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Kakenya Ntaiya spent her childhood in a small Maasai village in Western Kenya. She was the oldest of eight children, working hard alongside men tending the fields and helping her mother haul water and care for her siblings. The family was very poor, but young Kakenya would dream of a better life. School was her respite and she excelled at it, dreaming of becoming a teacher, but in order to fulfill her dream she had to defy her father and boldly seek help from her village. Today, she is working to finish her PhD in Education. We met this extraordinary woman at the Women in the World Conference last March, where she was presenting on her inspiring project back in her village of Enoosaen, where she has opened the first primary girls school in the region.

The School – Kakenya’s Center for Excellence – is the only two-story building in Enoosaen, Kenya.

“I want this school not only to empower Kenya’s girls, but also their mothers, fathers, and entire villages,” says Ms. Ntaiya. Here, the girls perform a traditional dance for their parents.

You can learn more about this project (and contribute to an amazing cause!) at the school’s website:

www.kakenyasdream.org

Images courtesy Kakenya Ntaiya

This story was produced by Kitchen Sisters’ intern, Lacy Roberts. She is is a budding radio producer from the Big Sky State of Montana. After graduating from Brown University, she relocated to the San Francisco Bay Area. Her work has been heard on YouthCast, a growing handful of quality NPR stations around the country, and her podcast, The Ladies Village Improvement Society.  She is now helping out at Kitchen Central with the Hidden World of Girls series and working on some sound projects of her own.

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