Rebel Girls

Meet Refilwe Ledwaba, a helicopter and fixed-wing pilot, a flight instructor, an advocate for women's rights and a Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation goalkeeper who made history by becoming the first black female pilot to fly for the police service in South Africa. [This episode originally aired September 2021].

Once upon a time, there was a girl who soared and swooped through the sky. Her name is Thokozile Muwamba. In 2017, at age 24, Thokozile Muwamba broke barriers by becoming Zambia’s first female fighter pilot. Today, she continues to soar through the sky and is also an outspoken advocate against cyberbullying. [This episode originally aired September 2021].

About the Narrator

Refilwe Ledwaba is a social entrepreneur, an advocate of girl’s education especially Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts, Mathematics (STEAM) education. She spent 10 years in the South African Police Services (SAPS) as a Helicopter Pilot, the first black woman to do so. She is also a qualified fixed-wing Pilot and Flight instructor ,a qualified Drone Pilot and currently training as a Drone Pilot instructor. She is passionate about youth development in Africa, particularly the empowerment of girls. She is the founder of Girls fly programme in Africa (GFPA) foundation, an information and educational STEAM programme for primary, high school and Post-school learners with a focus on aviation and space. The programme includes the use of design thinking, technology, and innovation to shape, empower, enable, and support the next generation of makers and problem solvers in the aviation and space industry in Africa while entrenching the spirit of Ubuntu.



Credits

This podcast is a production of Rebel Girls and is based on the book series Good Night Stories for Rebel Girls.

This episode was produced by Camille Stennis. Sound design and mixing by Mumble Media. This episode was written by Alexis Stratton and fact checked by Joe Rhatigan. Executive Producer was Katie Sprenger. Haley Dapkus was our Production Manager. Original theme music was composed and performed by Elettra Bargiacchi.

A big thanks to the whole Rebel Girls team who makes this show possible! For more, visit rebelgirls.com. And if you like what you heard, don’t forget to rate and review this episode, and share it with your friends! Until next time, stay REBEL!

Lani Pallister just made swimming HISTORY! Plus: Diana Taurasi's jersey retirement, Sam Kerr's history-making goal & Ilona Maher squatting how much weight?! New eps every Friday with all the news in women's sports. Play Rebel ⚡ Stay Rebel

This season, we invited our credit readers to interview our storytellers. Today, you'll hear from Marcy Vaj who narrated the previous episode about Bebe Vio. If you haven't listened to last week's episode, now is a good time to go back and check it out! Vaj reveals how her violin bow has become her personal weapon, how feminism has changed as she's grown older, and more! [This episode originally aired June 2019.]

About Vaj:

MARCY VAJ is a busy violinist/violist, composer, personnel manager/contractor, and teacher. She has co-produced and orchestrated several albums and written countless arrangements. She received orchestration credit on "Prince of Egypt" and "Antz." Her credits include scoring the documentary "California Women Get The Vote" (2011) and the award-winning short film "Click Three Times." Since 2000, she has been a member of Composers Ensemble LA (CELA), a 12-piece composer/player workshop that writes concert pieces for the group. Marcy is a founding and touring member of The Hollywood Bowl Orchestra.

She was Sir Paul McCartney’s concertmaster for the 2012 Grammys, has a solo on the last albums of Glenn Frey (of the Eagles) and Charlie Haden (of Quartet West), and one on, Turkish piano star Kerem Gorsev’s in 2015. She also soloed in 12 chamber concerts in La Sainte Chappelle, Paris, served as concertmaster for the San Diego Chamber Orchestra under the baton of Thomas Conlin and the Zachery Opera Awards under Frank Fetta. Her string quartet is featured on the Paul Williams DVD, "I’m Going Back There Someday." In 2011 and 2012, she soloed and played principal in a chamber orchestra in London's Royal College of Music for the week of the Royal Wedding and again for the week of the Queen's Diamond Jubilee.

As a violinist/violist, she has accumulated hundreds of film credits including: TED, Ice Age, The Flintstones 1 & 2, Nutty Professor 1 & 2, Are We There Yet, Shrek, Armageddon, As Good As It Gets, and Matilda.

She is an adjunct professor of violin/viola at Santa Monica College and also teaches privately.

Credits:

This episode of Good Night Stories for Rebel Girls is produced by Elena Favilli, Joy Fowlkes, and Meg Murnane. Sound design and original theme music by Elettra Bargiacchi. Mattia Marcelli was the sound mixer. Special thanks to Clio McClure for coordinating our credit readers and interviewers.

Once upon a time, there was a girl who wielded a sword. Her name was Beatrice Vio or “Bebe” for short. When Bebe was just 11 years old, she came down with a severe case of meningitis. She survived a quadruple amputation, forcing her to relearn almost everything. But Bebe wanted more than just to walk or brush her teeth—Bebe wanted to fence again. And beyond that, Bebe wanted to win. Using prostheses of her own invention, Bebe fenced all the way to the paralympic games. [This episode originally aired June 2019.]

About the Narrator:

MARCY VAJ is a busy violinist/violist, composer, personnel manager/contractor, and teacher. She has co-produced and orchestrated several albums and written countless arrangements. She received orchestration credit on "Prince of Egypt" and "Antz." Her credits include scoring the documentary "California Women Get The Vote" (2011) and the award-winning short film "Click Three Times." Since 2000, she has been a member of Composers Ensemble LA (CELA), a 12-piece composer/player workshop that writes concert pieces for the group. Marcy is a founding and touring member of The Hollywood Bowl Orchestra. She was Sir Paul McCartney’s concertmaster for the 2012 Grammys, has a solo on the last albums of Glenn Frey (of the Eagles) and Charlie Haden (of Quartet West), and one on, Turkish piano star Kerem Gorsev’s in 2015. She also soloed in 12 chamber concerts in La Sainte Chappelle, Paris, served as concertmaster for the San Diego Chamber Orchestra under the baton of Thomas Conlin and the Zachery Opera Awards under Frank Fetta. Her string quartet is featured on the Paul Williams DVD, "I’m Going Back There Someday." In 2011 and 2012, she soloed and played principal in a chamber orchestra in London's Royal College of Music for the week of the Royal Wedding and again for the week of the Queen's Diamond Jubilee. As a violinist/violist, she has accumulated hundreds of film credits including: TED, Ice Age, The Flintstones 1 & 2, Nutty Professor 1 & 2, Are We There Yet, Shrek, Armageddon, As Good As It Gets, and Matilda.

She is an adjunct professor of violin/viola at Santa Monica College and also teaches privately.

Credits:

This episode was produced by Elena Favilli, Joy Fowlkes, and Meg Murnane, with writing by Abby Sher and narration by Marcy Vaj. Jestine Ware edited all scripts and Janice Weaver fact-checked all scripts. Sound design and original theme music by Elettra Bargiacchi. Mattia Marcelli was the sound mixer. Special thanks to Clio McClure who coordinated all credit recordings and narrator donations.