This is Good Night Stories for Rebel Girls.

Hi, Rebels!

This is Good Night Stories for Rebel Girls, the interview.

I'm your host, Jayla Nicholas, and today we're talking to Raffili Lidwaba.

She narrated the story of Tokozyla Mawamba,

the first female fighter pilot in Zambia.

If you haven't heard that inspiring episode,

make sure to give that a listen first.

Don't worry. We'll wait for you.

Hi, Rifilway. Can you introduce yourself to our listening? Don't worry. We'll wait for you.

Hi, Refuelwe. Can you introduce yourself to our listeners? Hi, my name is Refuelo Ledwaba. I live in Johannesburg, South Africa. I'm a pilot qualified to fly helicopters, aeroplanes and drones. I'm also an advocate for girls' education.

It's amazing that you're also South Africa's first female black helicopter pilot. What inspired

you to become one? I think it's quite a very interesting story because as a young girl,

aviation was never a viable career choice for me. I grew up during a apartheid in South Africa, where I had limited career choices.

So growing up, I've never seen anybody that looked like me as a pilot.

So the closest I had seen a pilot was Tom Cruise on his movies on TV,

and he did not look anything like me. So initially I set my side on

becoming a doctor because I was really good in the sciences and I really loved science.

That was until one day when I was already starting towards a Bachelor of Science degree

and I was measuring in biochemistry and microbiology at the University of Cape Town

that I boarded a flight for the first time. And in that flight, one of the pilots was female.

And I think that day changed the course of my life forever. It ignited my curiosity about the industry. After completing my degree,

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