Empower a girl, transform a community

To empower girls,

you need to educate them.

That was my dream.

And so I built a school,

and in the process,

I learned something much bigger.

When you empower a girl,

you transform a community.

School is just a start.

I grew up in the rural Kenya

in a small village called [... ...].

I was the first of eight children,

and I spent my childhood helping
my mother cook, clean, farm

and take care of my siblings.

Like other Massai girls,

I was engaged from a very
young age to be married.

But as I reached puberty,

I underwent through female
genital mutilation,

or known as FGM.

This picture shows some of the tools
that are used to perform FGM on girls.

FGM was supposed to mark
the end of my childhood,

and by extension, my education.

But I negotiated with my father:

in order to stay in school,

even after going through FGM.

Years later, I went to university,

and in order to get
my community's support,

I promised to come back one day
to repay that support.

But the years later,

when I went back to my village,

not much had changed.

Girls were still going through FGM,

still leaving school,

still getting married to men
older than their fathers

and still having children
when they're teenagers.

I did not want to see
any more girls go through that.

That's when I knew what I needed to do
to give back to my community.

I built a school just for girls
so that they can be free from FGM

and early marriage.

At my first enrollment --

(Applause and cheers)

At my first enrollment,

I had hoped for 10 girls.

100 came.

(Cheers)

(Applause)

I started to realize just how big
this dream was

and soon I learned that my school
could be the foundation,

but it wasn't going to be enough.

So that fist year,

I enrolled these 30 girls.

Some had been abused,

others were oprhans

and some came from families
that are very traditional,

that had never sent any girl to school.

So school started.

Though the girls
seemed excited to be there,

they were having difficulty staying awake.

What was going on?

They had a teacher,

they had books,

there was a new classroom on the way --

they were determined to be there
but they had no energy.

Then I realized they were hungry,

so I quickly found a cook and food.

Soon thereafter, I learned
that a classroom was not enough.

I needed a boarding school.

Not only girls who are tired
and hungry from chores

and long walks to school and back home,

they were also not safe.

It's a sad truth,

but girls are often assaulted,
raped and even kidnapped

on their way to school.

So before a girl
could learn math or history,

she needed to feel safe,

she needed to be rested
and be well nourished.

So let me tell you about some of my girls.

This is Faith.

Faith comes from a very traditional
family in the community.

Her older sister had already
gone through FGM and already married,

but Faith was so determined.

She really loved learning,

and she wanted to come to school
when she heard about it.

So she asked her father,
her mother --

anyone to bring her to my school.

They all refused.

Faith did something very brave.

She stole an egg from her mother's house,

went to the market,

sold the egg

and bought a single pencil.

Then she walked five miles,

clenching that pencil,

trying to enroll.

(Audience) Wow.

She arrived --

(Applause)

She arrived tired and hungry,

but determined.

I listened to her story
and enrolled her in my school.

But getting into my school
was only just the start.

Faith needed food,

she needed medicine,

she needed counseling --

all which we provided.

And she also met adults
who already believed in her.

Supported by this community,

Faith was ready to learn.

This is Faith.

Six months of schooling,

now she's a happy sixth-grader
who dreams of becoming a pilot someday,

and her family now supports her,

and best of all,

her younger sisters will follow
in her footsteps.

(Applause)

Child marriage is expected to cost
the global economy trillions of dollars

over the next 15 years.

We can talk numbers,

but in a real lifetime,

what child marriage will cost my village
is a doctor, a teacher,

the entrepreneur,

the true partner our men
will need in the future.

Real ways women can help us
lift out of poverty.

So I came to realize once again,

as I did when I needed help
to go to university,

that while I could dream or have a dream,

I could not make it come true
all by myself.

So I went back to the elders
who helped me more than a decade ago.

I needed their support once again
if I was going to be successful.

So I formed a community board
with religious leaders, parents

and some teachers from other schools.

I need allies in the government
and in the community

to help advance my goal.

I needed especially
the support of the chief

to help me enforce
the no FGM policy in my school.

At first he was resistant,

but I persisted --

(Laughter)

and now he's our greatest ally.

(Applause)

I also needed the fathers.

That brings me to Linette.

Linette's father Mamboshi did not
believe in the education of girls.

In fact, he himself never went to school.

But Linette's mother believed in Linette
and brought her to enroll in my school,

and I knew she belonged with us.

I just had to find a way to get Mamboshi
to believe in Linette, too.

So I used the pretense
of revealing Linette's grade

to get Mamboshi to come.

He came and he started noticing
his daughter being promising as a student.

With each visit, he viewed
a strong relationship with his daughter,

not noticing just her grades

but also accepting her as someone
with full potential.

So when Linette was accepted
in one of the top national high schools

after eighth grade,

Mamboshi was bursting with pride

and went around the village
telling everyone how proud

and how smart his daughter was.

(Laughter)

Can you imagine --

he brought Linette
to the new school himself.

It was the first time either or them
had ever been to Nairobi.

Today Linette is studying
at university in Australia --

(Applause and cheers)

and Mamboshi is our greatest
advocate in the community.

I also brought mothers to the table,

including my own.

That's my mother in one
of our training programs.

And our mothers are involved
in the education of their own children.

I also brought grandmothers into the mix.

(Laughter)

In my community, grandmothers
are the proud keepers of our stories

and cultures,

and I wanted my girls to learn
and praise our rich Massai culture.

Today, grandmothers
do storytime with the girls

and it's a beautiful way
our community remains connected.

I also ...

started working with the boys.

(Laughter)

What would happen

if the boys grew up with the same
mindset as their fathers?

I'll tell you.

Not much will change.

So I enlisted support from an organization
called "I Am Worth Defending,"

a group of young, progessive leaders
led by Alfred and George.

Together we created a training program
for boys and girls

who could not attend my school,

sharing vital information
about gender equality,

health and human rights.

Today we have reached
over 10,000 boys and girls and counting.

(Applause)

It turns out it truly does take a village
to make this kind of a dream come true.

(Laughter)

That's what you're seeing today,

where nearly 400 girls
have not gone through FGM

in my village,

in a region where nearly 80 percent
of women have been cut.

Believe me, these girls,

they are sharing their experiences ...

with their sisters, their cousins
and their friends.

They're so interested.

Over time, this is becoming
the new normal,

and it's being embraced
by the same [safe] community --

my community.

So what does transform
communities mean to Kenya?

President Obama visited Kenya in 2015

and he met with representatives
from organizations

trying to improve communities.

Guess what?

He met Linette!

(Laughter)

(Applause)

Together they talked about a Kenya

where all girls have
the same opportunities,

where Linette is a leader,

and where communities
like [... ...] are thriving

because its members --

all its members have opportunities.

Helping the communities see
that each daughter is a treasure.

Every sister is full of potential,

and helping every single girl
see that value in herself.

There is no limit
to what that future will cost.

Not every girl who comes
to my school will be a PhD,

but every single one of them
will achieve her full potential

and will become an advocate
for her children

and her grandchildren for years to come.

Today my dreams have informed
what I learned from them

and what I've learned from you.

My journey led me out of [.....]
and back again.

And in the process,

I was embraced by the world,

and you have become my village.

So I make a new promise to you,

my elders, my sisters and my friends,

that I am going to keep
dreaming and keep going

until girls like Linette and Faith
achieve their dreams

and I see mine.

That all communities give every single
woman and every single girl

their dreams come true.

Thank you.

(Applause and cheers)

Thank you, thank you.

(Applause and cheers)