Impact Stories from Youth Engagement Policy Area
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
STEM Rocks Workshop
Fellow(s): Busayo Durojaiye, Abiola Ilupeju, Azizat Gbadegesin, Oluremi Hamid
Country: Nigeria
Cohort: 2014-2016
Policy Area(s): Empowering Women and Girls, Youth Engagement
Busayo Durojaiye, 2014 fellow; Abiola Ilupeju, 2015 fellow; Azizat Gbadegesin, 2016 fellow; and Oluremi Hamid, 2016 fellow – developed and facilitated a two-day STEM workshop in Lagos on November 29-30. The workshop, STEM Rocks, focused on increasing secondary school girls’ interest in the STEM fields. A total of 25 girls attended the event, which took place at the Barack Obama American Corner.The fellows led career talks on ICT, electrical engineering and architecture.
Report Date...: 12/5/2016
Mentor(s): Terri Khonsari
Company: Families without Borders
Mentor Type: Impact
Policy Area(s): Empowering Women and Girls, Youth Engagement
Terri Khonsari, 2016 Impact Advisor to Morocco, led a four-day training for youth she mentors through her organization Families Without Borders from November 10-13. Terri founded Families Without Borders in 2011, which educates children and empowers families, building sustainable models for development worldwide. Terri focused her teaching on leadership skills, action plans and sexual education during the training. On the final day, attendees were divided into six teams, and each pitched a community project to the group. Terri plans to award a 500,000 SLL (approximately $89 USD) grant to each group to implement their projects by February 2017.
Read More »Report Date...: 11/14/2016
Africa Code Week
Fellow(s): Rogeema Kenny
Country: South Africa
Cohort: 2015
Policy Area(s): Education Diplomacy/Mentoring, Youth Engagement
During Africa Code Week, 2015 fellow Rogeema Kenny of South Africa helped train 1,273 children and young adults in basic coding skills in Cape Town from October 15-23. An initiative supported by SAP to drive sustainable growth, Africa Code Week aims to expose children and young adults to coding and encourage them to pursue the field across the entire continent.
Read More »Report Date...: 11/7/2016
library for Jomba Primary School
Fellow(s): Emmanuella Nzahabonimana
Country: Rwanda
Cohort: 2014
Policy Area(s): Education Diplomacy/Mentoring, Youth Engagement
Emmanuella and Barb Mackraz, 2014 Cultural Mentor, recently launched the Jomba Library Project in the mountains outside of Kigali. They plan to develop a library for Jomba Primary School, a greatly under-resourced school with 1,150 students and zero books. They aim to gather over 800 books and materials, such as puzzles, games, visual aids, a globe and book stands. They plan for 40% of the books to be nonfiction and focus particularly on the region’s environment, with the goal of developing an appreciation for the area’s ecosystem
Read More »Report Date...: 10/31/2016
Girls Discover STEM
Fellow(s): 2015 fellow Mercy Sosanya and 2016 Emerging Leader Chioma Ezedi
Country: Nigeria
Cohort: 2015, 2016
Policy Area(s): Education Diplomacy/Mentoring, Youth Engagement
Two Nigerian women, 2015 fellow Mercy Sosanya and 2016 Emerging Leader Chioma Ezedi, organized a two-day program, Girls Discover STEM, on August 26 and 27 at the American Corner in the Bauchi State Library. The program targeted girls from grades 7-11 who traditionally have not been encouraged to pursue STEM fields. Sixteen girls from five schools attended the event, acquiring basic STEM knowledge and skills through hands-on activities. “It was quite an exciting time as the girls were introduced to STEM. They were taught about the reasons why more girls and women are needed in STEM, and they were inspired by stories of great women who had excelled in STEM,” Mercy said
Report Date...: 8/29/2016
