Laiqi Walli, a student at the Aga Khan Academy in Mombasa, Kenya, offers an enlightening, youth perspective on the progress and ethics of East African development. Laiqa is an ambitious, vocal and focused student at the Aga Khan Academy Mombasa. She has a passion for the Visual Arts and strongly believes in valuing one’s culture. She thrives in an environment that stimulates her intellectually and thus enjoys discussing real world problems and their solutions. Having grown up in Tanzania, she considers the African influence to be an essential aspect of who she is. But she is concerned about the western takeover that she sees happening all around her under the name of ‘development’. She is concerned for the loss of a culture that is so inherent to who she is and wishes to challenges the concept of development. This talk was given at a TEDx event using the TED conference format but independently organized by a local community. Learn more at www.ted.com/tedx