The video below gives you the basic flavor, with much more info at the site of his charity, Carolina for Kibera. Gist of the story: ten years ago Barcott, then an undergraduate at UNC - Chapel Hill, went to Nairobi on a project as part of his study of Africa and Swahili. He was in the city's huge slum, Kibera, and formed a close connection with people there -- especially a nurse and a community-organizer. They conceived a plan of creating a community-development organization to promote schooling, sports, medical care, and general uplift for children and families in Kibera. On return to North Carolina Barcott began raising money for this Carolina for Kibera project.
But Barcott, whose father had been a combat Marine in Vietnam, had wanted to "serve his country" and had gone to UNC on a Naval ROTC scholarship. His last year in college was a mix of Kenya-related and ROTC activities, and after graduation in 2001 his active service as a Marine began. He was in the Basic School at Quantico during the 9/11 attacks, and over the next five years he served in Bosnia, the Horn of Africa, and finally Iraq. He left as a captain in 2006, having been an ABC News "Person of the Week" that year. He went back for MBA and MPA degrees and now works in North Carolina for Duke Energy company ... directing sustainability projects.
It Happened on the Way to War from Center for Global Initiatives.
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