Monday, April 22, 2013 11 AM Eastern Time On VoiceAmerica Business
A Shining New Opportunity for Girls: The Courageous Vision of Emerging Explorer Kakenya Ntaiya
Inside the walls of the new Kakenya Center for Excellence in a remote district of Kenya, 155 girls are thriving thanks to the determination, optimism and sheer will of National Geographic Emerging Explorer Kakenya Ntaiya. Once a village girl herself, Kakenya bargained with her father to continue her education past the tradition age of 13 in exchange for participating in the local tradition of female genital circumcision. Today, in the region's first and only primary school for girls, students learn about health and leadership in addition to rigorous academics. Join Host Kate Ebner for an inspiring conversation with a true visionary whose dreams have taken her from a grass hut to a doctoral degree in the US - and whose heart has taken her back home to change the world.
Guest Biography
Life for Kakenya Ntaiya was supposed to follow the traditional path. Engaged at age 5, she was to be circumcised by the time she was a teenager, an event that would mark the end of her education and the beginning of her preparations for marriage. But Kakenya had a different plan. First, she negotiated with her father: she would be circumcised only if she could also finish high school. He agreed. Then she negotiated with the village elders to do what no girl had ever done: leave her Maasai village in south Kenya to go to college in the United States. She promised that she would use her education to benefit her community. The entire village collected money to pay for her journey. She eventually received a BA and Masters of Education in the U.S.
Kakenya is now fulfilling her promise to her community. As the founder of Kakenya Center for Excellence, a girls' primary school in Enoosaen, Kenya. Kakenya believes that education will empower and motivate young girls to become agents of change in their community and country. Kakenya was honored with a Vital Voices Global Leadership award in 2008 and as a National Geographic Emerging Explorer in 2010. She was named one of Newsweek's "150 Women Who Shake the World" in 2011 and honored as a CNN Hero in 2013.
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NGS Explorer Barrington Irving:
Helping Kids Take Flight
by Rachel Wold
 Explorer and Pilot Barrington Irving believes kids can do a lot more than we think- and he's willing to put his life on the line to prove it. Last year, Barrington, the first African-American to fly solo around the world, took off if an airplane built in just 100 day by a group of students as young as 8. This project is just one of the ways that Barrington's Miami-based organization, Experience Aviation, engages kids by challenging them to exercise their math and science skills on fun and exciting projects. He is adamant that the only way the United States can improve its relatively low rankings in math and science is by offering students the chance to achieve by tackling tough challenges presented in an appealing manner.
Barrington notes that, despite the desire to give opportunities to kids, many parents over-protect them and don't allow kids to handle real challenges. "We don't actually trust our kids. We don't think they're capable of doing amazing things." Barrington remembers the negative reaction he received as he was about to embark on his record-breaking flight around the world at age 23: "People told me I wasn't old enough and a hundred other reasons why I couldn't do it. But I did." The flight became a defining experience for his life. His advice to parents and educators is: "Practice meaningful engagement with kids. Put students at the helm."
 Right now, he is planning an exciting project that does just that: Barrington will fly around the world in the fall of 2014 with classrooms of students helping him navigate his plan, plan his meals and explore his destinations. His hope is that if a young student participates, she might say to herself, "I helped Barrington land his plane on a tiny island in the ocean. I bet I can win that math competition." Barrington's ultimate goal is to inspire students to dream big and achieve careers in fields they didn't previously consider possible for them, namely science, math, engineering and technology.
Barrington is paying forward the mentorship and confidence boost he received as a teenager when he met the man who convinced him to become a pilot. "My mentor, Captain Robinson, told me I had to give back, to give knowledge and experiences to others. People really are the greatest investment, and it's an amazing feeling when you see that you've created a positive change in someone's life."
Don't Miss the Supercar Challenge!
On May 3, Barrington will race a supercar built by kids against a jet. To find out who wins, connect with Experience Aviation here and listen with a friend to his conversation with Kate Ebner on Visionary Leader, Extraordinary Life here or download the podcast.
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