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This is where I live. I live in Kenya,

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at the south parts of the Nairobi National Park.

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Those are my dad's cows at the back,

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and behind the cows,

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that's the Nairobi National Park.

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Nairobi National Park is not fenced in the south widely,

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which means wild animals like zebras

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migrate out of the park freely.

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So predators like lions follow them,

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and this is what they do.

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They kill our livestock.

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This is one of the cows which was killed at night,

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and I just woke up in the morning and I found it dead,

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and I felt so bad,

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because it was the only bull we had.

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My community, the Maasai, we believe that

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we came from heaven with all our animals and all the land

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for herding them, and that's why we value them so much.

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So I grew up hating lions so much.

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The morans are the warriors

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who protect our community and the livestock,

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and they're also upset about this problem.

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So they kill the lions.

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It's one of the six lions which were killed in Nairobi.

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And I think this is why the Nairobi National Park lions are few.

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So a boy, from six to nine years old, in my community

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is responsible for his dad's cows,

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and that's the same thing which happened to me.

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So I had to find a way of solving this problem.

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And the first idea I got was to use fire,

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because I thought lions were scared of fire.

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But I came to realize that that didn't really help,

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because it was even helping the lions

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to see through the cowshed.

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So I didn't give up. I continued.

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And a second idea I got was

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to use a scarecrow.

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I was trying to trick the lions

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[into thinking] that I was standing near the cowshed.

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But lions are very clever. (Laughter)

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They will come the first day and they see the scarecrow, and they go back,

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but the second day, they'll come and they say,

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this thing is not moving here, it's always here. (Laughter)

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So he jumps in and kills the animals.

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So one night, I was walking around the cowshed with a torch,

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and that day, the lions didn't come.

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And I discovered that lions are afraid of a moving light.

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So I had an idea.

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Since I was a small boy,

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I used to work in my room for the whole day,

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and I even took apart my mom's new radio,

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and that day she almost killed me,

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but I learned a lot about electronics. (Laughter)

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So I got an old car battery,

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an indicator box. It's a small device found in a motorcycle,

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and it helps motorists when they want to turn right or left. It blinks.

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And I got a switch where I can switch on the lights, on and off.

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And that's a small torch from a broken flashlight.

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So I set up everything.

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As you can see, the solar panel charges the battery,

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and the battery supplies the power

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to the small indicator box. I call it a transformer.

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And the indicator box makes the lights flash.

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As you can see, the bulbs face outside,

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because that's where the lions come from.

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And that's how it looks to lions when they come at night.

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The lights flash and trick

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the lions into thinking I was walking around the cowshed,

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but I was sleeping in my bed.

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(Laughter)

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(Applause)

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Thanks.

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So I set it up in my home two years ago,

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and since then, we have never experienced any problem with lions.

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And my neighboring homes heard about this idea.

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One of them was this grandmother.

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She had a lot of her animals being killed by lions,

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and she asked me if I could put the lights for her.

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And I said, "Yes."

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So I put the lights. You can see at the back, those are the lion lights.

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Since now, I've set up seven homes around my community,

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and they're really working.

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And my idea is also being used now all over Kenya

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for scaring other predators like hyenas, leopards,

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and it's also being used

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to scare elephants away from people's farms.

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Because of this invention, I was lucky to get a scholarship

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in one of the best schools in Kenya,

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Brookhouse International School,

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and I'm really excited about this.

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My new school now is coming in and helping

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by fundraising and creating an awareness.

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I even took my friends back to my community,

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and we're installing the lights to the homes

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which don't have [any], and I'm teaching them how to put them.

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So one year ago, I was just a boy in the savanna grassland

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herding my father's cows,

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and I used to see planes flying over,

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and I told myself that one day, I'll be there inside.

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And here I am today.

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I got a chance to come by plane for my first time for TED.

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So my big dream is to become an aircraft engineer and pilot when I grow up.

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I used to hate lions, but now because my invention

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is saving my father's cows and the lions,

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we are able to stay with the lions without any conflict.

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Ashê olên. It means in my language, thank you very much.

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(Applause)

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Chris Anderson: You have no idea how exciting it is

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to hear a story like yours.

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So you got this scholarship.Richard Turere: Yep.

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CA: You're working on other electrical inventions.

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What's the next one on your list?

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RT: My next invention is,

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I want to make an electric fence.CA: Electric fence?

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RT: But I know electric fences are already invented,

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but I want to make mine.

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(Laughter)

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CA: You already tried it once, right, and you --RT: I tried it before,

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but I stopped because it gave me a shock. (Laughter)

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CA: In the trenches. Richard Turere, you are something else.

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We're going to cheer you on every step of the way, my friend.

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Thank you so much.RT: Thank you. (Applause)