Spotlight on Stories from Tech Girls Drive Advocacy
At Tech4Dev, we have made steadfast progress in empowering over 115,000 young girls in schools, religious centres and communities across 25 countries through the Tech Girls Drive advocacy in the last 2 years.
In commemoration of International Day of Girls in ICT, we are spotlighting 5 stories from our Tech Girls Drive advocacy carried out by beneficiaries of the Women Techsters Fellowship.
Judith and Miracle (Nigeria)
Every story has the power to inspire, but some shine brighter than others, one of such is that of Miracle a young, beautiful and unique girl.
Miracle, born with just one leg, faced a world that often made her feel incomplete. Her name “Miracle” was given to her as a result of her unique birth.
All through her life, Miracle always felt embarrassed and ashamed each time a question was asked about her leg, this affected her self-esteem so much that Miracle almost always felt incomplete and inadequate. Judith and her team during their advocacy session at Miracle’s school had educated and enlightened the girls on the possibilities in the Tech Space and choosing a career in tech. Immediately after the session, Judith had a private conversation with Miracle who asked a very touching question. A question which reflected her insecurities and fear which in no doubt had been a cumulation of the environment she grew up in.
In the words of Miracle- “if you say I am unique, do I also get a chance to participate and be in tech knowing fully well that I am not complete”? This question broke Judith’s heart, she responded to Miracle with 4 powerful words “you are complete, Miracle.” She also shared affirmative words with Miracle and told her how unique her story is, how powerful it is and how she could become anything and whatsoever she sets her mind on. In the words of Judith, “The world, Miracle, is your oyster”.
Miracle’s journey is a testament to the transformative power of inclusivity. Despite her unique difference, she is more than confident that the world needs her, and she indeed has a place and a role to play in it.
Her story underscores the importance of creating spaces where everyone feels valued and included. It’s not just about providing opportunities such as digital skill training, it’s important we also create time and resources to empower individuals to see their potential and pursue their dreams.
Sharon and Motunrayo (Nigeria)
Our second story shines the spotlight on two young girls, Sharon and Motunrayo shared by Uwuma Atuwarikpo. The stories of both girls are testaments of what is possible when young girls are enlightened and exposed to the diverse opportunities available. The goal is to show these young girls of the possibilities and guide them as they soar through limitless heights.
Uwuma along with her team members visited 3 different locations in Ibadan, the capital of Oyo State, Nigeria to carry out their community project-Tech Girls Drive in commemoration of the International Women’s Day Celebration.
During their school visits they encountered two young ladies- Sharon and Ogechi. Sharon, a bright JSS2 Student had limited knowledge of career options beyond the traditional career paths often highlighted in schools. However, in Sharon’s case, the traditional career paths were not even the options she had been encouraged to pursue. Her father had consistently urged her to pursue hairdressing skills instead of pursuing or furthering her education.
You can imagine Sharon’s excitement when she realized the opportunities in the tech space and how the Women Techsters Initiative can change her life with zero cost. Uwuma and her team had the remarkable opportunity to educate and open Sharon and her classmates’ eyes to the vast array of career opportunities in the STEM fields.
In another visit to a different school, the team met Motunrayo. Like many other girls in her school, she had never heard of STEM careers, however Motunrayo’s case was special because she always felt that due to her disability, she has to use crutches to move around, she could not pursue a formal education or desire any professional career.
Motunrayo had decided to become a trader like her mother, however after the team’s interaction with Motunrayo, her perspective shifted. She now dreams of becoming a “tech sis” and is quite eager to explore opportunities in the tech industry.
Bezawit and Fetlework (Ethiopia)
Our third story is that of Bezawit, a young girl living in Gondar, Ethiopia as told through the lenses of our Women Techsters Fellow, Fetlework Arage.
Growing up in a region faced with prevalent political instability, Bezawit a young girl with very bright dreams of a future in technology especially in coding had her dreams for a better future stifled due to the limited access to learning resources such as internet and digital devices.
All she had was an idea, a dream of what was possible, and a basic knowledge of coding and technology. As fate would have it, Fetlework’s Advocacy drive led her to cross paths with Bezawit who at this point had zero hopes of how her dreams of learning a tech skill would be achieved due to her limiting environment.
Fetlework, during her visit to Bezawit’s school, Chechela Elementary school, introduced STEM and the diverse career opportunities in the tech space to Bezawit and her colleagues, she further explained why technology is important, how it could change their lives and that of their community using herself as an example.
Fetlework introduced the Women Techsters Initiative to the students, explaining how they could benefit from the diverse programs within the initiative. Bezawit’s interest in technology was met with a great spark of hope at the mention of the programs and she immediately indicated interest and informed Fetlework of her challenges with access and resources for learning.
Fetlework decided to support this young girl’s dream in the little way she could, she offered her access to the resources that have for the longest-time limited Bezawit. Bezawit could now learn a digital skill using Felework’s resources such as her device and her internet.
We strongly believe that stories such as that of Fetlework validates the work we do across the Women Techsters Programs, we are not just training a community of young women to gain economic empowerment for themselves alone, we are also building a community of women who will change and transform their community one step at a time!
Akello and Ruth (Uganda)
The fourth story as told by Ruth, a Women Techsters fellow is that of Akello and sadly, she’s a representation of the reality of most women in the underserved and marginalized communities and these are the types of women we are longing to reach through the Women Techsters Initiative.
For her Tech Girls Drive session, Ruth decided to speak with a diverse group of young women ages 15–25 comprising of young mothers, school dropouts, young wives and household heads at a rural community in Asuret subcounty in Soroti district in Eastern Uganda. She spoke to them about STEM, the career opportunities in tech and how adopting basic technological developments could enhance their productivity.
Being a rural setting, while many of them knew about the internet and social media (watching funny videos on TikTok), the larger portion of them did not own a smartphone as they complained about the expense of data and how their parents and spouses cannot allow them to own smart mobile phones because of the negative stereotypes around use of smartphones. Ruth introduced Tech4Dev as an organization that empowers women and supports them to acquire skills to thrive in the complex technological environment that is quickly dominating the world.
Among the women in the audience that day was Akello. Akello is a 20-year-old tailor living in the Rural part of Eastern Uganda. As the 8th child of 10 siblings, she had to forfeit her dream to become an English teacher when she dropped out of school in senior two of the ordinary secondary level education due to lack of school fees.
When asked why she didn’t consider being a Mathematics or Science teacher, she frowned and then explained that both subjects were difficult for her and hard to understand. When Ruth spoke with her about computers and what she could do with them, Akello had visible joy on her face. Although, Akello has never used the internet or a computer and owns only a basic button mobile phone she shares with her brother’s wife, the idea of interacting with computer and technology was very intriguing for her.
“I know I can use the Internet to search for information about my country and use a computer to store the information I find but it is too expensive to buy. I am interested in learning things about computers because I think they are easy to use”, says Akello.
Akello shared her key learnings from the Tech Girls Drive community project highlighting the importance for young women to learn computer and internet skills for connections to new opportunities.
Rahmet and Bersabeh (Ethiopia)
Our final story is that of Rahmet and stories like hers help to fuel our zeal and validate the importance of the work we do at Tech4Dev with the Women Techsters Initiative and it also helps to serve as a reminder that “Every girl deserves the opportunity to thrive and live their dream.”
Bersabeh and her team paid a visit to Passion Academy Addis Ababa, Ethiopia to carry out the Tech Girls Drive.
After the training session, during an anonymous Q and A/ feedback session, and this was one of the questions they received.
“Thank you for the training. I want to work in the tech industry, but my parents do not approve. If I go against my parents, will I fail? I am scared of failing. And if I fail what am I going to do then? What should I do?”
Hana Workneh, a member of the team, took the opportunity to share her personal experience. She explained that she faced similar resistance from her parents when she started her own company at 18. However, as her hard work paid off, her parents became her biggest supporters.
Hana further said, “Instead of fixing our mind on what if I fail, we should say What if I succeed? I will succeed and if I fail, I will learn from it.” Hana emphasized that parents want the best for their children and may try to steer them toward a safer path.
As the session ended a grade 9 student named Rahmet approached Bersabeh and expressed her interest in becoming a software engineer. She spoke about how she was unsure of where to begin and asked for guidance on how to enroll in the Tech4Dev programs Bersabeh’s team had earlier mentioned.
It was remarkable to hear a teenage student not more than 15 years old express such a clear career goal. In her own words, she said “I want to apply it in my life, I want to make a living out of it”.
That day, Rahmet learnt about some important programming languages she can begin learning until she completes her 12th grade and then she could apply for the Women Techsters Bootcamp.
Stories like Rahmet serve to fuel our zeal and validate the importance of the work we do with the Women Techsters Initiative. Every girl deserves the opportunity to thrive and live their dream.
Conclusion
As we celebrate this important day, we as an organization reiterate our commitment to inspiring and empowering the next generation of women tech leaders.
#HappyInternationalGirlsinICTDay2024
