Kakenya Ntaiya: Empower a girl, transform a community
Kakenya Ntaiya: L’indépendance des filles transforme les communautés
Kakenya Ntaiya refused to accept the continued oppression of women in her Maasai village -- so she built a school that's shifting gender expectations in her community. Full bio
Double-click the English transcript below to play the video.
vous devez les instruire.
I learned something much bigger.
you transform a community.
vous transformez une communauté.
helping my mother cook, clean, farm
à cuisiner, nettoyer, jardiner
a very young age to be married.
that are used to perform FGM on girls.
pour exécuter la MGF sur les filles.
the end of my childhood
in order to stay in school --
pour continuer l’école…
je suis allée à l’université.
my community's support,
de ma communauté,
to repay that support.
pour m’acquitter de ma dette.
when I went back to my village,
quand je suis rentrée à mon village,
to men older than their fathers
que leurs pères
when they're teenagers.
any more girls go through that.
des filles vivre cela.
to give back to my community.
je devais offrir à ma communauté.
uniquement pour les filles
and early marriage.
et des mariages précoces.
just how big this dream was,
l’ampleur de ce rêve,
could be the foundation --
mon école pouvait en être la fondation
I enrolled these 30 girls.
j’ai scolarisé ces trente filles.
ou orphelines,
that are very traditional,
très traditionnelles
leurs filles à l’école.
seemed excited to be there,
très enthousiastes,
allait ouvrir ses portes,
but they had no energy.
mais n’avaient aucune énergie.
qu’elles avaient faim.
et de la nourriture.
that a classroom was not enough.
qu’une classe n’était pas suffisante.
and hungry from chores
et affamées par les corvées
entre l’école et la maison,
raped and even kidnapped
violer et même kidnapper
could learn math or history,
les maths ou l’histoire,
and be well-nourished.
sur ces filles.
family in the community.
traditionnelle dans la communauté.
gone through FGM and already married,
et est déjà mariée,
when she heard about it.
lorsqu’elle en a entendu parler.
essayant de s’inscrire.
and we enrolled her in my school.
et on l’a inscrite à l’école.
was only just the start.
de médicaments
who already believed in her.
qui croyaient en elle.
who dreams of becoming a pilot someday,
elle rêve d’être pilote un jour,
will follow in her footsteps.
the global economy trillions of dollars
milliards de dollars à l’économie mondiale
is the doctor, the teacher,
coûtera un médecin, un professeur,
will need in the future ...
auront besoin plus tard —
lift out of poverty.
de nous aider à vaincre la pauvreté.
to go to university,
pour aller à l’université,
all by myself.
who helped me more than a decade ago.
m’ont aidée il y a plus de dix ans.
if I was going to be successful.
de leur soutien pour réussir.
with religious leaders, parents
composé de chefs religieux, de parents
des écoles voisines.
and in the community
gouvernement et de la communauté
the support of the chief
the no-FGM policy in my school.
une loi anti-MGF dans mon école.
il est notre plus grand allié.
did not believe in the education of girls.
en l’éducation des filles.
jamais allé à l’école.
and brought her to enroll in my school,
elle l’a amenée à l'école,
to get Momposhi to believe in Linet, too.
pour que Momposhi aussi croie en Linet.
of revealing Linet's grade
comme prétexte
his daughter being promising as a student.
était une étudiante pleine de promesses.
a strong relationship with his daughter --
des liens solides avec sa fille,
as someone with full potential.
tout son potentiel.
in one of the top national high schools
dans l’un des meilleurs lycées nationaux
and how smart his daughter was.
était fier — sa fille était intelligente.
to the new school himself.
à sa nouvelle école.
had ever been to Nairobi.
qu’ils partaient à Nairobi.
at university in Australia --
dans une université, en Australie ;
advocate in the community.
défenseurs auprès de la communauté.
in one of our training programs.
de nos formations.
in the education of their own children.
dans l’éducation de leurs enfants.
are the proud keepers
les grand-mères sont les gardiennes
and embrace our rich Maasai culture.
et embrassent notre culture Masaï.
do story time with the girls,
des histoires aux filles
our community remains connected.
de garder la communité unie.
mindset as their fathers before them?
état d’esprit que leurs pères avant eux ?
called I'm Worth Defending:
l'association : « I'm Worth Defending »,
led by Alfred and George.
dirigé par Alfred et George.
a training program for boys and girls
de formation pour garçons et filles
about gender equality,
sur l’égalité des sexes,
over 10,000 boys and girls and counting.
dix mille garçons et filles.
to make this kind of a dream come true.
pour rendre un rêve réalité.
have not gone through FGM
of women have been cut.
des femmes subissent une excision.
their cousins and their friends.
une nouvelle habitude,
by the same, same community --
par cette même communauté —
communities mean to Kenya?
d’une communauté au Kenya ?
en 2015,
from organizations
have the same opportunities,
les mêmes opportunités,
like Enoosaen are thriving
comme Enoosaen prospèrent
that each daughter is a treasure,
que leurs filles renferment des trésors,
see that value in herself.
à voir qu’elles ont de la valeur.
to what that future will cost.
le prix de ce futur.
to my school will be a PhD,
à l’école obtiendront un doctorat,
will achieve her full potential
tout son potentiel,
for her children
pour ses enfants
by what I learned from them
par ce que j’ai appris d’elles
out of Enoosaen and back again.
hors d’Enoosaen et m'y a ramenée.
dreaming and keep going
achieve their dreams
Linet et Faith réalisent leurs rêves
give every single woman
à chacune des femmes
ABOUT THE SPEAKER
Kakenya Ntaiya - Educator and activistKakenya Ntaiya refused to accept the continued oppression of women in her Maasai village -- so she built a school that's shifting gender expectations in her community.
Why you should listen
Kakenya Ntaiya was set to follow the traditional path of girls born in the small village of Enoosaen, Kenya. Engaged at the age of 5, she was to participate in a female circumcision ceremony as a young teenager and then be married. But she had a different plan. First, she negotiated with her father and willingly agree to be circumcised -- only if he would allow her to finish high school. Later, when she was accepted to Randolph-Macon Women's College in Viriginia, she negotiated with her village elders to do what no girl had ever done before: leave her village to go to college in the United States.
She didn’t leave forever, though. Deeply proud of her heritage and of her community, Ntaiya returned to the village after school and worked with her elders to establish a school for girls there. The Kakenya Center for Excellence was established in 2009 with 32 students. A primary grade boarding school just for girls, the curriculum focuses on academics, leadership and female empowerment, along with cultural preservation and life skills. While families that can afford tuition do, Ntaiya also works with donors to provide scholarships for others.
In addition to her work with the school, Ntaiya is also a National Geographic emerging explorer.
Kakenya Ntaiya | Speaker | TED.com