ABOUT THE SPEAKER
Caroline Harper - Advocate for visually impaired people
At Sightsavers, an international NGO, Caroline Harper leads efforts to eliminate avoidable blindness around the world and fight for equal rights.

Why you should listen

Dr. Caroline Harper's ultimate goal is to see herself out of a job. She runs Sightsavers, an organization with global offices that strives to eliminate avoidable blindness and ensure that people with disabilities have equal rights. Up to 75 percent of sight loss can be cured or prevented, and her team hopes to achieve their goals so spectacularly that the organization is no longer needed. 

Harper worked in the gas industry until 2002, before co-founding a management business that specialized on turnaround sales of energy companies. But during what she describes as a mid-life gap year, she visited a number of developing countries and felt drawn to international development. "My own family has a lot of blindness, so the mission of Sightsavers really resonated for me," she said. "I have now been its CEO for 13 years, and every year something more incredible happens. The best moments are when I visit some of the countries where we work, sit with people in their communities and realize that what we do has a massive impact. I am so lucky."

Harper is a Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) for her work to protect the sight of people in developing countries. Sightsavers works with a range of partners and is supported by organizations such as The Queen Elizabeth Diamond Jubilee Trust and UK aid through the UK government's Department for International Development.

More profile about the speaker
Caroline Harper | Speaker | TED.com
TED2018

Caroline Harper: What if we eliminated one of the world's oldest diseases?

Caroline Harper: Inakuwaje kama tukiondoa moja ya magonjwa kongwe duniani?

Filmed:
1,399,900 views

Trakoma ni ugonjwa wa macho wenye maumivu ambao husababisha upofu. Umekuwepo kwa takribani maelfu ya miaka, na karibuni watu milioni 200 duniani wapo katika hatari ya ugonjwa huu. Kinachoudhi ni kwamba, anasema Caroline Harper, unaweza kutibika kabisa. Akiwa na taarifa za kutosha kutoka mradi wa ramani ya sehemu zenye trakoma, taasisi yake ya Sightsavers wana mpango: kuweka juhudi katika nchi ambazo zina fedha za kuondoa tatizo -- na kuweka mkazo wa juhudi zaidi pia katika nchi ambazo zina mahitaji makubwa. Lengo: kuufanya ugonjwa ubaki kuwa historia katika vitabu tu. Mradi huu imara ni moja ya mawazo ya Audacious Project, mpango mpya wa TED wa kuhamasisha mabadiliko ya kiulimwengu.
- Advocate for visually impaired people
At Sightsavers, an international NGO, Caroline Harper leads efforts to eliminate avoidable blindness around the world and fight for equal rights. Full bio

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

00:13
I'd like you to imaginefikiria,
just for a momentwakati,
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Ningependa utafakari, kwa muda mfupi,
00:16
that your eyelasheskope grewilikua inwardsmatumbo
insteadbadala yake of outwardsameelekea,
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Kuwa kope zako zinakua kuingia ndani badala ya nje,
00:21
so that everykila time you blinkedblinked,
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Kwa hiyo kila wakati ukipepesa macho,
00:24
they would scrapescrape
the frontmbele of your eyeballseyeballs,
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Zinakwaruza mtoto wa jicho
00:27
damagingkuharibu the corneascorneas,
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zikiharibu chamba cha jicho
00:28
so that slowlypolepole and painfullymaumivu,
you wentakaenda blindkipofu.
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Kwa hiyo taratibu na kwa maumivu makali unakuwa kipofu.
00:33
Well, that's what happenshutokea
to a personmtu who has trachomatrachoma.
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Hivyo ndivyo inavyotokea kwa mtu mwenye ugonjwa wa trakoma
00:37
Now, this little boymvulana here, PameloPamelo,
from ZambiaZambia, he has trachomatrachoma.
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Huyu mvulana hapa, Pamelo kutoka Zambia ana trakoma
00:42
And if we don't do anything,
he's going to go blindkipofu.
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Kama hatutafanya chochote, atakuwa kipofu
00:46
TrachomaTrachoma is a curiouscurious diseaseugonjwa.
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Trakoma ni ugonjwa unaotibika
00:48
It's a bacterialbakteria infectionmaambukizi
that's passedilipita from personmtu to personmtu
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Ni maambukizi ya bakteria yanayotoka kwa mtu mmoja kwenda kwa mwingine
00:53
and by fliesnzizi.
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yanayosambazwa na nzi.
00:55
The repeatedimerudiwa infectionmaambukizi
will scarkovu your eyelidskope
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Maambukizi ya mara kwa mara yanasababisha makovu katika kope zako
00:58
so that they contractmkataba
and they turnkugeuka insidendani out.
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inasababisha kusinyaa na kope kugeuka ndani nje.
01:03
It particularlyhasa affectshuathiri womenwanawake,
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Huathiri sana wanawake.
01:05
because they have
the contactwasiliana with childrenwatoto.
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kwa sababu wanagusana na watoto.
01:08
So what you'llutasikia oftenmara nyingi see
in placesmaeneo like EthiopiaEthiopia
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Kwa hiyo utachokiona katika sehemu kama Ethiopia
01:12
are girlswasichana who have tweezerstwiza
like this around theirwao necksshingo,
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ni wasichana walio na koleo kama hii katika shingo zao,
01:16
and they use them
to pluckUsing'oe out theirwao eyelasheskope.
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na wanazitumia kuchomoa kope zao.
01:20
But of coursebila shaka, that only givesanatoa them
temporarymuda mfupi respitenafuu,
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Lakini hata hivyo, inawapa nafuu ya muda mfupi tu,
01:23
because they just growkukua back
more viciousmatata than before.
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kwa sababu zinakuwa tena kwa kasi ya haraka sana kuliko mwanzo.
01:27
There are around two millionmilioni
people in the worldulimwengu
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Kuna watu takribani milioni mbili duniani
01:31
who are blindkipofu or visuallykuibua impairedkuharibika
because of trachomatrachoma.
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ambao ni wapofu au wana uono hafifu kwa sababu ya trakoma.
01:35
And we believe there mayinaweza be
as manywengi as 200 millionmilioni people
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Na tunaamini wanaweza kuwepo wengi zaidi hadi watu milioni 200
01:39
who are at riskhatari.
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ambao wapo katika hatari.
01:41
Now, it's a very oldzamani diseaseugonjwa.
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Sasa, ni ugonjwa mkongwe sana.
01:44
What you can see is a photopicha
of a wallukuta of a tombkaburi in NorthernKaskazini SudanSudan.
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Unachoona ni picha ya ukuta wa kaburi huko Sudani Kaskazini.
01:49
A colleaguemwenzake and I were travelingkusafiri
in a very remotekijijini villagekijiji,
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Mimi na rafiki tulikuwa tukisafiri vijiji vya mbali,
01:52
and we askedaliuliza an oldzamani man
to take us down into a little tombkaburi.
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na tukamuomba mzee mmoja kutupeleka kwenye kaburi dogo.
01:56
Now, on the wallukuta, we saw two eyesmacho.
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Sasa, kwenye ukuta, tuliona macho mawili.
01:59
One is cryingkilio,
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Moja likitoa machozi,
02:01
and you can see
there are tweezerstwiza nextijayo to it.
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na unaweza kuona kuna koleo pembeni yake.
02:04
SimonSimon said to me, "My God,
do you think that's trachomatrachoma?"
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Simon aliniambia, "Mungu wangu, unadhani hiyo ni trakoma?"
02:08
So we sentalitumwa this picturepicha
to the BritishUingereza MuseumMakumbusho,
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Kwa hiyo tuliituma hii picha kwenye makumbusho ya Uingereza,
02:11
and they confirmedimethibitishwa that, yes,
this is trachomatrachoma.
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na walithibitisha kwamba, ndiyo, hii ni trakoma.
02:14
So, thousandsmaelfu of yearsmiaka agoiliyopita,
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Hivyo, maelfu ya miaka iliyopita,
02:17
the ancientkale NubiansWanubi
were paintinguchoraji picturespicha of trachomatrachoma
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wana wa kale wa Kinubia walikuwa wakichora picha za trakoma
02:21
on the wallskuta of theirwao tombkaburi.
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kwenye kuta za makaburi yao.
02:22
And the tragedyjanga is
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Na cha kuhuzunisha ni
02:24
that diseaseugonjwa is still rampantkuenea
in that areaeneo todayleo.
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kwamba ugonjwa huu bado unaathiri eneo hilo mpaka leo.
02:28
And the crazywazimu thing is,
we know how to stop it.
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Na jambo linaloudhi ni, tunajua namna ya kuzuia ugonjwa.
02:33
And what's great is that the trachomatrachoma
communityjumuiya have all come togetherpamoja
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Na jambo zuri ni kwamba jamii zote zenye tatizo la trakoma zimeungana pamoja
02:38
to poolbwawa theirwao effortsjuhudi.
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kushirikisha juhudi zao.
02:40
We don't competekushindana; we collaborateushirikiana.
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Hatushindani; tunashirikiana.
02:43
I have to tell you,
that's not always the casekesi
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Nataka nikwambie, sio suala muda wote
02:45
in my experienceuzoefu in the NGONGO worldulimwengu.
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katika uzoefu wangu wa dunia ya taasisi zisizo za kiserikali.
02:50
We'veTumekuwa createdimeundwa something
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Tumeunda taasisi
02:51
calledaitwaye the InternationalKimataifa CoalitionMuungano
for TrachomaTrachoma ControlUdhibiti.
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inaitwa International Coalition for Trachoma Control.(Muungano wa Kimataifa wa Kuzuia Trakoma)
02:56
And togetherpamoja, we'vetumekuwa developedmaendeleo
a strategymkakati to fightkupigana it.
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Na pamoja, tumeweka mkakati wa kupambana na trakoma.
03:00
This strategymkakati is calledaitwaye the SAFESALAMA strategymkakati,
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Huuna mkakati unaitwa mkakati wa SAFE,
03:03
and it's been approvedimeidhinishwa
by the WorldUlimwengu HealthAfya OrganizationShirika la.
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na umethibitishwa na Shirika la Afya Duniani.
03:07
The "S" standsinasimama for "surgeryupasuaji."
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"S" inamaanisha "surgery"(upasuaji)
03:10
It's very straightforwardmoja kwa moja procedureutaratibu
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Ni utaratibu rahisi wa mara moja
03:12
to turnkugeuka the eyelidskope back the right way.
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kurekebisha kope katika hali yake ya kawaida.
03:15
We traintreni nurseswauguzi to do it,
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Tunawafundisha manesi kufanya huu upasuaji,
03:17
and they use localmitaa anestheticsanesthetics.
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na wanatumia ganzi za kawaida.
03:19
And as you can see, you can do it
in somebody'smtu frontmbele porchukumbi, if need be.
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Na kama unavyoweza kuona, unaweza ukaufanyia kwenye kibaraza cha mwenye nyumba, kama inahitajika.
03:24
Then "A" standsinasimama for "antibioticsantibiotics."
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Kisha "A" inamaanisha "antibiotics"(dawa viuavijasumu).
03:27
These are donatedilichangia by PfizerPfizer,
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Hizi zinatolewa kama msaada na Pfizer,
03:30
who alsopia paykulipa for those drugsmadawa
to be transportedkusafirishwa to the portbandari in-countrykatika nchi.
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ambae analipia kwa ajili ya kusafirisha hizo dawa kwenye bandari ya nchi husika.
03:35
From there, they're takenkuchukuliwa to the villagesvijiji,
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Kutokea pale, zinapelekwa vijijini,
03:39
where hundredsmamia of thousandsmaelfu
of communityjumuiya volunteerswajitolea
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ambapo mamia ya maelfu ya wanajamii wanaojitolea
03:43
will distributekusambaza those drugsmadawa to the people.
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husambaza dawa hizo kwa watu.
03:47
Now, we traintreni those volunteerswajitolea,
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Sasa, huwa tunawafundisha wanaojitolea,
03:50
and we alsopia help the ministrieshuduma
with all that complextata logisticsvifaa.
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na pia tunasaidia wizara katika namna nzima ya kuendesha zoezi.
03:54
And everykila one of those volunteerswajitolea
has a polepole like this.
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Na kila mtu anaejitolea ana mlingoti kama huu.
04:00
It's calledaitwaye a "dosedozi polepole."
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Unaitwa "mlingoti wa tiba."
04:02
This one'sya mtu from CameroonCameroon.
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Huu umetokea Cameroon.
04:04
And you can see it's markedalama
differenttofauti colorsrangi,
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Na unaweza kuona umewekewa alama zenye rangi mbalimbali,
04:07
and you can tell how manywengi pillsdawa
you should give somebodymtu,
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na unaweza jua ni vidonge vingapi unaweza mpatia mgonjwa.
04:10
basedmsingi on how tallmrefu they are.
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kulingana na kimo chao.
04:14
"F" standsinasimama for "faceuso washingkuosha."
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"F" inamaanisha "face washing"(kuosha uso).
04:17
Now, we used to have trachomatrachoma
in the UKUINGEREZA and in the US.
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Sasa, tuliwahi kuwa na trakoma katika nchi za Marekani na Uingereza.
04:21
In factukweli, PresidentRais CarterCarter,
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Katika uhalisia, Rais Carter,
04:23
he talksmazungumzo about how trachomatrachoma
was a realhalisi problemtatizo in GeorgiaJojia
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anaongelea namna gani trakoma ilikuwa ni tatizo kubwa maeneo ya Georgia
04:27
when he was a little boymvulana.
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alipokuwa mdogo.
04:29
And in the UKUINGEREZA, the famousmaarufu
eyejicho hospitalhospitali, MoorfieldsMoorfields,
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Na Uingereza, hospitali maarufu ya macho, Moorfields,
04:33
was originallyawali a trachomatrachoma hospitalhospitali.
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hapo mwanzo ilikuwa ni hospitali ya trakoma.
04:36
What we do is teachkufundisha kidswatoto like this
how importantmuhimu it is to washsafisha theirwao facesinakabiliwa.
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Tunachofanya ni kufundisha watoto kwamba ni muhimu kuosha nyuso zao.
04:42
And finallyhatimaye, "E" standsinasimama for "environmentmazingira,"
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Na mwisho, "E" inamaanisha "environment"(mazingira),
04:46
where we help the communitiesjamii
buildjenga latrinesvifungo,
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ambapo tunasaidia jamii kujenga vyoo,
04:48
and we teachkufundisha them to separatetofauti
theirwao animalswanyama from theirwao livingwanaishi quartersrobo
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na tunawafundisha kuwatenganisha wanyama wao mbali na nyumba wanapoishi
04:52
in orderamri to reducekupunguza the flykuruka populationidadi ya watu.
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kwa ajili ya kupunguza mazalia ya nzi.
04:56
So we know how to tacklekukabiliana the diseaseugonjwa.
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Kwa hiyo tunafahamu namna ya kuushinda ugonjwa.
04:59
But we need to know where it is.
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Lakini tunahitaji kujua upo wapi.
05:01
And we do,
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Na tunafahamu,
05:03
because a fewwachache yearsmiaka agoiliyopita,
SightsaversSightsavers led an incredibleajabu programprogramu
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Kwa sababu miaka michache iliyopita, taasisi ya Sightsavers waliongoza zoezi bora sana
05:07
calledaitwaye the GlobalKimataifa TrachomaTrachoma
MappingRamani ProjectMradi.
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liitwalo the Global Trachoma Mapping Project(Ramani ya Dunia ya Trakoma).
05:11
It tookalichukua us threetatu yearsmiaka,
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Ilituchukua miaka mitatu,
05:13
but we wentakaenda throughkupitia 29 countriesnchi,
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na tulitembea katika nchi 29,
05:16
and we taughtalifundishwa localmitaa healthafya workerswafanyakazi
to go districtwilaya by districtwilaya,
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na tuliwafundisha watumishi wa afya kutembelea wilaya baada ya wilaya,
05:21
and they examinedkuchunguza the eyelidskope
of over two and a halfnusu millionmilioni people.
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na walichunguza kope za watu zaidi ya milioni mbili na nusu,
05:27
And they used AndroidAndroid phonessimu
in orderamri to downloadkupakua the datadata.
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na walitumia simu za Android kwa ajili ya kupakua taarifa.
05:31
And from that, we were ableinaweza to buildjenga a mapramani
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Na kuanzia hapo, tuliweza kutengeneza ramani
05:34
that showedilionyesha us where the diseaseugonjwa was.
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inayoonyesha wapi ugonjwa ulipo.
05:37
Now, this is a very high-levelngazi ya juu mapramani
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Sasa, hii ni ramani ya ngazi ya juu
05:39
that showsinaonyesha you whichambayo countriesnchi
had a problemtatizo with trachomatrachoma.
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ambayo inaonyesha nchi gani zina tatizo la trakoma.
05:43
And you mayinaweza askkuuliza me,
"Well, does this strategymkakati actuallykwa kweli work?"
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Na unaweza kuniuliza, "Sasa, mkakati huu unafanya kazi kweli?"
05:47
Yes, it does.
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Ndiyo, unafanya kazi.
05:49
This mapramani showsinaonyesha you the progressmaendeleo
that we'vetumekuwa madealifanya to datetarehe.
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Hii ramani inaonyesha hatua tulizopiga mpaka sasa.
05:52
The greenkijani countriesnchi believe
they'vewameweza alreadytayari eliminatedkuondolewa trachomatrachoma,
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Nchi za kijani zinaamini kwamba zimeshaondoa trakoma,
05:56
and they have eitherama been throughkupitia
or are in the processmchakato of
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na washapata au wapo katika hatua za
05:59
havingkuwa na that validatedthibitishwa by the WHO.
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kupata uthibitisho wa kutokomeza ugonjwa toka kwa WHO.
06:02
CountriesNchi in yellownjano
have the moneyfedha they need,
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Nchi za njano wana fedha wanazohitaji,
06:05
they have the resourcesrasilimali
to eliminatekuondoa trachomatrachoma.
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wana rasilimali kwa ajili ya kuondoa trakoma.
06:08
And some of them are really nearlykaribu there.
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Na baadhi ya wanakaribia
06:11
But the rednyekundu countriesnchi,
they don't have enoughkutosha fundingfedha.
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Lakini nchi nyekundu, hawana fedha za kutosha.
06:14
They cannothaiwezi eliminatekuondoa trachomatrachoma
unlessisipokuwa they get more.
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Hawawezi kuondoa trakoma kama wasipopata fedha zaidi.
06:18
And we're quitekabisa concernedwasiwasi, thoughingawa,
that the progressmaendeleo to datetarehe mayinaweza stallzizini.
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Na tunaona kwamba unatuhusu, ingawa, muendelezo umekwama mpaka sasa.
06:23
So when we were talkingkuzungumza
to the AudaciousJasiri ideasmawazo guys,
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Kwa hiyo tulivyokuwa tukiongelea kuhusu mradi wa Audacious,
06:28
we askedaliuliza ourselvessisi wenyewe:
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tulijiuliza maswali:
06:30
If we really, really pushedkusukuma ourselvessisi wenyewe
over the nextijayo fournne or fivetano yearsmiaka
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Kama kweli, tukiweza kujisukuma ndani ya miaka minne au mitano ijayo
06:34
and we had the moneyfedha,
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na tukawa na fedha,
06:36
what do we think we could achievekufikia?
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tunadhani tunaweza fanikisha mambo gani?
06:39
Well, we believe
that we can eliminatekuondoa trachomatrachoma
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Hata hivyo, tunaamini kwamba tunaweza kuondoa trakoma
06:44
in 12 AfricanAfrika countriesnchi
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katika nchi 12 za Kiafrika
06:47
and acrosskote the AmericasAmerika
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na katika nchi za America
06:50
and all acrosskote the PacificPasifiki.
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na kote katika Pacific.
06:53
And we can make significantmuhimu progressmaendeleo
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Na tunaweza fanya mabadiliko makubwa
06:56
in two countriesnchi whichambayo have
the highestjuu burdenmzigo of the diseaseugonjwa,
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katika nchi mbili ambazo zina mzigo wa magonjwa,
07:00
whichambayo is EthiopiaEthiopia and NigeriaNigeria.
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ambazo ni Ethiopia na Nigeria.
07:03
And in doing all of that,
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Katika kufanya hayo yote,
07:05
we can leverageupanuzi more than two
billionbilioni dollars'dola ' worththamani of donatedilichangia drugsmadawa.
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tunaweza kupata zaidi ya dawa zenye thamani ya kiasi cha dola za Kimarekani bilioni mbili(shilingi za Kitanzania takribani trilioni nne)
07:11
(ApplauseMakofi)
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(Makofi)
07:17
Now, this mapramani here showsinaonyesha you
the impactathari that we'llvizuri have --
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Sasa, hii ramani inakuonyesha mafanikio tutayopata --
07:20
look how manywengi countriesnchi are going greenkijani.
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angalia nchi ngapi zinazoelekea kuwa kijani.
07:22
And there, you can see progressmaendeleo
in EthiopiaEthiopia and NigeriaNigeria.
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Na hapo, utaweza kuona maendeleo katika nchi za Ethiopia na Nigeria.
07:25
Now, yes, there are some countriesnchi
that are still rednyekundu.
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Sasa, bado kuna nchi ambazo ni nyekundu.
07:28
These are mainlyhasa countriesnchi
whichambayo are in conflictmigogoro --
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Hizi ni nchi ambazo zipo katika migogoro --
07:31
placesmaeneo like YemenYemeni, SouthKusini SudanSudan --
where it's very difficultvigumu to work.
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sehemu kama Yemen, Sudani Kusini -- ambapo ni ngumu kufanya kazi.
07:35
So, we have the teamtimu,
the strategymkakati and the mapramani.
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Kwa hiyo, tuna timu, mkakati na ramani.
07:40
And we alsopia have the relationshipsmahusiano
with the governmentsserikali
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Na pia tuna mahusiano na serikali
07:44
so that we can make sure
that our programprogramu is coordinatedUratibu
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kwa hiyo tunaweza kuhakikisha kwamba zoezi linaunganishwa
07:48
with other disease-controludhibiti wa magonjwa programsprogramu,
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na mazoezi mengine yanayohusiana na kupambana na magonjwa,
07:50
so that we can be efficientufanisi.
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ili kuongeza ufanisi zaidi.
07:53
Wouldn'tBila it be amazingajabu
if we could do this?
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Haitakuwa nzuri kama tutaweza kufanya hivi?
07:57
We'dTunataka have trachomatrachoma on the runkukimbia.
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Tuna ugonjwa wa trakoma bado.
07:59
We would be on the home straightsawa
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Tungeweza kuwepo nyumbani
08:02
to eliminatekuondoa this diseaseugonjwa
from the wholeyote worldulimwengu.
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na kuweza kuondoa ugonjwa huu duniani kote.
08:06
But before I finishkumaliza,
I just want to sharekushiriki with you
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Lakini kabla sijamaliza, nataka kuwashirikisha
08:09
some wordsmaneno from
the foundermwanzilishi of SightsaversSightsavers,
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maneno baadhi kutoka kwa muanzilishi wa taasisi ya Sightsavers
08:12
a guy calledaitwaye SirSir JohnYohana WilsonWilson.
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bwana mmoja anayeitwa Sir John Wilson
08:14
Now, he was blindedameyapofusha at the ageumri of 12.
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Sasa, alipata upofu akiwa na miaka 12.
08:16
And he said,
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Na alisema,
08:18
"People don't go blindkipofu by the millionmilioni.
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"Watu hawapati upofu wakiwa mamilioni.
08:21
They go blindkipofu one by one."
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Wanapata upofu mmoja kwa mmoja."
08:24
And in the excitementfuraha of beingkuwa ableinaweza to say
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Na shauku ya kuweza kusema kwamba
08:27
we'vetumekuwa got ridOndoa of trachomatrachoma
for the wholeyote countrynchi,
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tumeweza kuondokana na trakoma kwa nchi nzima,
08:30
let's not forgetkusahau that, actuallykwa kweli,
this is a devastatinguharibifu diseaseugonjwa
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tusisahau ya kwamba, kwa uhalisia, hii ugonjwa mbaya sana
08:35
that destroyskuharibu the livesanaishi
of individualmtu binafsi people.
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ambao unaharibu maisha ya watu wengi.
08:39
People like TwibaTwiba.
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Watu kama Twiba.
08:40
Now, I metalikutana TwibaTwiba last yearmwaka in TanzaniaTanzania.
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Sasa, nilikutana na Twiba mwaka jana nchini Tanzania.
08:43
She had had trachomatrachoma
for as long as she could rememberkumbuka.
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Alikuwa na trakoma katika muda wote anaoweza kukumbuka.
08:46
And a couplewanandoa of monthsmiezi before I metalikutana her,
she'dyeye d had the operationoperesheni.
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Na miaka kadhaa kabla sijaonana nae, alifanyiwa upasuaji.
08:50
It's no exaggerationexaggeration to say
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Sio kitu cha kukuza kusema
08:53
that this had totallykabisa
transformedkubadilishwa her life.
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kwamba upasuaji huu umebadili maisha yake moja kwa moja.
08:57
We'dTunataka savedimehifadhiwa the sightkuona that she had left,
and she was freebure of painmaumivu.
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Tumeokoa uono, na ameondokana na maumivu,
09:01
She could sleepusingizi.
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Anaweza kulala.
09:03
She could work, she could socializehutegemea nje.
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Anaweza kufanya kazi, na pia kujumuika na wenzake.
09:05
And she said to me,
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Na aliniambia,
09:08
"I have my life back."
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"Nimerudishiwa maisha yangu tena."
09:10
And it was impossiblehaiwezekani
not to be movedwakiongozwa by her storyhadithi.
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Na ni vigumu kutohamasika kutokana na hadithi ya maisha yake.
09:14
But there are so manywengi TwibasTwibas.
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Lakini wengi waliopo kama Twiba.
09:16
I want to find all the TwibasTwibas,
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Nataka niwatafute watu wote kama Twiba,
09:19
and I don't want anyoneyeyote
to go blindkipofu in agonyuchungu anymoretena.
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na sitaki mtu yoyote awe mpofu na mwenye maumivu tena.
09:23
Now, you know, there are so manywengi
intractablekaidi problemsmatatizo in this worldulimwengu.
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Sasa, unajua, kuna matatizo mengi sana duniani ambayo ni magumu kutatua.
09:29
But this is not one of them.
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Lakini hili siyo mojawapo.
09:31
This is something that we can solvekutatua.
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Hili ni tatizo ambalo tunaweza kulitatua.
09:34
And we can ensurekuhakikisha
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Na tunaweza hakikisha
09:36
that kidswatoto like this can growkukua up
freebure from the fearhofu of trachomatrachoma.
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kwamba watoto kama hawa wanakua katika mazingira yasiyo na trakoma.
09:42
So, for the sakekwa sababu of kidswatoto like this,
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Kwa hivyo, kwa ajili ya watoto kama hawa,
09:45
and for the sakekwa sababu of people like TwibaTwiba,
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na kwa ajili ya watu kama Twiba,
09:48
let's get ridOndoa of trachomatrachoma.
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tuondokane na trakoma.
09:52
Do you think we can?
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Unadhani tunaweza?
09:55
Well, yeah, if we really, really want to.
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Ndiyo, kama kweli tunataka.
09:58
Yes, we can.
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Ndiyo tunaweza.
10:00
So thank you.
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Asante!
10:01
(ApplauseMakofi)
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(Makofi)
Translated by Nelson Simfukwe
Reviewed by Joachim Mangilima

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ABOUT THE SPEAKER
Caroline Harper - Advocate for visually impaired people
At Sightsavers, an international NGO, Caroline Harper leads efforts to eliminate avoidable blindness around the world and fight for equal rights.

Why you should listen

Dr. Caroline Harper's ultimate goal is to see herself out of a job. She runs Sightsavers, an organization with global offices that strives to eliminate avoidable blindness and ensure that people with disabilities have equal rights. Up to 75 percent of sight loss can be cured or prevented, and her team hopes to achieve their goals so spectacularly that the organization is no longer needed. 

Harper worked in the gas industry until 2002, before co-founding a management business that specialized on turnaround sales of energy companies. But during what she describes as a mid-life gap year, she visited a number of developing countries and felt drawn to international development. "My own family has a lot of blindness, so the mission of Sightsavers really resonated for me," she said. "I have now been its CEO for 13 years, and every year something more incredible happens. The best moments are when I visit some of the countries where we work, sit with people in their communities and realize that what we do has a massive impact. I am so lucky."

Harper is a Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) for her work to protect the sight of people in developing countries. Sightsavers works with a range of partners and is supported by organizations such as The Queen Elizabeth Diamond Jubilee Trust and UK aid through the UK government's Department for International Development.

More profile about the speaker
Caroline Harper | Speaker | TED.com