Translator: Jumana Yousef Checker: Anwar Dafa-Alla
Hello!
Have you ever been told that you can not do something?
Have you ever felt that being different is bad?
Have you ever tried something and failed?
Fortunately, I will answer all those questions with a yes.
Yeah!
I know, these are not very good ideas.
Everything depends on your perception of it.
My name is Zoe Terry.
I’m here to share with you
How you turned the impossible into possible.
I am nine years old.
In my time here, I had to deal with some things.
(Laughter)
When I was only two years old,
My mother knew I had a stroke.
Stroke affected the possibility of jumping,
Learn how to ride my bike,
And a method of physical transformation.
It also influenced the way I speak.
My words sometimes confuse together,
People can not always understand me.
My mother took me for treatment.
I was there all the time.
It made me stronger.
They said:
I will have problems doing the things other children do.
My mother was worried, and I knew she was scared,
But she never told me.
I was not scared or worried.
You see, they did not know who I was exactly.
(Laughter)
I felt inside me that I could do what I wanted
As long as I did my best.
That’s what I did.
I wanted to do everything.
I wanted to dance, so my mother took me to the dance place.
I wanted to play tennis. My mother took me to tennis.
I wanted to try the aerial jump,
So, you guessed; my mother took me to jump.
Now I do all those things.
These things were not easy at first.
In fact it was difficult.
I was losing my temper when I was not as ingenious as other children.
I could not join the dance team,
I could not win the tennis games,
When I started riding my bike, I was falling all the time.
I was crying.
There were even times when I wanted to stop.
But I did not.
Monday, signed.
Tuesday, signed.
Wednesday, signed.
I kept going.
Become stronger, better.
(clap)
Guess what?
I can now jump.
I can ride my bike.
I can turn
Such as a graceful ballet dancer,
I can hang in the silk ropes in the air.
I can also say that I am a skilled tennis player.
I think I can play someday.
I did not give up.
I turned the impossible into possible.
When I was in kindergarten,
Bounce on me because I am different.
My hair was different.
I was fat.
My skin was different from the rest in the classroom.
A girl was telling me,
“Zoe, your hair is very puffy.”
Or “Your skin is very dark.”
There have been times
Call me Tsufhaiih
Because I could not ride a tricycle
With the same ingenuity or speed as other children.
It made me feel ugly.
I just wanted to adapt.
I do not understand
Why do I look like this? Why was that so bad?
It made me look very sad.
But not for long …
(Laughter)
Along with my mother, Gaga, my school,
I did something about it, and that’s how.
Every year, at Christmas time,
My mother would make me give one of my toys to someone else.
When I was five, I told her I did not want to do it again.
I told her that I wanted to create a new company called “Zoe Dolls”.
I wanted to tell young black girls that they were beautiful,
And they are characteristics of their nature.
That year, on my birthday, October 19,
I told all my friends and family
To bring me brown dolls instead of a gift.
I also asked my school if they could help me.
I asked them, and they agreed.
In my first year, I collected more than 250 dolls.
My school also worked hard with me.
Director of Madrasati, Miss Knight.
I ordered the girl who was not very nice with me.
Help her to understand,
That our differences,
Are what make us distinct and unite in one society.
That little girl that was not nice to me
She is now my girlfriend!
She helps us every year in “Zoe Dolls”.
We are now in our fourth year in Zoe Dolls.
The company has given more than 2,000 puppets to young girls in North Florida.
We even ship dolls to Africa and Haiti.
I’ve been to the Miami Herald, the Miami Times,
I was on the radio and TV.
I talk about Zoe Dolls in schools, churches, organizations and companies.
We even created a branch for Zoe Dolls,
In Georgia, Mississippi, and Texas.
My company also has very powerful programs.
So young black girls are told that their image is beautiful.
One of my favorite programs is
“I love my skin”, an innovative competition for expressions,
This program is my favorite,
Because I think it generates trust in girls.
Another of our programs is “Letters of Love to Black Girls.”
Where people write letters of love to black girls
To encourage them and celebrate their beauty.
I want young black girls to know that we may look different,
But we are beautiful.
(clap)
My goal this year
Is to have my classy of “Zo dolls”.
Do you see what can happen when you do not stop?
I just love it!
Tell my friends the whole time,
“You can never give up on yourself.”
We may look small but strong.
Nothing is impossible.
The same word says, “I am possible.”
Thank.
(clap)
Hello!
Have you ever been told that you can not do something?
Have you ever felt that being different is bad?
Have you ever tried something and failed?
Fortunately, I will answer all those questions with a yes.
Yeah!
I know, these are not very good ideas.
Everything depends on your perception of it.
My name is Zoe Terry.
I’m here to share with you
How you turned the impossible into possible.
I am nine years old.
In my time here, I had to deal with some things.
(Laughter)
When I was only two years old,
My mother knew I had a stroke.
Stroke affected the possibility of jumping,
Learn how to ride my bike,
And a method of physical transformation.
It also influenced the way I speak.
My words sometimes confuse together,
People can not always understand me.
My mother took me for treatment.
I was there all the time.
It made me stronger.
They said:
I will have problems doing the things other children do.
My mother was worried, and I knew she was scared,
But she never told me.
I was not scared or worried.
You see, they did not know who I was exactly.
(Laughter)
I felt inside me that I could do what I wanted
As long as I did my best.
That’s what I did.
I wanted to do everything.
I wanted to dance, so my mother took me to the dance place.
I wanted to play tennis. My mother took me to tennis.
I wanted to try the aerial jump,
So, you guessed; my mother took me to jump.
Now I do all those things.
These things were not easy at first.
In fact it was difficult.
I was losing my temper when I was not as ingenious as other children.
I could not join the dance team,
I could not win the tennis games,
When I started riding my bike, I was falling all the time.
I was crying.
There were even times when I wanted to stop.
But I did not.
Monday, signed.
Tuesday, signed.
Wednesday, signed.
I kept going.
Become stronger, better.
(clap)
Guess what?
I can now jump.
I can ride my bike.
I can turn
Such as a graceful ballet dancer,
I can hang in the silk ropes in the air.
I can also say that I am a skilled tennis player.
I think I can play someday.
I did not give up.
I turned the impossible into possible.
When I was in kindergarten,
Bounce on me because I am different.
My hair was different.
I was fat.
My skin was different from the rest in the classroom.
A girl was telling me,
“Zoe, your hair is very puffy.”
Or “Your skin is very dark.”
There have been times
Call me Tsufhaiih
Because I could not ride a tricycle
With the same ingenuity or speed as other children.
It made me feel ugly.
I just wanted to adapt.
I do not understand
Why do I look like this? Why was that so bad?
It made me look very sad.
But not for long …
(Laughter)
Along with my mother, Gaga, my school,
I did something about it, and that’s how.
Every year, at Christmas time,
My mother would make me give one of my toys to someone else.
When I was five, I told her I did not want to do it again.
I told her that I wanted to create a new company called “Zoe Dolls”.
I wanted to tell young black girls that they were beautiful,
And they are characteristics of their nature.
That year, on my birthday, October 19,
I told all my friends and family
To bring me brown dolls instead of a gift.
I also asked my school if they could help me.
I asked them, and they agreed.
In my first year, I collected more than 250 dolls.
My school also worked hard with me.
Director of Madrasati, Miss Knight.
I ordered the girl who was not very nice with me.
Help her to understand,
That our differences,
Are what make us distinct and unite in one society.
That little girl that was not nice to me
She is now my girlfriend!
She helps us every year in “Zoe Dolls”.
We are now in our fourth year in Zoe Dolls.
The company has given more than 2,000 puppets to young girls in North Florida.
We even ship dolls to Africa and Haiti.
I’ve been to the Miami Herald, the Miami Times,
I was on the radio and TV.
I talk about Zoe Dolls in schools, churches, organizations and companies.
We even created a branch for Zoe Dolls,
In Georgia, Mississippi, and Texas.
My company also has very powerful programs.
So young black girls are told that their image is beautiful.
One of my favorite programs is
“I love my skin”, an innovative competition for expressions,
This program is my favorite,
Because I think it generates trust in girls.
Another of our programs is “Letters of Love to Black Girls.”
Where people write letters of love to black girls
To encourage them and celebrate their beauty.
I want young black girls to know that we may look different,
But we are beautiful.
(clap)
My goal this year
Is to have my classy of “Zo dolls”.
Do you see what can happen when you do not stop?
I just love it!
Tell my friends the whole time,
“You can never give up on yourself.”
We may look small but strong.
Nothing is impossible.
The same word says, “I am possible.”
Thank.
(clap)
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