ABOUT THE SPEAKER
Janine di Giovanni - Reporter
Janine di Giovanni reports from war zones around the world.

Why you should listen

Janine di Giovanni  is a contributing editor to Vanity Fair. She writes for the British, American, and French press, and has reported from Afghanistan, Iraq, Israel, Algeria, Gaza, the West Bank, Zimbabwe, Rwanda, Pakistan, East Timor, Ivory Coast, Bosnia, Kosovo, Liberia, Somalia, Nigeria and Sierra Leone. has won four major journalistic awards, including the National Magazine Award.

She is the author of Madness Visible and The Quick and the DeadThe Place at the End of the World, and Ghosts by Daylight which recently won Spears Best Memoir of the Year. She wrote the introduction to the international best seller Zlata’s Diary: a Child’s Life in Sarajevo. Two documentaries have been made about her life and work (Bearing Witness and No Man’s Land). In 2010, she was the President of the Jury of the Prix Bayeux-Calvados for War. She is now focused on Syria, Egypt, Libya and Yemen and so far has been inside Syria three times. Janine lives in Paris.

More profile about the speaker
Janine di Giovanni | Speaker | TED.com
TEDxWomen 2012

Janine di Giovanni: What I saw in the war

Janine di Giovanni: Cfare pashe ne lufte

Filmed:
1,077,040 views

Reporterja Janine di Giovani ka qene ne vendet me te tmerrshme ne Toke per te sjelle histori nga Bosnja, Sierra Leone dhe kohet e fundit nga Siria. Ajo tregon histori te momenteve njerezore brenda konflikteve te medha -- dhe shqyrton ate tranzicion trondites kur nje rruge e njohur qyteti kthehet ne nje fushe beteje te bombarduar.
- Reporter
Janine di Giovanni reports from war zones around the world. Full bio

Double-click the English transcript below to play the video.

00:16
This is how war starts.
0
703
2812
Keshtu fillon lufta.
00:19
One day you're living your ordinary life,
1
3515
3266
Nje dite je duke jetuar jeten tende te zakonshme,
00:22
you're planning to go to a party,
2
6781
2516
je duke planifikuar te shkosh ne nje feste,
00:25
you're taking your children to school,
3
9297
2384
je duke shpene femijet ne shkolle,
00:27
you're making a dentist appointment.
4
11681
2713
je duke caktuar nje takim tek dentisti.
00:30
The next thing, the telephones go out,
5
14394
3626
Dhe papritur, telefoni nderpritet,
00:33
the TVs go out, there's armed men on the street,
6
18020
3937
Televizoret po ashtu, ka burra te armatosur neper rruge,
00:37
there's roadblocks.
7
21957
2316
ka postoblloqe.
00:40
Your life as you know it goes into suspended animation.
8
24273
4477
Jeta jote papritur kthehet ne nje levizje te pezulluar.
00:44
It stops.
9
28750
2205
Ajo ndalon.
00:46
I'm going to steal a story from a friend of mine,
10
30955
2558
Une do vjedh nje histori te nje mikesheje,
00:49
a Bosnian friend, about what happened to her,
11
33513
2978
nje mikeshe nga Bosnia, per ate cka i ndodhi asaj,
00:52
because I think it will illustrate for you exactly what it feels like.
12
36491
4377
sepse mendoj se do sjelle tek you ndjenjen e vertete.
00:56
She was walking to work one day in April, 1992,
13
40868
4094
Ajo ishte duke vajtur ne pune nje dite ne Prill te 1992,
01:00
in a miniskirt and high heels. She worked in a bank.
14
44962
3148
e veshur me minifund dhe me taka te larta. Ajo punonte ne nje banke.
01:04
She was a young mother. She was someone who liked to party.
15
48110
3524
Ishte nje nene e re. Asaj i pelqenin festat.
01:07
Great person.
16
51634
1834
Njeri shume i mire.
01:09
And suddenly she sees a tank
17
53468
3307
Dhe papritur shikon nje tank
01:12
ambling down the main road of Sarajevo
18
56775
3206
duke ecur ne rrugen kryesore te Sarajevos
01:15
knocking everything out of its path.
19
59981
3552
duke goditur gjithcka rruge.
01:19
She thinks she's dreaming, but she's not.
20
63533
4031
Ajo mendon se eshte duke enderruar, por nuk ishte.
01:23
And she runs as any of us would have done
21
67564
2745
Dhe vrapon ashtu sikurse do bente cdokush nga ne
01:26
and takes cover, and she hides behind a trash bin,
22
70309
4017
duke u mbrojtur pas nje koshi plehrash,
01:30
in her high heels and her miniskirt.
23
74326
2599
ne takat e saja te larta dhe me minifund.
01:32
And as she's hiding there, she's feeling ridiculous,
24
76925
4219
Dhe ndersa fshihej aty, po ndjehesh qesharake,
01:37
but she's seeing this tank go by with soldiers
25
81144
2696
por po shikonte tankun duke kaluar me ushtaret
01:39
and people all over the place and chaos
26
83840
2360
dhe njerez gjithandej ne nje kaos
01:42
and she thinks, "I feel like Alice in Wonderland
27
86200
4627
dhe ajo mendon, "Me duket vetja si Liza ne Boten e Cudirave
01:46
going down the rabbit hole,
28
90827
2335
duke hyre ne gropen e lepurit,
01:49
down, down, down into chaos,
29
93162
3068
thelle, thelle, thelle ne kaos,
01:52
and my life will never be the same again."
30
96230
5401
dhe jeta ime nuk do jete kurre e njejta."
01:57
A few weeks later, my friend was in a crowd of people
31
101631
3787
Pas disa javesh, mikesha ime ishte ne nje grumbull njerezish
02:01
pushing with her infant son in her arms
32
105418
4950
duke shtyre me djalin e saj foshnje ne krahe
02:06
to give him to a stranger on a bus,
33
110368
2536
per ta dhene ate ne nje te huaj ne autobuz,
02:08
which was one of the last buses leaving Sarajevo
34
112904
3024
i cili ishte nje nga te fundit qe po largohej nga Sarajevo
02:11
to take children out so they could be safe.
35
115928
3165
i cili nxirrte femijet jashte per te qene te sigurte.
02:14
And she remembers struggling with her mother to the front,
36
119093
4110
Dhe ajo kujton luften me te emen ne rrjeshtin e pare,
02:19
crowds and crowds of people, "Take my child! Take my child!"
37
123203
3426
turma e turma njerezish, "Merr femijen tim! Merr femijen tim!"
02:22
and passing her son to someone through a window.
38
126629
6053
dhe pasimin e djalit te saj tek dikush nga dritarja.
02:28
And she didn't see him for years.
39
132682
2868
Dhe ajo nuk e pa ate per shume vite.
02:31
The siege went on for three and a half years,
40
135550
3719
Rrethimi vazhdoi per tre vite e gjysem,
02:35
and it was a siege without water,
41
139269
2289
nje rrethim pa uje,
02:37
without power, without electricity, without heat, without food,
42
141558
5289
pa energji, pa elektricitet, pa ngrohtesi, pa ushqim,
02:42
in the middle of Europe, in the middle of the 20th century.
43
146847
5355
ne mes te Europes, ne mes te shekullit te 20-te.
02:48
I had the honor of being one of those reporters
44
152202
3802
Kisha nderin te isha nje ata reportere
02:51
that lived through that siege,
45
156004
2419
qe jetonin ndermjet atij rrethimi,
02:54
and I say I have the honor and the privilege of being there
46
158423
3038
dhe them qe kam nderin dhe privilegjin qe ndodhesha aty
02:57
because it's taught me everything,
47
161461
2190
sepse ajo me mesoi gjithcka,
02:59
not just about being a reporter, but about being a human being.
48
163651
4129
jo vetem si nje reportere, por si nje qenie njerezore.
03:03
I learned about compassion.
49
167780
2355
Mesova per dhembshurine.
03:06
I learned about ordinary people who could be heroes.
50
170135
3811
Mesova per njerezit e zakonshem, heronjte e mundshem.
03:09
I learned about sharing. I learned about camaraderie.
51
173946
4371
Mesova per ndarjen. Mesova per bashkejetesen.
03:14
Most of all, I learned about love.
52
178317
2911
Por mbi te gjitha mesova per dashurine.
03:17
Even in the midst of terrible destruction and death and chaos,
53
181228
5279
Edhe ne mes te shkaterrimit te tmerrshem, vdekjes dhe kaosit,
03:22
I learned how ordinary people could help their neighbors,
54
186507
3136
mesova se si njerez te zakonshem mund te ndihmonin miqte e tyre,
03:25
share food, raise their children,
55
189643
2644
te ndanin ushqim, te rrisnin femijet e tyre,
03:28
drag someone who's being sniped at from the middle of the road
56
192287
3252
te terhiqnin dike i cili ishte i qelluar nga mesi i rruges
03:31
even though you yourself were endangering your life,
57
195539
2857
edhe pse ti vete ishte duke rrezikur jeten tende,
03:34
helping people get into taxis who were injured
58
198396
3251
te ndihmonin njerez te plagosur per ti futur ne nje taxi
03:37
to try to take them to hospitals.
59
201647
2621
dhe ti dergonin neper spitale.
03:40
I learned so much about myself.
60
204268
3219
Mesova shume per veten time.
03:43
Martha Gellhorn, who's one of my heroes, once said,
61
207487
3025
Martha Gellhorn, e cila eshte nje nga heroinat e mia, dikur ka thene,
03:46
"You can only love one war. The rest is responsibility."
62
210512
5198
"Ti mund te duash vetem nje lufte. Te tjerat jane pergjegjesi."
03:51
I went on to cover many, many, many wars after that,
63
215710
3536
Kam vajtur te mbuloj shume e shume lufte pas kesaj,
03:55
so many that I lost count,
64
219246
2629
kaq shume sa e kam humbur numerimin,
03:57
but there was nothing like Sarajevo.
65
221875
3083
por asnjera nuk krahasohej me Sarajevon.
04:00
Last April, I went back to a very strange --
66
224958
3955
Prillin e kaluar, u ktheva atje ne nje --sic e quajta une
04:04
what I called a deranged high school reunion.
67
228913
3774
takim trondites gjimnazi.
04:08
What it was, was the 20th anniversary of the siege,
68
232687
4343
Ishte pervjetori i 20te i rrethimit,
04:12
the beginning of the siege of Sarajevo,
69
237030
2472
te fillim rrethimit te Sarajevos,
04:15
and I don't like the word "anniversary," because it sounds like a party,
70
239502
4440
dhe nuk me pelqen fjala "pervjetor", sepse duket si nje feste,
04:19
and this was not a party.
71
243942
1403
dhe kjo nuk ishte nje feste.
04:21
It was a very somber gathering of the reporters
72
245345
3988
Ishte nje mbledhje e zymte e reportereve
04:25
that worked there during the war, humanitarian aid workers,
73
249333
3391
qe punonin atje gjate luftes, punonjes te ndihmave humanitare,
04:28
and of course the brave and courageous people of Sarajevo themselves.
74
252724
4469
dhe sigurisht njerezit e guximshem dhe kurajoze te Sarajevos.
04:33
And the thing that struck me the most,
75
257193
2419
Dhe ajo cka me goditi me shume,
04:35
that broke my heart,
76
259612
1741
dhe me theu zemren,
04:37
was walking down the main street of Sarajevo,
77
261353
2170
ishte ecja ne rrugen kryesore te Sarajevos,
04:39
where my friend Aida saw the tank coming 20 years ago,
78
263523
4075
aty ku mikesha ime Aida pa tankun para 20 viteve,
04:43
and in that road were more than 12,000 red chairs,
79
267598
6697
dhe ne ate rruge kishte me shume se 12.000 karrige te kuqe,
04:50
empty,
80
274295
1626
bosh,
04:51
and every single one of them symbolized
81
275921
2269
dhe secila nga ato simbolizonte
04:54
a person who had died during the siege,
82
278190
3717
nje person qe kishte vdekur gjate rrethimit,
04:57
just in Sarajevo, not in all of Bosnia,
83
281907
4287
vetem ne Sarajevo, jo ne gjithe Bosnjen,
05:02
and it stretched from one end of the city
84
286194
2587
ajo shtrihej nga njeri fund i qytetit
05:04
to a large part of it,
85
288781
2274
ne nje pjese te madhe te saj,
05:06
and the saddest for me were the tiny little chairs
86
291055
3503
me e trishtueshme per mua ishin kariget e vogla
05:10
for the children.
87
294558
2856
per femijet.
05:13
I now cover Syria,
88
297414
3127
Une tani mbuloj Sirine,
05:16
and I started reporting it because I believed that
89
300541
3190
dhe nisa ta raportoj ate sepse ndjeva qe
05:19
it needs to be done.
90
303731
2256
duhej bere.
05:21
I believe a story there has to be told.
91
305987
3005
Besoj se duhet thene nje histori.
05:24
I see, again, a template of the war in Bosnia.
92
308992
3970
Po shoh, perseri nje shabllon te luftes ne Bosnje.
05:28
And when I first arrived in Damascus,
93
312962
2229
Kur arrita fillimisht ne Damascus,
05:31
I saw this strange moment where people
94
315191
2402
Pash kete momentin e cuditshem ku njerezit
05:33
didn't seem to believe that war was going to descend,
95
317593
3560
nuk donin te besonin se lufta do filloje,
05:37
and it was exactly the same in Bosnia
96
321153
1935
dhe ishte pikerisht e njejta situate ne Bosnje
05:38
and nearly every other country I've seen where war comes.
97
323088
2814
dhe pak a shume ne cdo shtet qe kam pare duke i ardhur lufta.
05:41
People don't want to believe it's coming,
98
325902
2543
Njerezit nuk duan te besojne se ajo po vjen,
05:44
so they don't leave, they don't leave before they can.
99
328445
3467
dhe per kete arsye ata nuk largohen, nuk ikin para se te munden.
05:47
They don't get their money out.
100
331912
1670
Nuk i nxjerrin parate jashte.
05:49
They stay because you want to stay in your home.
101
333582
3895
Ata qendrojne sepse ti do te qendrosh ne shtepi.
05:53
And then war and chaos descend.
102
337477
4039
Dhe pastaj lufta dhe kaosi zbresin.
05:57
Rwanda is a place that haunts me a lot.
103
341516
3803
Rwanda eshte nje vend i cili me ka lene shume gjurme.
06:01
In 1994, I briefly left Sarajevo to go report the genocide in Rwanda.
104
345319
6154
Ne 1994, per nje kohe te shkurter u largova nga Sarajevo per te vajtur dhe raportuar mbi genocidin te Rwanda.
06:07
Between April and August, 1994,
105
351473
4849
Ndermjet Prillit dhe Gushtit, 1994,
06:12
one million people were slaughtered.
106
356322
4201
nje milion njerez u theren.
06:16
Now if those 12,000 chairs freaked me out
107
360523
5227
Nese ato 12.000 karrige me frikesonin
06:21
with the sheer number,
108
365750
2072
me numer absolut,
06:23
I want you just for a second to think of a million people.
109
367822
3631
Dua thjesht per nje sekond te imagjinoni per nje milion njerez.
06:27
And to give you some example, I remember
110
371453
2537
Dhe per t'ju dhene nje shembull, me kujtohet
06:29
standing and looking down a road as far as I could see,
111
373990
5081
qe qendroja ne nje rruge dhe shikoja sa me larg te mundesha
06:34
at least a mile, and there were bodies piled twice my height
112
379071
6089
te pakten nje milje, ku aty kishte trupa te stivosur dy here mbi gjatesine time
06:41
of the dead.
113
385160
1724
te pajeteve.
06:42
And that was just a small percentage of the dead.
114
386884
3335
Dhe ajo ishte vetem nje perqindje e vogel te pajeteve.
06:46
And there were mothers holding their children
115
390219
1969
Aty kishte nena qe mbanin femijet e tyre
06:48
who had been caught in their last death throes.
116
392188
3341
te cilat ishin kapur ne grahmen e fundit te vdekjes.
06:51
So we learn a lot from war,
117
395529
3330
Pra mesuam shume nga lufta,
06:54
and I mention Rwanda
118
398859
2352
dhe une permenda Rwanden
06:57
because it is one place, like South Africa,
119
401211
4118
sepse eshte nje vend, si Afrika e Jugut,
07:01
where nearly 20 years on, there is healing.
120
405329
3982
kur per gati 20 vite e ne vazhdim, ka sherim.
07:05
Fifty-six percent of the parliamentarians are women,
121
409311
3468
Pesedhjete e gjashte perqind e parlamentareve jane gra,
07:08
which is fantastic,
122
412779
2452
e cila eshte fantastike,
07:11
and there's also within the national constitution now,
123
415231
4026
gjithashtu ne kushtetutun nacionale sot,
07:15
you're actually not allowed to say Hutu or Tutsi.
124
419257
3173
nuk te lejohet te thuash Hutu apo Tutsi.
07:18
You're not allowed to identify anyone by ethnicity,
125
422430
3869
Nuk te lejohet te identifikosh dike nga kombesia,
07:22
which is, of course, what started the slaughter in the first place.
126
426299
4546
e cila eshte, sigurisht, ajo cka e filloi masakren.
07:26
And an aid worker friend of mine told me the most beautiful story,
127
430845
3107
Nje punonjes i ndihmes, mik i imi, me tregoi historine me te bukur,
07:29
or I find it beautiful.
128
433952
1483
ose mua me duket e bukur.
07:31
There was a group of children, mixed Hutus and Tutsis,
129
435435
4917
Ishte nje grup femijesh, te perzier Hutus dhe Tutsis,
07:36
and a group of women who were adopting them,
130
440352
2714
dhe nje grup grash te cilat po i adoptonin ata.
07:38
and they lined up and one was just given to the next.
131
443066
3934
te rrjeshtuar jepeshin njeri pas tjetrit.
07:42
There was no kind of compensation for, you're a Tutsi,
132
447000
3166
Nuk kishte asnje lloj kompesimi se ishe nje Tutsi
07:46
you're a Hutu, you might have killed my mother,
133
450166
2915
apo nje Hutu, mund te kesh vrare mamane time,
07:48
you might have killed my father.
134
453081
1846
mund te kesh vrare vellane tim.
07:50
They were just brought together in this kind of reconciliation,
135
454927
5306
Ata ishin afruar ne kete lloj pajtimi,
07:56
and I find this remarkable.
136
460233
3584
dhe mua me duket e mrekullueshme.
07:59
So when people ask me how I continue to cover war,
137
463817
2842
Pra kur njerezit me pyesin se si vazhdoj te mbuloj luften,
08:02
and why I continue to do it,
138
466659
2212
dhe pse vazhdoj ta bej,
08:04
this is why.
139
468871
1469
kjo eshte arsyeja.
08:06
When I go back to Syria, next week in fact,
140
470340
3391
Kur kthehem ne Siri, javen tjeter ne fakt,
08:09
what I see is incredibly heroic people,
141
473731
3961
ajo cka shoh, eshte njerez jashtezakonisht te guximshem,
08:13
some of them fighting for democracy,
142
477692
2273
disa nga ata luftojne per demokraci,
08:15
for things we take for granted every single day.
143
479965
4017
per gjera qe ne i marrim te sigurta cdo dite.
08:19
And that's pretty much why I do it.
144
483982
3238
Dhe kjo eshte pak a shume arsyeja pse e bej.
08:23
In 2004, I had a little baby boy,
145
487220
4468
Ne 2004, kisha nje djale te vogel,
08:27
and I call him my miracle child,
146
491688
3195
dhe une e quaj ate femija mrekulli,
08:30
because after seeing so much death
147
494883
3046
sepse pasi kam pare kaq shume vdekje
08:33
and destruction and chaos and darkness in my life,
148
497929
4177
shkaterrime, kaos dhe erresire ne jeten time,
08:38
this ray of hope was born.
149
502106
3859
lindi kjo rreze shprese.
08:41
And I called him Luca, which means "The bringer of light,"
150
505965
4197
Dhe une e quajta ate Luca qe do te thote "Derguesi i drites"
08:46
because he does bring light to my life.
151
510162
4923
sepse ai sjell drite ne jeten time.
08:50
But I'm talking about him because when he was four months old,
152
515085
3451
Por po flas per ate sepse kur ai ishte kater muajsh,
08:54
my foreign editor forced me to go back to Baghdad
153
518536
4672
redaktori im i huaj me detyroi te kthehesha ne Baghdad
08:59
where I had been reporting all throughout the Saddam regime
154
523208
3332
aty ku kisha raportuar gjate gjithe regimit te Saddamit
09:02
and during the fall of Baghdad and afterwards,
155
526540
2879
dhe gjate renies se Baghdadit dhe me pas,
09:05
and I remember getting on the plane in tears,
156
529419
3094
me kujtohet qe hyra ne avion duke qare,
09:08
crying to be separated from my son,
157
532513
2986
qaja sepse po ndahesha nga im bir,
09:11
and while I was there,
158
535499
2233
dhe ndersa isha aty,
09:13
a quite famous Iraqi politician who was a friend of mine
159
537732
2735
nje politikan i famshem Irakian i cili ishte mik i imi
09:16
said to me, "What are you doing here?
160
540467
2474
me tha, "Cfare po ben ketu?
09:18
Why aren't you home with Luca?"
161
542941
1841
Pse nuk je ne shtepi me Luca?"
09:20
And I said, "Well, I have to see." It was 2004
162
544782
3785
Dhe une i thash, "E pra, mua me duhet ta shoh." Ishte 2004
09:24
which was the beginning of the incredibly bloody time in Iraq,
163
548567
4387
qe do te thote ishte fillimi i nje kohe teper te pergjakshme ne Irak,
09:28
"I have to see, I have to see what is happening here.
164
552954
3240
"Me duhet te shoh, me duhet te shoh cfare po ndodh ketu.
09:32
I have to report it."
165
556194
865
me duhet te raportoj."
09:32
And he said, "Go home,
166
557059
3564
Dhe ai me tha. "Kthehu ne shtepi,
09:36
because if you miss his first tooth,
167
560623
3286
sepse po e humbe dhembin e tij te pare,
09:39
if you miss his first step, you'll never forgive yourself.
168
563909
2998
po i humbe hapat e tij te para, nuk do e falesh kurre veten.
09:42
But there will always be another war."
169
566907
3863
Por do kete perhere nje lufte tjeter."
09:46
And there, sadly, will always be wars.
170
570770
4341
Dhe atje, fatkeqeshisht, do kete perhere lufte.
09:51
And I am deluding myself if I think, as a journalist,
171
575111
3854
Dhe do mashtroja veten nese mendoja, si nje gazetare,
09:54
as a reporter, as a writer,
172
578965
1766
si nje reportere, si nje shkrimtare,
09:56
what I do can stop them. I can't.
173
580731
4838
qe ajo cka po bej mund ta ndaloje. Nuk mundem.
10:01
I'm not Kofi Annan. He can't stop a war.
174
585569
2547
Une nuk jam Kofi Annan. Ai nuk mund te ndaloje nje lufte.
10:04
He tried to negotiate Syria and couldn't do it.
175
588116
2977
Ai u perpoq te negocioje Sirine por nuk e arriti.
10:06
I'm not a U.N. conflict resolution person.
176
591093
3996
Une nuk jam nje person i K.B te zgjidhjen e konflikteve.
10:10
I'm not even a humanitarian aid doctor,
177
595089
2283
Une nuk jam as doktoreshe e ndihmes humanitare,
10:13
and I can't tell you the times of how helpless I've felt
178
597372
2826
dhe nuk mund ti pershkruaj se sa here jam ndjere e paafte
10:16
to have people dying in front of me, and I couldn't save them.
179
600198
3271
te shpetoj njerez qe kane qene duke vdekur para meje.
10:19
All I am is a witness.
180
603469
3835
Gjithcka jam, eshte nje deshmitare.
10:23
My role is to bring a voice to people who are voiceless.
181
607304
5054
Roli im eshte te sjell nje ze tek njerezit qe jane te pa ze.
10:28
A colleague of mine described it as to shine a light
182
612358
3233
Nje kolegu im e pershkroi ate si te ndezesh nje drite
10:31
in the darkest corners of the world.
183
615591
2762
ne cepat me te erret te botes.
10:34
And that's what I try to do.
184
618353
2647
Dhe kete perpiqem te bej.
10:36
I'm not always successful,
185
621000
3036
Nuk jam gjithmone e suksesshme,
10:39
and sometimes it's incredibly frustrating,
186
624036
2541
dhe shpesh here eshte shume frustruese,
10:42
because you feel like you're writing into a void,
187
626577
2206
sepse ndihesh sikur po shkruan ne nje boshllek,
10:44
or you feel like no one cares.
188
628783
2329
ose ndihesh sikur asnjerit nuk i intereson.
10:47
Who cares about Syria? Who cares about Bosnia?
189
631112
2249
Kujt i intereson per Sirine? Kujt i intereson per Bosnjen?
10:49
Who cares about the Congo,
190
633361
2013
Kush interesohet per Kongon,
10:51
the Ivory Coast, Liberia, Sierra Leone,
191
635374
2274
per Bregun e Fildishte, Liberine, Sierra Leonen,
10:53
all of these strings of places that
192
637648
2115
te gjithe keto vargje vendesh qe
10:55
I will remember for the rest of my life?
193
639763
3973
une do kujtoj per pjesen tjeter te jetes time?
10:59
But my métier is to bear witness
194
643736
3253
Por profesioni im eshte te mbart deshmite
11:02
and that is the crux, the heart of the matter,
195
646989
3182
dhe ky eshte thelbi, zemra e ceshtjes,
11:06
for us reporters who do this.
196
650171
2541
per ne reporteret qe bejme kete.
11:08
And all I can really do is hope,
197
652712
3591
Dhe ajo cka mund te bej eshte te shpresoj,
11:12
not to policymakers or politicians,
198
656303
2608
jo te politike beresit ose politikanet,
11:14
because as much as I'd like to have faith
199
658911
2397
sepse sado te dua te kem besim
11:17
that they read my words and do something,
200
661308
2465
qe ata te lexojne fjalet e mia dhe bejne dicka,
11:19
I don't delude myself.
201
663773
3160
une nuk e mashtroj veten.
11:22
But what I do hope is that if you remember anything I said
202
666933
4217
Por shpresa ime eshte se nese do mbani mend dicka nga ato qe thashe
11:27
or any of my stories tomorrow morning over breakfast,
203
671150
3553
ose kedo nga historite e mia neser gjate mengjesit,
11:30
if you can remember the story of Sarajevo,
204
674703
2682
nese do kujtoni historine e Sarajevos,
11:33
or the story of Rwanda,
205
677385
3491
ose historine e Ruandes,
11:36
then I've done my job.
206
680876
2573
atehere une e kam kryer punen time.
11:39
Thank you very much.
207
683449
2038
Faleminderit shume.
11:41
(Applause)
208
685487
7230
(Duartrokijte)
Translated by Alisa Xholi
Reviewed by Helena Bedalli

▲Back to top

ABOUT THE SPEAKER
Janine di Giovanni - Reporter
Janine di Giovanni reports from war zones around the world.

Why you should listen

Janine di Giovanni  is a contributing editor to Vanity Fair. She writes for the British, American, and French press, and has reported from Afghanistan, Iraq, Israel, Algeria, Gaza, the West Bank, Zimbabwe, Rwanda, Pakistan, East Timor, Ivory Coast, Bosnia, Kosovo, Liberia, Somalia, Nigeria and Sierra Leone. has won four major journalistic awards, including the National Magazine Award.

She is the author of Madness Visible and The Quick and the DeadThe Place at the End of the World, and Ghosts by Daylight which recently won Spears Best Memoir of the Year. She wrote the introduction to the international best seller Zlata’s Diary: a Child’s Life in Sarajevo. Two documentaries have been made about her life and work (Bearing Witness and No Man’s Land). In 2010, she was the President of the Jury of the Prix Bayeux-Calvados for War. She is now focused on Syria, Egypt, Libya and Yemen and so far has been inside Syria three times. Janine lives in Paris.

More profile about the speaker
Janine di Giovanni | Speaker | TED.com