[Music]
[Music]
how many of you have been in a situation
where you wanted to speak out but you
kept silent how many of you have ideas
that could change the world but you have
not take action jitna Mubin Caracara
Cobell with not cha the more silent you
are the safer you will be as a child
this phrase was continually repeated to
me by my mother my family and my village
it was a mantra that bore itself through
every aspect of our life
it was meant to oppress people to keep
us silent I am here today to record my
silence imagine a dusty undocumented
village not found on any map a place
with no electricity no cars and no
hospital a place where children are born
onto the floor of their family homes and
neither birth nor death records are kept
that is where I was born and where I
began my journey as an undocumented
individual I still cannot tell you with
any certainty my exact age I believe I
am somewhere 25 26 and 27 today I am
going to share with you the challenge of
being undocumented and not have social
security number or driver license
passport or mesh certificate bank
accounts and credit cards it means we
couldn’t go to school and obtain
appropriate employment we couldn’t rent
a home we couldn’t receive medical
treatment if we were sick
if someone inflicted violence on us or
murder us there will be no police report
we will be simply for garden I still
clearly remember one of my village and
who was bit more or two spoken and liked
to wear makeup she was very kind and
beautiful she had a wonderful smile her
husband had been raised in a belief
system
prohibited women from speaking loudly
and looked upon her behavior as the same
to his household and family in a fit of
rage he murdered her
her death was never documented and
police report was never filed she was
silently buried by the villagers that is
when I feared and I felt I will be next
at the age of nine or ten without any
documentation I found myself working in
Katmandu as a sweatshop child laborer
making clothes for massive export
companies six of us lived worked slept
in 10 by 10 room without bed bathroom or
clean water we were getting paid less
than $2 a day and forced to work 12 to
15 hours a day if we did not meet our
deadline we would not get paid at all to
keep up with the work I slept very
little there was a moment I felt my
little fingers were fast as machine I
was surrounded by pieces of clothing day
and night I hated those clothes they
were woven with the energy of my
suffering at the end of each day I would
collapse onto the large bundle of
clothes and daydream about where they
would end up and who would wear them if
you don’t know who made your clothes
maybe some of you wearing my clothes
right now last fall turkey star
treatment landed in well-known luxury
shop the search contained hidden label
which read I made this item you’re going
to buy but I did not get paid for it the
luxury brand had been paying for the
reproduction but the manufacturer had
not been paying its workers this
incident highlight major problem Western
corporation outsourcing loosely
regulated foreign manufacturing
unregulated manufacture use undocumented
individual who works from secret and
illegal sweatshop hidden in unmarked
buildings throughout
cities and religious and slumps me and
my colleagues found ourself in this very
same situation just like the Turkish
factory worker the owner left town
without paying anyone my brother and I
and my colleagues felt completely
destitute and disempowered i sat across
the local street and they dream about
what it would be like to be a student I
was feeling completely hopeless
when universe closed every door there is
a secret door for all of us and for me
the secret door was brown white animal a
dog that came up and he sniffed my hand
literally made me so jump because in my
village dogs are forbidden to touch
there was a man I looked up and he told
me come here don’t be scared he’s like
my son when he told me come here I
immediately grabbed his wrist and said
uncle can you please teach me this man
Lesley John was so moved by my request
that for the last 10 years he have been
teaching me he also helped me get my
birth certificate and eventually attend
college Lesley is here where are you
thank you I want you to kill me I just
want you to kill me in 2008 I took my
first loan I opened my first bank
account and I started a Fairtrade
organization in the same city where I
was a former child laborer local women’s
handicraft
is a clothing company that work with
undocumented marginalized and
disadvantaged women we are collecting
our stories through the product we
design make and sell together I wanted
to create a work environment there was
exact opposite of the shirt shop I had
worked in these are L WH principle
provide a living wage ethical trade
standards transparency and
accountability opportunities for
disadvantaged women safe working
conditions respect for the environment
promote social enterprise innovative
training programs social project and
partnership our Factory he 100 year old
loom we have a biogas when you do
something from the heart everything
works like magic the elder blood shop
became magnet for journalists activists
social workers and artists when I got
published in Forbes magazine I had no
idea what Forbes magazine was despite
running my own business my parents still
expected me to return back to my village
and get married
I have watched my older sister forced
into marriage at the age of 16 the
reason of marrying girls as young as
possible is because they are too easy to
control they’re so naive when I was
turning 21
my parents they took the responsibility
and they arranged my marriage with a man
I never met or never talked once but my
family and my villagers did
notnot that my story is published
everywhere I have learned how to use
Facebook to turn Google and I watch TED
talk my story of forced marriage got
seared all explosively social media with
the help of my world friends
my younger sister Sahin a $400 bribe to
my village elders a permanent mark of
shame on my family I became the first
girl in my village who have ever escaped
forced marriage
the life of my aunt and my sister are
gone our just a girl then to do anything
but those memories are becoming clear
each and every day today I’m a woman and
I’m educated and I’m independent and I’m
very aware of the injustice that
happened around the world is actually a
solvable problem this is the time for
action a time for everyone to speak out
and record your silence in public domain
today I have chosen to record my silence
stop force marriage right now stop child
labor right now ask the who made your
products and give the voices to the
millions of artists who are faceless now
I was a child labor I am a first woman
my village to escape forced marriage I’m
an entrepreneur and I’m an advocate for
equality and most important I’m a human
being just like you
[Applause]
[Music]
[Applause]
[Music]
[Music]
[Music]
[Music]
how many of you have been in a situation
where you wanted to speak out but you
kept silent how many of you have ideas
that could change the world but you have
not take action jitna Mubin Caracara
Cobell with not cha the more silent you
are the safer you will be as a child
this phrase was continually repeated to
me by my mother my family and my village
it was a mantra that bore itself through
every aspect of our life
it was meant to oppress people to keep
us silent I am here today to record my
silence imagine a dusty undocumented
village not found on any map a place
with no electricity no cars and no
hospital a place where children are born
onto the floor of their family homes and
neither birth nor death records are kept
that is where I was born and where I
began my journey as an undocumented
individual I still cannot tell you with
any certainty my exact age I believe I
am somewhere 25 26 and 27 today I am
going to share with you the challenge of
being undocumented and not have social
security number or driver license
passport or mesh certificate bank
accounts and credit cards it means we
couldn’t go to school and obtain
appropriate employment we couldn’t rent
a home we couldn’t receive medical
treatment if we were sick
if someone inflicted violence on us or
murder us there will be no police report
we will be simply for garden I still
clearly remember one of my village and
who was bit more or two spoken and liked
to wear makeup she was very kind and
beautiful she had a wonderful smile her
husband had been raised in a belief
system
prohibited women from speaking loudly
and looked upon her behavior as the same
to his household and family in a fit of
rage he murdered her
her death was never documented and
police report was never filed she was
silently buried by the villagers that is
when I feared and I felt I will be next
at the age of nine or ten without any
documentation I found myself working in
Katmandu as a sweatshop child laborer
making clothes for massive export
companies six of us lived worked slept
in 10 by 10 room without bed bathroom or
clean water we were getting paid less
than $2 a day and forced to work 12 to
15 hours a day if we did not meet our
deadline we would not get paid at all to
keep up with the work I slept very
little there was a moment I felt my
little fingers were fast as machine I
was surrounded by pieces of clothing day
and night I hated those clothes they
were woven with the energy of my
suffering at the end of each day I would
collapse onto the large bundle of
clothes and daydream about where they
would end up and who would wear them if
you don’t know who made your clothes
maybe some of you wearing my clothes
right now last fall turkey star
treatment landed in well-known luxury
shop the search contained hidden label
which read I made this item you’re going
to buy but I did not get paid for it the
luxury brand had been paying for the
reproduction but the manufacturer had
not been paying its workers this
incident highlight major problem Western
corporation outsourcing loosely
regulated foreign manufacturing
unregulated manufacture use undocumented
individual who works from secret and
illegal sweatshop hidden in unmarked
buildings throughout
cities and religious and slumps me and
my colleagues found ourself in this very
same situation just like the Turkish
factory worker the owner left town
without paying anyone my brother and I
and my colleagues felt completely
destitute and disempowered i sat across
the local street and they dream about
what it would be like to be a student I
was feeling completely hopeless
when universe closed every door there is
a secret door for all of us and for me
the secret door was brown white animal a
dog that came up and he sniffed my hand
literally made me so jump because in my
village dogs are forbidden to touch
there was a man I looked up and he told
me come here don’t be scared he’s like
my son when he told me come here I
immediately grabbed his wrist and said
uncle can you please teach me this man
Lesley John was so moved by my request
that for the last 10 years he have been
teaching me he also helped me get my
birth certificate and eventually attend
college Lesley is here where are you
thank you I want you to kill me I just
want you to kill me in 2008 I took my
first loan I opened my first bank
account and I started a Fairtrade
organization in the same city where I
was a former child laborer local women’s
handicraft
is a clothing company that work with
undocumented marginalized and
disadvantaged women we are collecting
our stories through the product we
design make and sell together I wanted
to create a work environment there was
exact opposite of the shirt shop I had
worked in these are L WH principle
provide a living wage ethical trade
standards transparency and
accountability opportunities for
disadvantaged women safe working
conditions respect for the environment
promote social enterprise innovative
training programs social project and
partnership our Factory he 100 year old
loom we have a biogas when you do
something from the heart everything
works like magic the elder blood shop
became magnet for journalists activists
social workers and artists when I got
published in Forbes magazine I had no
idea what Forbes magazine was despite
running my own business my parents still
expected me to return back to my village
and get married
I have watched my older sister forced
into marriage at the age of 16 the
reason of marrying girls as young as
possible is because they are too easy to
control they’re so naive when I was
turning 21
my parents they took the responsibility
and they arranged my marriage with a man
I never met or never talked once but my
family and my villagers did
notnot that my story is published
everywhere I have learned how to use
Facebook to turn Google and I watch TED
talk my story of forced marriage got
seared all explosively social media with
the help of my world friends
my younger sister Sahin a $400 bribe to
my village elders a permanent mark of
shame on my family I became the first
girl in my village who have ever escaped
forced marriage
the life of my aunt and my sister are
gone our just a girl then to do anything
but those memories are becoming clear
each and every day today I’m a woman and
I’m educated and I’m independent and I’m
very aware of the injustice that
happened around the world is actually a
solvable problem this is the time for
action a time for everyone to speak out
and record your silence in public domain
today I have chosen to record my silence
stop force marriage right now stop child
labor right now ask the who made your
products and give the voices to the
millions of artists who are faceless now
I was a child labor I am a first woman
my village to escape forced marriage I’m
an entrepreneur and I’m an advocate for
equality and most important I’m a human
being just like you
[Applause]
[Music]
[Applause]
[Music]
[Music]
[Music]
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