť rokov je zabezpečiť každému kočovníkovi prístup k pitnej vode.
04:14
We're building dispensaries across that constituency.
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Budujeme ošetrovne v celej oblasti.
04:17
I'm asking my friends from America to help
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Požiadal som svojich priateľov z Ameriky o pomoc,
04:19
with bringing nurses or doctors to help us out.
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pretože potrebujeme sestričky a doktorov.
04:22
I'm trying to improve infrastructure.
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Snažím sa zlepšiť infraštruktúru.
04:25
I'm using the knowledge I received from the United States
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Využívam vedomosti, ktoré som získal v Spojených štátoch
04:27
and from my community to move them forward.
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a od mojej komunity, aby som náš ľud posunul dopredu.
04:30
I'm trying to develop homegrown solutions to our issues
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Pokúšam sa vyvinúť domáce riešenia na naše problémy.
04:34
because we realize that people from outside can come and help us,
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Pretože my vieme, uvedomujeme si, že môžu prísť ľudia zvonka a pomôcť nám,
04:37
but if we don't help ourselves, there's nothing we can do.
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ale ak si nepomôžeme sami, nedá sa nič robiť.
04:40
So my plan right now as I continue with introducing students to different fields --
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Mojím plánom je postupne predstavovať študentom rôzne odvetvia --
04:45
some become doctors, some lawyers --
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niektorí sú doktormi, niektorí právnikmi --
04:47
we want to produce a comprehensive group of people, students,
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chceme vytvoriť celistvú skupinu ľudí, študentov,
04:49
who can come back and help us see a community grow
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ktorí môžu prísť späť a pomôcť našej komunite vyrásť
04:52
that is in the middle of a huge economic recession.
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uprostred obrovskej ekonomickej recesie.
04:56
So as I continue to be a Member of Parliament
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Prišiel som tu ako člen parlamentu
04:59
and as I continue listening to all of you talking about botany,
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a keď počúvam, ako rozprávate o botanike,
05:02
talking about health, talking about democracy, talking about new inventions,
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o zdravotníctve, o demokracii, o nových vynálezoch,
05:05
I'm hoping that one day in my own little community --
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dúfam, že jedného dňa bude moja malá komunita --
05:08
which is 26,000 square kilometers,
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ktorá má plochu asi 26 000 kilometrov štvorcových,
05:10
maybe five times the size of Rhode Island -- with no roads,
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asi päťkrát väčšia ako Rhode Island, ale bez ciest --
05:14
we'll be able to become a model to help others develop.
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modelom, ktorý pomôže ostatným vo vývine.
05:18
Thank you very much. (Applause)
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Ďakujem veľmi pekne.
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