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Larmmy Ogidan Odesye
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“Being A Woman In Tech Has Its Ups And Down”-Larmmy Ogidan-Odeseye

Larmmy Ogidan-Odeseye popularly known as Chelsea Godmother is a wife, mom, senior software analyst, business strategist and philanthropist making a difference in the mental health community and in humanity at large. She shares her inspiring journey in this interview.

Childhood Influence

Everything in my childhood prepared me for what I do now. My mom is a retired teacher/headmistress, and my dad was a mechanic. I was born in Mushin, Lagos. I lost my dad on my 10th I remember a lot about my childhood and how I had to step up and grow up faster than I needed to. My dad has 3 wives, my mom was the youngest of them. I learnt a lot about hardwork, persistence and resilience. When I lost my dad, I remember the family swooping in and attempting to take everything he had worked for from us. He had a spare parts shopping complex in Ladipo, mushin then and the 56 shops had to be divided in to 3 parts. I spoke up at this meeting and told the family how it was supposed to be shared. They went with my suggestion. I was a little girl of 10 and the youngest in the room. That was a proud moment.

Inspiration behind Heartcafe

I saw Hauwa on twitter make a post about sponsoring therapy for 5 people through Dedoyin Ajayi. I knew that was my window of opportunity. I reached out to Hauwa who connected me to Dedoyin where I sponsored additional 20 people. Then I suggested us hosting a mental health space. Turns out Dedoyin was already hosting a group mental health session offline before the pandemic called Heartcafe. The online space kicked off and she brought me in as a co-founder.

The journey so far

It has been fulfilling. We host Heartcafe every Friday at 5pm and it’s amazing how much we have been able to achieve. The stories that are shared, the healing and therapy that are happening. We recently celebrated 1 year anniversary of Heartcafe and in a year, we have given free therapy sessions to 164 people and this is excluding the 100s of people that join us every week.

Advocating for issues centered around Mental Health, and what inspired this passion for such a worthy cause

I have worked with and been around people with mental illness and it just became a passion. I once worked in a pediatric behavioral health unit of a hospital as a consultant, and it just piqued my interest. There was a wave of suicide attempts one time on twitter and I knew I had to something in my capacity.

Being a senior software analyst, and how it has impacted me as a person

I work in Healthcare I.T. I’m a senior analyst for a software used in Hospitals for patient care. I build, customize and upgrade this system for different hospitals across the United States. You know growing up in Nigeria, our parents believe you should either be a doctor, lawyer or an engineer. At one point in my life, I wanted to be a doctor. I ended up studying Zoology in OAU. I know I’m never going to be a doctor. That dream has been squashed a long time ago so helping doctors, nurses and healthcare workers get their job done faster and more efficiently is getting the best of both worlds and it’s sure paying the bills.

My humanitarian work on Twitter

As someone who didn’t grow up with much, I know how it feels to not have. I know that my life has been a journey of grace and people have helped me along the way. This is how I am giving back. I also get a dopamine effect from helping people so I can’t stop.

The society and its support for women in tech

Being a woman in tech has its ups and down but I have been lucky to work with some amazing people who have given me opportunities regardless of my gender. I did notice that if I get interviewed by a woman for a contract, it’s much easier than getting interviewed by a man..lol. I didn’t let that stop me though. I think we as women can do more to let go of unfortunate situations and move on quickly rather than dwelling in it expecting self pity. As a woman, you do need to be extra tough. it’s not always fair but it is what it is.

3 women who inspire you and why

Esther in the bible: A queen. A risk taker and an influencer. Do you know what it means to go into the king’s bedroom and demand what you want at that time? I stan

Judy Faulkner: Google this woman. A mom, a mogul. I aspire to be her everyday. I wake up and ask myself “what would Judy do?”

ME!!!: I know this might sound a bit self-serving to some but I am an inspiration to myself. The things I am able to achieve day to day, my multi-tasking skills need to be studied.

Challenges  I experience in my line of work?

When everyone labels you the “I.T GUY” and somehow think you’re less deserving of respect. Someone once asked me where do you work, I mentioned “so so hospital” and she said, what department? I said, I.T. and she goes “so you don’t work there. You just work in I. T” I’m like, you will not be able to do your job if everyone on my team take a day off at the same time.

Other projects and activities

I do have a lot on my plate. I’m a mom of 3. Ages 5,3 and 1 so that’s a major project. I also have a business. I sell household items so I’m a petty trader and lastly, the first batch of JeLarmmy homes are now under construction, opening fall of 2022. Real estate has always been a side passion of mine and I’m glad I’m finally able to achieve it with more to come.

Being a Woman of Rubies

As a Christian, I have read through Prov 31 over and over. The way that woman runs her household is an inspiration. Women are smart, brilliant and powerful. Do not underestimate me and what I can achieve. My gender is my strength, not a limitation.

Advice for women who want to pitch their tent in the tech sector

DO IT! Find a niche and perfect it. Be indispensable when you do. You do not have to know how to code or write software programming languages to get into tech. There are so many fields that do not require that. Scrum master, product owner, Project management etc.

Being  happily married with amazing kids; and creating work life balance

The major thing that keeps me going is that Yomi, my husband, is a great support system for me. This man is my backbone. He knows how much I take on at a time and he is always willing to step in and handle things when I’m crashing under the weight. I’m also a good multi-tasker. I treat my family and work as a scrum project. Each person or item is a sprint. It keeps me organized. Believe it or not, I start my day with 45 minutes of exercise and meditation to also get my body and mind right and ready for the day. I’m a morning person. I’m usually up at 4 so I take care of myself before everybody else wakes up.

 Important tech nuggets with us

Like I said earlier, you don’t have to know how to code or write programming languages to get into tech. Also, if you want to get into I.T because everyone else is doing it, you will get bored. My advice is find a field or specialty that appeals to you, go for that and be a master in it.

 

 

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Ifeoma Uddoh Is Empowering Women Financially Through “Shecluded”

Ifeoma Uddoh is the Founder of Shecluded, a finance company providing women with access to financial growth services to help them achieve their goals. In December 2019, Uddoh was one of five female entrepreneurs to emerge as winners of a UK-Nigeria Tech Hub competition sponsored by the British High Commission in Lagos.

Ifeoma’s expertise lies in funding women, analytics, technology startups, and products. She has a master’s degree in management science and operations research from the University of Lancaster, UK. She has experience working with PricewaterhouseCoopers, iROKOtv, Wilkinson UK and Compex Africa.

With over 10 years of experience in Strategy and Consulting, she saw first-hand that women were notably absent from investment opportunities and from interacting with other financial services that could improve their lives, this motivated her to start Shecluded, with the sole aim f empowering women with funds and financial knowledge.

On what motivated her 

I lost my Dad at 9 years old so I was literally a product of grace and the amazing people that shaped me into this woman that I am, so I like to push myself to give back and as I get older I am conscious that the time is now. Then I love Jesus. I love thinking through and solving problems.

Advice to women on financial independence

There is so much on financial literacy like saving, investing, e.t.c and from a gender point of view, I usually want to give a response from my insight as a gender lens investor.

From the work we do in our wealth management arm at Shecluded, the best financial advice I have for women is  – have a growth mindset. If you have earned 100k as a receptionist for 3 years get angry and do something to change it. The same effort you put into changing your style to look updated, put that in your financial life. Many women need to increase their income to even be ready for the basic wealth roadmap. Invest in financial education and do what you have learnt.

 

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#Interview |“Women And Girls Are Under-represented In STEM”- Amanda Obidike

Life they say is a series of building, and there is no good innovation without human impact. It takes a certain level of bravery to dare to be different and thrive in the STEM sector. Multi-award winning social innovator Amanda Obidike is one of the women breaking boundaries in STEM globally.

The technologist and scientist is the founding curator of the WEF Global Shapers, Ozubulu Hub and Executive Director of STEMi Makers Africa. Her role in this position is to provide leadership, strategy management and oversee the design and implementation of sustainable Community projects and STEM Education across 19 Sub-Saharan countries by preparing the next generation of Africans with STEM lucrative skills for Africa’s workforce.

In addition to STEM, she addresses thematic topics on Social Innovation, Data Science, Youth Development, Entrepreneurship and socio-economic policies. In 2020, Amanda received several awards including the Global Award for Achievement by TechWomen 100 and 30 Under 30 Inspiring Leaders of Africa.

Amanda got an opportunity to be trained by IBM in Business Intelligence/Analytics after 8 months. Upon completion, she took the initiative to serve as a knowledge panel in preparing Africans with 21st-century skills and future-focused options for an emerging workforce.

This was her inspiration, her driving force to starting STEMi Makers Africa.

She serves as a Mentor in the New York Academy of Science, Cherie Blair Foundation, the 1 million Women in Tech, Global thinkers for Women where she lends her voice, knowledge, and serve as a role model to girls in Africa.

She currently serves on the Leadership Team of the 500 Women Scientists, USA and Trustee Board of the MAI Foundation. The amazing amazon shares her inspiring story with Women of Rubies

Childhood Influence

I never had a background in Technology and Engineering. I have always dreamed of one day leading currency operations in the Central Bank of Nigeria. Growing up, I was a curious, adventurous, and daring girl. I went to different secondary schools cutting across 3 different geopolitical zones in Nigeria, gave myself to community volunteering, travelling, and learning how to do business.

Inspiration behind STEMi Makers Africa

STEMi Makers Africa emerged when I suffered underemployment and depression in 2O18. The meaningful and lucrative jobs available required technical skills that I didn’t originally have after graduation. Nigeria also began to transfer major resources and job opportunities to skilled professionals and expatriates due to a lack of competent and domestic STEM workforce.

STEMi Makers Africa was founded to address the leaky unemployment pipeline and break the wall of Inheriting fragmented and disconnected education institutions in Africa.

If current trends continue, by 2050 some one-third of Africa’s one billion young people will lack basic proficiency in math, reading, and STEM subjects. Millions will be unemployable and unproductive. To remain competitive in a growing global economy where 96% of jobs are now automated, we are raising African talents and achievement in STEM Subjects, and Skills of the Future by empowering Educators, marginalized communities and students to be self-reliant or effectively transition from education to employment.

Impact and testimonials since inception

STEMi Makers Africa is a non-profit organization that builds diverse African talents with lucrative STEM resources, skills and currently designed a national innovation base that supports key sectors of the economy, including agriculture, energy, healthcare, information and communication technologies, manufacturing, and artificial intelligence.

We have maintained one of the greatest strategies in helping 78+ communities in 19 African countries and 30,000+ young people develop job skills, improve educational outcomes, provide opportunities to succeed and we are planning ahead not to leave the younger generation feeling displaced and inheriting a more fragmented world than we live in today. Through our innovative approach to education and capacity building, we emerged winners of the 2021 Stroeous award for Global positive Impact on Innovative Solution, became a Falling Walls Berlin Engage Finalist for Breakthrough of the Year in the Digital Education category, 2020.

Just recently, one of our Educators who was a recipient to our first STEM Integration training for Educators got accepted for a 4 year USA Teacher Exchange Fellowship, which is renewable. We recorded 51 Internship and job positions for our project Kuongoza mentees program alone for 2O21.

Journey so far

The journey has been rocky, yet tremendous. There are times we get concerned about resources, partnerships, effectively managing operations across other African countries, but we keep pushing and leaving an indelible mark that can one day inspire esteemed organizations to collaborate with us.

Managing it all

My dear! (laughs)

I believe it’s due to the value I bring and the confidence people have in me. Majority of what I represent sprung from people’s recommendations, and organization appointments. I count it an honor and do my best to serve in the best capacity I can.

Awards and recognition

I was given the Global Award for Achievement by TechWomen 100,  in recognition of leading the way for future generations of tech talent, shaping the future of the technology industry and having a responsibility as a role model to share my experiences, laying the foundations for others to follow in the wake of technology. My driving force as an African woman who was under-employed and depressed is to Build an “Africa By Us, For Us” ecosystem that prepares diverse young talents with future-focused options in STEM lucrative pathways to become more experienced for Africa’s workforce. As a social innovator, I strengthen competencies, empower the next generation of Technologists, Engineers, and Innovators by training Educators with new, research-based instructional pedagogy, hands-on resource tools to ensure their students are allowed to solve ill-defined problems, make real-world connections while deepening their content knowledge and preparing them for STEM careers.

Kuongoza Mentoring Program

Our Project Kuongoza Mentoring Program has made significant strides and supported 195O+ women aged 15-35 access new markets, work flexibly and integrate these learned skills needed for the workplace – after being mentored.

Second, the STEM Integration for Educators as an ongoing partnership with the U.S Consulate General to cultivate a STEM Workforce, streamline STEM Education and refine Educator’s instructional pedagogy where students are allowed to solve ill-defined problems, make real-world connections while deepening content knowledge and preparing them for STEM careers. We have further inculcated these educator projects across Kenya, Uganda, Zambia and Cameroon.

Representation  of women and girls in STEM

Women make up half of the total of Nigeria’s college-educated workforce, but only 11% of the technology and engineering workforce are women. Research shows that girls start doubting their STEM intelligence by age 6 and continue to lose confidence as classes become less gender-balanced and more intimidating. Whatever the cause, it’s clear that parents, educators, allies and we as a community must work together to show girls that no subject is off-limits simply because of their gender.  Women and girls remain underrepresented in STEM and this is why we combine proper preparation in middle, high schools and universities, offer hands-on resources and opportunities, and provide young girls in Africa with women role models and subject matter experts in STEM.

Challenges

Resources like human resources, resource tools, access to investment and partnerships.

Other projects and activities

Mentoring Support:- Since 2016, I mentor at the New York Academy of Science, Cherie Blair Foundation, Global Thinkers Forum where I offer mentees academic, business support and invaluable life skills to thrive.

Policies:- In addressing policy concerns that revolve around governance and public administration, I serve as Assistant Director in Public Relations to the Nigerian Global Affairs Council.

Children Development and building:- I offer psychosocial development support and community management in the Royalty Children’s Network.

Gender Issues:- I offer pro-bono technology services to women Entrepreneurs, to help them incubate, innovate and commercialize their ideas and also serve on the 500 Women Scientists Team.

3 women who inspire me and why

Tobiloba Ajayi is transforming the face of cerebral palsy in Africa through advocacy, counselling, capacity building, referral services, and educator training. I am inspired by the work she does in the Let the CP Kids Learn, a foundation she founded out of a desire to change the prevalent narrative about the intellectual capabilities of Children with Cerebral Palsy

Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala is showing us that it is possible to dream, and excel. She became the first woman and African to be Director-general of the WTO in March 2021

Melania Trump continues to serve as an ardent advocate for children and devotes her time and efforts to helping young people navigate the many issues they face in an ever-changing society. In 2018, she announced BE BEST, an awareness campaign that strives to promote a world for children based on healthy living, kindness, and respect.

Nuggets on how to be successful in STEM as a woman

  • Be fearless. Be free to Dream. Be free to collaborate. Be free to ask questions. Be free to excel and Be free to succeed.
  • There may be hurdles in the journey but please maintain focus. STEM is a wonderful decision anyone can make. Feel free to reach out to the peers you admire or professionals in STEM who could share their stories, tips and advice that can help you in the field.
  • Get yourself a mentor and advisor.
  • Volunteer with community led organizations who are driving STEM Education.
  • We need more women in STEM fields. ILO stated that Women are 30% more likely than men to lose their job as a consequence of automation and low STEM skills.
  • There is a lot we can do in this field for our better livelihood, economy and improving retention of young women in STEM Careers.

Being a Woman of Rubies

Proverbs 31:10 says “Who can find a virtuous and capable woman? She is more precious than rubies.” A Woman of Rubies is full of wisdom and strength. She is an enabler, a teacher, a friend, a community mobilizer, tenacious and kind. Yes, I am a Woman of Rubies.

You can reach out to Amanda via the links below

Twitter @amandachirpy

Instagram @amandachirpy

Linkedin Amanda Obidike

Facebook Amanda Obidike

 

 

 

 

 

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Ghana’s Ethel Delali Cofie Is A Pioneering Leader Of Africa’s ‘Women-In-Tech’

Ethel Delali Cofie is a leading tech entrepreneur from Ghana and the founder and CEO of Edel Technology Consulting, a company that provides IT and software services as an enabler and catalyst for businesses to achieve their goals.

Ethel is the founder of Women in Tech Africa, initiator of the 1st Pan African woman in tech meetup and was shortlisted for the UN GEM Tech Award for work supporting women in ICT.

She has been featured by the BBC and CNN for her work in technology and promoting women’s leadership. Ethel sits on numerous boards and is also a President Obama Washington Fellow for Leadership (YALI).

Ethel Delali Cofie. Founder, Edel Technology Consulting

Remember the mistakes you make are all part of learning, so instead of overthinking things just do it, and on your way down you will figure it out.

Ethel Cofie is a woman with a genuine passion for technology and is a real advocate for women’s entrepreneurship in the sector. Today, her company Edel Consultancy, which she founded in 2013, is the primary vehicle for driving her technology passion. At the same time, it provides a platform from which to run powerful women in technology networking groups and alliances, focused on education and enhancing women’s careers in the sector.

In the preceding decade, she gained invaluable global industry experience working with a wide range of innovative and transformational tech systems and products in different capacities including Product/Solutions Management, Business Analysis, Software Development, Service Management, Strategy Development and Implementation.

Her career path took her to the UK between 2006 and 2009 where she undertook her MSc in Distributed Systems at Brighton University, followed by a corporate position as a Business and Systems Analyst with RDF Solutions. Both proved to be invaluable experiences that were to help shape her next career moves.

I failed a lot along the way but learned many lessons, which made it easier to get back up and try again. So persistence was key in my development as a professional and a businesswoman.

She is also a woman entrepreneur that believes in making a positive contribution to society through her knowledge, expertise and innovative ideas. In 2010, she worked on a number of game changing social projects in Africa, such as the Ford Foundation funded election-monitoring project for Nigerian Elections, and also the Bill and Melinda Gates Funded Mobile Technology for Health. The project was so successful that it has been implemented in Ghana, Uganda, Tanzania and India, proving that technology can indeed save lives. She was also the Technology Consultant for Dream Perfect in Sierra Leone, working on new Mobile Technology Solutions in the country.

Having made a considerable contribution to the success of these social development projects in Africa, she returned to the corporate world, taking up the position of Head of Commercial Solutions at Vodafone in Ghana, responsible for managing a team of technical and business analysts. This new role gave her a different outlet with which to fulfill her passion of supporting businesses in their efforts to provide customers with great services and products, to provide excellent customer service, and make profits by providing excellent and appropriate technology solutions. After resigning from her role at Vodafone in 2013 following a successful career with the company, she launched Edel Consultancy as the new vehicle for driving her passion.

I have 3 passions: Technology, Female Leadership and Empowerment, and Entrepreneurship.

“I created women in tech Ghana because I wanted to create a girls’ club – if corporate promotions and business has been conducted over the golf club and over beers, then I was going to create a space for women in tech to help each other move up and excel.” She said.

I believe entrepreneurship is Africa’s way out of poverty. Entrepreneurship is on the increase, because Africa, at last has been emerging and the economies are booming — several countries are starting to really increase entrepreneurial activity and move to opportunity entrepreneurship, rather than necessity entrepreneurship.

Ethel Cofie is a real inspiration, not just to women entrepreneurs in Africa’s tech sector, but to all those women who would like to build a career or a successful business in this highly competitive and male dominated industry. She is living proof that with enough tenacity, self-belief, and a vision to be an industry game changer for the benefit of others, you can achieve incredible results.

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The world is moving at a fast pace but it seems women are being left behind.

In a recent report by the World Bank Group, only six countries in the world give women equal rights with men. Although a significant progress from 10 years ago when no country gave equal rights, the pace at which countries are coming to terms with legal and economic equality is underwhelming.

All situated in Europe, France, Sweden, Luxembourg, Latvia, Denmark and Belgium have all set a precedence for the rest of the world.

According to the Women, Business and the Law 2019 report, countries in the Middle East and Sub-Saharan Africa averaged a score of 47.37, meaning the typical nation in these regions gives women under half the legal rights of men in the areas measured by the group.

The study aimed at developing a better understanding of how women’s employment and entrepreneurship are affected by legal discrimination, highlighting how women must navigate discriminatory laws and regulations at every point in their careers, limiting their equality of opportunity.

Overall, the global average came in at 74.71, an increase of more than four and a half points compared to a decade ago. But the score indicates that in the average nation, women receive just three-quarters of the legal rights that men do.

Only the six aforementioned countries scored 100%.

World Bank Group Interim President, Kristalina Georgieva said:

If women have equal opportunities to reach their full potential, the world would not only be fairer, it would be more prosperous as well.

Change is happening, but not fast enough, and 2.7 billion women are still legally barred from having the same choice of jobs as men.

Photo Credit: Mohini Ufeli/Andela

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PROFILE| MEET FUNKE OPEKE, THE FOUNDER OF MAIN STREET TECHNOLOGY

Funke Opeke is a Nigerian electrical engineer, founder of Main Street Technologies and Chief Executive Officer of Main One Cable Company, a communications services company based in Lagos State, south-western Nigeria.

She obtained a Bachelor and master’s degree in Electrical Engineering from Obafemi Awolowo University and Columbia University respectively. After she graduated from Columbia University, she followed with a career in ICT in the United States as an executive director with the wholesale division of Verizon Communications in New York City. In 2005, she joined Mtn Nigeria as chief technical officer (CTO). She served as adviser at Transcorp and chief operating officer of Nitel for a brief period.

After moving back to Nigeria, Funke Opeke started MainOne in 2008 when she noticed the low internet connectivity in Nigeria. MainOne is West Africa’s leading communication services and network solutions provider. The company built West Africa’s first privately owned, open access 7,000-kilometer undersea high capacity cable submarine stretching from Portugal to South Africa with landings along the route in Accra, Ghana and Lagos, Nigeria.

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MEET 19-YEAR-OLD BETELHEM DESSIE, ETHIOPIA’S LEADING TECH GIRL

Betelhem Dessie is a 19 years old Ethiopian that is at the forefront of Tech in Ethiopia. She runs five projects and works at Ethiopia’s first Artificial Intelligence lab, iCog Lab. 

In Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, Artificial Intelligence and Bioinformatics research is part of the services rendered by iCog Labs. In July this year, Ethiopia was one of the few countries to host Sophia, “one of the world’s most advanced and perhaps most famous artificial intelligence (AI) humanoid robot.” Sophia was at the Information and Communication Technology International Expo in Addis Ababa. Parts of Sophia were assembled in Ethiopia.

Within Ethiopia’s expanding tech industry, 19-year-old Betelhem Dessie has quickly risen and the young pioneer’s star keeps shining bright. Dessie is a project manager at iCog and is “interested in solving people’s problems by using simple yet effective tools.” Dessie started coding when she was ten years old. She said, “I learned informally because I wasn’t able to get classes in coding where I was raised in Harar.”

Sophia speaking at the AI for GOOD Global Summit, International Telecommunication Union, Geneva in June 2017. Photo: Wiki commons

In Harar, her father’s computer served as part of her training ground for who she is today. She got into video editing, computer maintenance and installing software for mobile phones. Gradually she updated her computer skills and knowledge. Part of Dessie’s mission is to implement projects that play a key role in the development of the community. She focused on the training aspect of coding in order to get more Ethiopian women engaged in such activities. Her foray in tech led her to work on a project with the US embassy called Girls Can Code. Forty girls were trained and created their own projects that could help their communities.

At her young age, Dessie is running five projects and has obtained seven patents; four of the patents are privately owned by her, while the remaining three are in collaboration with other organisations. One of Dessie’s project, Anyone Can Code (ACC) is in collaboration with iCog Labs. It aims to teach high school students about robotics and coding.

iCog Labs has its mission to advance science and technology for the good of all humanity, with a focus on advanced AI and on the use of cutting-edge technology to help leapfrog Africa into the future.

 

Culled from thisisafrica.me

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AGGREY MOKAYA’S NGO IS HELPING FEMALE INMATES BUILD THEIR FUTURE WITH TECH

The latest feature in BBC Innovators series is 31-year old Aggrey Mokaya who runs an NGO – Change Hub – bring tech training to women in Langata maximum-security prison, Nairobi, the Kenyan capital.

Mokaya, who is also a tutorial fellow at Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture, has through his organisation, trained 21 women so far and hopes to expand to every prison in Kenya.
“It’s all about giving people a second chance. It’s all about giving them a chance to tap into the economy they were not a part of before,” he said in the feature by Tamasin Ford and Suzanne Vanhooymissen.

60-80% of all inmates in Kenya will reoffend and land back in jail, according to Kenya Prisons’ statistics from 2014.

Mokaya’s organisation is working to reduce this.

“An ex-convict and a person who has never committed a crime, in the eyes of the law they are the same. So I think they should also be the same in the eyes of the economy, in the eyes of entrepreneurship or opportunities.
“If they are denied opportunities and chances to actually get into a space where they can make something of themselves we are basically setting them up to fail,” Mokoya said.

One of the beneficiaries, Dorcus, 44 who is due to be released later this month after serving half of her 3 and half-year sentence fr forgery had this to say:
When I came to prison I didn’t know computers. Now I can do anything. I can even create you a computer.

I have five children and I’m a widow, so going back to those children is the most important thing to me.

I won’t be moving around having dust on my feet as I don’t have a car.
It will change my life. I will be saving time and money.

Another beneficiary Rahab Nyawira, 35, who was released this year and now runs her catering business is also thankful and grateful she’s making her three children proud.
“There’s nothing you can compare with prison. Prison is the worst place to be but for me it was my turning point.

My website, I can say, it is my superpower in my business. It helps me meet new clients online everywhere in Kenya.

I learnt so many things through Change Hub. I was introduced to HTML, CSS and Javascript. For my website I coded everything myself.

When my daughter sees me now, I feel so proud,” she said.

On why he chose to start with a women’s prison, Mokaya said:
There’s a gender bias when it comes to technology.
If I’m able to impact the life of one woman it means you know there is a knock-on effect. It’s even a chance for her kids to get exposed to that programming early on.
When you talk about wanting to do a technology project everyone says why don’t you go to the men’s prison, or the juvenile prison?
I look at that and say yes it’s important, but it’s secondary. We will get there once we get it right at the women’s prison.

Credit: Bellanaija

 

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FOR THE FIRST TIME IN 55 YEARS, A FEMALE SCIENTIST WINS THE NOBEL PRIZE FOR PHYSICS

The Nobel Prize for Physics has been awarded to a woman for the first time in 55 years, just a day after a scientist at Cern was suspended for claiming the discipline was ‘built by men.’

Prof Donna Strickland was one of three who will share the prize, the first female to achieve the accolade since Maria Goeppert-Mayer in 1963 and only the third woman in history. The first being Marie Curie.

“We need to celebrate women physicists because we’re out there, and hopefully in time it’ll start to move forward at a faster rate,” she said on a phone call to the press conference.

“I’m honoured to be one of those women.”

The announcement that a woman had been awarded the prize for physics comes just a day after Italian scientist Professor Alessandro Strumia was suspended by Cern  for saying that “physics was invented and built by men” in a talk.

Commenting on the announcement, Jim Al-Khalili, the president of the British Science Association, said: “It is quite shocking to know that she is only the third woman to win a Physics Nobel, ever.

“It is also quite delicious that this comes just a few days after certain controversial and misogynistic comments made at a conference at CERN about women in physics.”

Prof Strickland was honored alongside Dr Gerard Mourou of France, for their work in creating the shortest and most intense laser pulses ever created by mankind, which are now used in laser eye surgery to restore vision for millions of people.

The prize was also awarded to Arthur Ashkin, 96, for his invention of “optical tweezers” that grab particles, atoms, viruses and other living cells with their laser beam fingers.

 

Credit: telegraph.co.uk

Photo credit: CTV News

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FEMALE ARCHITECTS IN NIGERIA NEED A THICK SKIN” -TOSIN OSHINOWO

Female architect Tosin Oshinowo has revealed in an interview with BBC, how challenging it is to be a female architect in the male-dominated field.

Female architects in the country “need a thick skin,” she said, sharing an instance when she cried out of a site because she was being disrespected.

She also discussed her style: afro-minimalism, revealing her love for clean lines and minimal but functional designs.

Watch her speak below:

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