Vital Voices Connecticut Council Welcomes Kakenya Ntayia to Celebrate the Kakenya Center for Excellence

Born in a remote Kenyan village, Kakenya was supposed to follow a traditional path. Engaged at five, she was to be circumcised as a teenager -- an event that would mark the end of her education and the beginning of her preparations for marriage. Kakenya had a different plan. First, she negotiated with her father: she would be circumcised only if she could finish high school. Then she convinced the village elders to do what no girl from her village had ever done -- go to college in the United States. She promised to use her education to benefit her Maasai community. She has kept her promise to the children of her village. Four years ago Kakenya spoke in Westport of her dream, and with the generous support of local donors among many others, the Kakenya Center for Excellence opened its doors in January 2009, and currently enrolls 123 girls.  After she visits Fairfield County, Kakenya will receive her Ph.D. from the University of Pittsburgh.

Kakenya has accomplished much. Yet, she continues to dream, working to expand and improve facilities and to double enrollment by 2013.  Please join us to meet this accomplished visionary, listen to her remarkable story, and lend your support for a school that she hopes may serve as a model for the education of girls across Africa.