The entrepreneurs of tomorrow

In all probability you’ve never heard of Entiak Transportation, Ltd., a Kenyan company headed by Stonik Kopiah, a young man determined to make it the hard way. Stonik was born in a Maasai Mara kraal (a term for small villages in South Africa) in Southwest Kenya. There, the Maasai people eked out a sparse livelihood. They tended cattle on a desolate landscape with little water and lots of burning sand driven by winds from the Sahara.

The situation there is heartbreaking. Children get two meals of mush a day with milk, and when the milk supply runs low, it is mixed with blood extracted from a cow. When the youngsters run and play, they have to fight the flies that swarm around their faces.

“Is there not a cause?” the lad David once asked his brothers who were too timid to face the Goliath of their day. All generalizations about the youth, however, are not valid. There are scores of young people today who give up their summer vacations to build Habitat for Humanity houses. There are many who choose to spend their time in remote areas doing relief work. But for those who take the road less traveled, there are throngs holding on to the “me” and “mine” mentality.

The reality is that the Stonik who leave behind a Maasai Mara settlement can one day be driving the sleek cars and running the corporate world. The fact that diligence and hard work produces its own reward is not lost on those with incentive and determination.

Stonik has not only succeeded financially. He has also become known for his honesty and integrity as well as his commitment to his family and Christian community.