This is the story of Richard Turere of Kenya, who at age 11 came up with a highly innovative solution to the problem of marauding lions. As a result, he was first accepted into Brookhouse International School and later appeared on Ted Talks.
As a FurtherEd team member, I consider it critical at this juncture to challenge oneself to define our mission of “personal growth” in a meaningful way. To me, Richard’s story shows that personal growth can function as a complete spectrum, from basic survival to self-actualization. It began with him trying to save his homestead from lions, and led to a state of having the resources to realize a life-long dream of becoming an aircraft engineer – as basic a need, and as lofty a vision, as any. This is personal growth at its best.