By “When you empower a girl, you transform a community.” – Kakenya Ntaiya
In this inspirational TED Talk, educator and activist Kakenya Ntaiya speaks out about how she worked towards empowering women in rural Kenya, and why this should be a goal for every community around the globe. At the crossroads of education, empowerment, and FGM, Ntaiya found herself faced with repetitive toxic cycles, where girls spent their youth learning to cook and clean, only to be married off to men older than their fathers, to then have children in their teen years. Determined to change this, Ntaiya set off to make a difference through the power of education.
“It turns out it truly does take a village to make this kind of a dream come true.”
Taking us through the process of setting up a school for girls, Ntaiya opens our eyes to a number of challenges she faced, some expected and some perplexing. Above it all, she opens our eyes to the importance of investing in girls, of believing in them, and of supporting them. In the end, a dream that took a significant amount of community support that did not come so easily, soon turned into a project whose impact will be felt through generations.