Impact Stories from Youth Engagement Policy Area
Kids Genius
Fellow(s): Sabine Kai
Country: Lebanon
Cohort: 2014
Policy Area(s): Education Diplomacy/Mentoring, Youth Engagement
Kids Genius, a makerspace for kids created by 2014 fellow Sabine Kai of Lebanon, has opened a second location in Tyre, Lebanon. The new space is located within the Imam Sadr Foundation’s school, which provides free education for orphans and kids with special needs.
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Report Date...: 5/8/2017
Tech
Fellow(s): Mercy Sosanya
Country: Nigeria
Cohort: 2015
Policy Area(s): Education Diplomacy/Mentoring, Youth Engagement
Youth Can Tech Digital Literacy program, a collaboration among 2015 fellow Mercy Sosanya of Nigeria, Uplift Hub, Brainiacs STEM & Robotics, Women Techmakers and Pretty Girls Code, trained 25 girls and 17 boys. During the kids’ spring break earlier this month, the program hosted sessions to teach kids how to use Microsoft Office applications, web design, coding using Scratch, robotics and 3D printing.
Report Date...: 4/17/2017
Fellow(s): Afnan Ali
Country: Jordan
Cohort: 2011
Policy Area(s): Economic Impact, Entrepreneurship, Youth Engagement
Afnan Ali, 2011 fellow of Jordan, founded Eureka Tech Academy in 2013 to teach children the concepts of engineering and invention to transform ideas into products. Since then, more than 500 students have participated in her programs, and she has developed a team of three full-time and 19 part-time employees. In December 2016, Afnan pitched Eureka at the Rise Up Summit in Cairo, Egypt. She was one of six entrepreneurs selected out of 23 pitches to participate in a 10-day acceleration program hosted by RiseUp and TechWadi in Silicon Valley.
Report Date...: 4/10/2017
Fellow(s): 2016 Sierra Leonean Cohort
Country: Sierra Leone
Cohort: 2016
Policy Area(s): Environmental Sustainability, Youth Engagement
The 2016 Sierra Leonean cohort launched their action plan project at its first of three partner schools on April 7. The project, Reduce, Reuse, Recycle – Kids can do it Better (3Rs for Kids), received one of five 2016 TechWomen seed grants and aims to address poor waste management in Freetown. The goal is to establish solid waste management education programs to increase environmental awareness. In addition to providing recycling bins, 3Rs for Kids will provide educational materials, such as posters, photos and videos, about recycling. The cohort has partnered with two recycling companies, who will support the implementation of the project and give presentations about waste management and recycling.
Report Date...: 4/10/2017
Two Hours of Coding
Fellow(s): Mercy Sosanya, Chioma Ezedi
Country: Nigeria
Cohort: 2015, 2016
Policy Area(s): Education Diplomacy/Mentoring, Youth Engagement
Nigerian fellows Mercy Sosanya (2015) and Chioma Ezedi (2016) held an introduction to computer programming session on February 14. Students from three secondary schools in Bauchi learned to code during the “Two Hours of Coding” event.. With support from Mercy and Chioma, the students built their first static website. Chioma spoke with the students about the importance of coding and that learning to code is compatible with any career path they may choose, while Mercy inspired the students by showing them her beautiful ‘STEMeers’ website, built partly using HTML.
Report Date...: 2/20/2017
eSTEM
Fellow(s): Nezha Larhrissi, Salima Kaissi, Zineb Rharrasse
Country: Morocco
Cohort: 2013
Policy Area(s): Education Diplomacy/Mentoring, Empowering Women and Girls, Youth Engagement
On January 28, Moroccan TechWomen fellows from the 2013 program, Nezha Larhrissi, Salima Kaissi and Zineb Rharrasse hosted the annual assembly for their organization, eSTEM Morocco at Mohammed V University in Rabat. The organization encourages girls to engage in STEM through mentorship and science workshops. The meeting served as an opportunity to increase awareness surrounding the organization, recruit more girls to participate in its activities and share plans for 2017.
Report Date...: 1/30/2017
STEM camp
Fellow(s): Marie Claire Murekatete
Country: Rwanda
Cohort: 2015
Policy Area(s): Education Diplomacy/Mentoring, Empowering Women and Girls, Youth Engagement
TechWomen fellows from Rwanda hosted a weeklong STEM camp at SOS Technical High School for 200 girls from all five provinces of the country earlier this month. The U.S. Embassy in Kigali supported the event, which served as an opportunity for mentors to share their career success stories and inspire young girls to consider careers in STEM. The participants, which included refugees from two different camps, learned about mobile application development, programming, robotics and website development. Marie Claire Murekatete, 2015 fellow, said, “It was so exciting to see how girls develop the innovative and community issue solution projects, but my overwhelming moment was to see how refugee girls built the website for their hosting camps” to make people aware of what is going on at their camps.”
Report Date...: 1/23/2017
International FIRST Committee Association
Fellow(s): Faten Khalfallah
Country: Tunisia
Cohort: 2015
Policy Area(s): Youth Engagement
The International FIRST Committee Association extended an invitation to Faten Hammouda, 2015 fellow of Tunisia, and her team of high school students to participate in the inaugural FIRST Global robotic “olympics.” The event will bring students from over 100 countries together in Washington, D.C., from July 16-18 and aims to cultivate an affinity for STEM in youth all over the world. With the intent to bring countries together through science, each team will develop their own robot to address one of the fourteen science and engineering challenges the organization has identified, which they will then present during the competition.
Report Date...: 1/16/2017
Hands-on STEM
Fellow(s): Sabine Kai, Petra Saab, Layal Zakhour
Country: Lebanon
Cohort: 2014
Policy Area(s): Education Diplomacy/Mentoring, Youth Engagement
Fellows from the 2014 program, Sabine El Kahi, Petra Saab and Layal Zakhour, initiated the second phase of their project, Hands-on STEM, which aims to establish STEM clubs where students can explore different aspects of STEM in an interactive way, in addition to participating in field trips to tech companies and universities.In total, 32 team leaders will be trained to go back and launch a club in their school. That club will have 20 members who will meet weekly to learn, build, explore and create projects.
Report Date...: 1/9/2017
Give Them Hope
Fellow(s): Estelle Ndedi Nguedassong, Nadia Habsatou, Gisele Beatrice Sonfack, Arielle Kitio, Aurel Tayou
Country: Cameroon
Cohort: 2016
Policy Area(s): Empowering Women and Girls, Youth Engagement
On December 28, 2016, Team Cameroon, one of the 2016 TechWomen seed grant winners, traveled to Maroua in Cameroon’s Far North region to begin work on their action plan, Give Them Hope. The initiative will provide resources, trainings and support to teenagers, whose lives have been disrupted due to Boko Haram. Currently, 90% of schools in that area are closed due to fear of a terrorist attack, according to the team. By December 2017, TechWomen fellows Estelle Ndedi Nguedassong, Nadia Habsatou, Gisele Beatrice Sonfack, Arielle Kitio and Aurel Tayou plan to support a quarter of those students who are out of school. Their action plan will help reintegrate the teenagers back into the academic and professional worlds. During their trip, the fellows conducted field surveys and created awareness surrounding the initiative in the local communities.
Report Date...: 1/9/2017
