By Oreoluwa Lesi | Executive Director
Dear friends,
As 2018 winds to a close, we take stock of all the progress we made with our work. We expanded our programmes to new locations and forged new alliances, while embarking on new activities with old partners.
Over the last year, we:
a.) Increased our engagement with our stakeholders and the wider public:
o Launched a newer and more user-friendly website
o Reviewed and re-branded some programmes to better appeal to the target beneficiaries
o Forged new partnerships with Children’s Development Centre – Lagos, Kenneth Dike eLibrary – Awka, National Library – Ilorin, Kwara State Ministry of Education, FEMTECH – Kwara State
b.) Expanded our programming to new locations:
o Set-up afterschool clubs in 12 public secondary schools established in Kwara State
o Organised the 1st She Creates Technology Camp in Awka, Anambra State and in Lekki, Lagos State
o Moved to new offices in Lagos with bigger training space
c.) Increased the breadth and depth of our curriculum:
o Organised our 1st Robotics-focused camp
o Significantly expanded our curriculum to include more Science and Engineering modules
o Ran computing classes for children with developmental disabilities
d.) Sought to deliver programmes that support our beneficiaries from girlhood to adulthood:
o Hosted the Early Innovators Camp (for 5 – 9 year olds) for the 2nd consecutive year
o Continued the technology afterchool club for 5 – 9 year olds
o Launched the HERKathon programme (for 11 – 17 year olds)
o Launched a STEM Mentoring Programme for female university students
e.) Were recognised for our work in media & with awards:
o Featured in the media, including Channels TV, Guardian Newspaper, News Agency of Nigeria, BellaNaija, National Light Newspaper, Punch Newspaper, The Nation Newspaper, PM News
o Were a finalist for the 2018 WSIS (World Summit on Information Society) Prizes Nominee – Category 4 (Capacity Building)
o Our Executive Director, Oreoluwa Lesi, was named one of the 100 Most Inspiring Women of 2018 by Leading Ladies Africa and the Guardian Newspaper. She was also awarded the 2018 Woman of the Year in Technology by Her Network Women of the Year Awards.
f.) Celebrated W.TEC’s 10th year anniversary:
o In 2018 (at the time of publication), no less than 1,862 girls and women participated in our programmes
o Over the last decade, we have worked with 23,000 girls and women
a.) Increasing our Engagement with our Beneficiaries and Stakeholders:
We rebranded the “She Creates Camp”, a name which more aptly describes the focus of the camp on bringing Science, Technology and Engineering to life and teaching the girls to develop useful technologies that solve everyday and pressing societal problems.
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In partnership with Children’s Development Centre, our work has expanded to explore how technology can improve learning outcomes and better integrate students with developmental disabilities and special needs, such as Autism and Down’s syndrome.
b.) Expanded our programming to new locations:
In partnership with the CodeLagos initiative of the Lagos State Ministry of Education, we organised Java, Python and Web Development classes in our training centre.
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The She Creates Camp took place in 3 locations across Lagos and Anambra states:
Across all 3 camps, we had 80 girls participating – up 21% from 2017.
In addition, 14 girls and boys – aged 5 to 10 years – participated in our 2 week Early Innovators Camp, where they learned to build websites and create digital animation using Scratch.
The Early Innovators Camp harnesses the children’s curiousity and introduces them to computing and science concepts through play and exploration.
In total, 94 young people benefited from our 4 STEM camps – up 18% from 2017.
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Working in partnership with the Kwara State Ministry of Education, we have set-up afterschool technology clubs in Ilorin, Kwara State working with 5 public secondary schools, with plans to add 5 more schools within the year.
We are excited to expand our work to a new state and look forward to the promises that this new partnership will bring. Learn more...
c.) Increased the breadth and depth of our curriculum:
In an effort to prepare girls to solve the world’s biggest problems, we revised our curriculum to be more rigorous and include more Science and Engineering topics. We introduced Engineering, Renewable Energy and Chemistry modules.
During the year, our girls also took part in sessions on Mobile Applications Development, Python Programming, Robotics, Drone Technology, Website Design, Software Design, Ethical Hacking, Data Analytics, Digital Music Production, Digital Animation with Scratch and Alice, Graphic Design and 3D Design and Printing.
Women engineers and in other science and technology roles spoke to the girls about their work and how the girls could prepare for careers in those fields.
W.TEC hosted a Robotics camp in our new offices, where teenage girls learnt to build drones and robots and programmed the robots using the Python language.
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e.) Deliver programmes that support our beneficiaries from girlhood to adulthood:
In addition to organising the Early Innovators Camp (for 5 – 9 year olds), the technology afterchool club for 5 – 9 year olds, we launched the HERKathon, a hackathon for girls 11 – 17 year old. These are aimed at making science and technology exciting and encouraging girls to want to learn more.
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In August, we launched MentorHER, a mentorship programme for women enrolled in tertiary institutions and studying STEM-related degrees. In this pilot, 16 mentees were matched with mentors – a woman technology professional and leader, who provides important career and technical guidance.
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In all, this has been a very exciting year for us at W.TEC. Our programmes are expanding into new territories.
It has been an even more fulfilling decade for us, as we see our work grow in shape and impact. We look forward to identifying more effective ways of attracting more girls into science and technology and nurturing the next generation of technology creators, entrepreneurs and leaders.
Thank you again for supporting and sharing our work. Because of you, we have been able to increase our reach and improve the quality of our programming.
Together, we can keep working to build a pipeline that supports girls and women throughout their journeys from early engagement to a career in technology and sciences.
Please continue to support us financially so that we can do even more. Consider becoming a recurring donor and setting-up automatic monthly payments to us. And please share our work with others in your network.
We thank you and our girls thank you too.
As you wind down for the year, we wish you a merry Christmas (for those who celebrate this) and a happy holiday to everyone else.
Warm regards,
Oreoluwa Lesi
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FOR MORE INFORMATION:
Newspaper article about 100 Most Inspiring Women of 2018 Recognition: https://guardian.ng/guardian-woman/leading-ladies-africa-100-most-inspiring-women-in-nigeria-2018/
Newspaper article about the Her Network Woman of the Year in Technology 2018 Award: https://www.hnwoty.com/award-recipients-2018/
Read some press coverage of the camps: https://www.nationallightngr.com/2018/09/06/women-urged-to-be-active-in-ict/
Newspaper article about 2018 She Creates Camp: https://punchng.com/54-female-students-benefit-from-w-tec-technology-camp/
Newspaper article about 2018 She Creates Camp: http://thenationonlineng.net/54-girls-graduate-from-technology-camp/
See more photos of the camps online: https://www.instagram.com/wteconline/ and https://www.facebook.com/pg/wteconlinepage/photos/?tab=album&album_id=215083191865726
View videos from the camps & our other programmes: https://www.youtube.com/user/watchwtec
Follow W.TEC on Instagram, Twitter and Facebook
Visit W.TEC website: www.wtec.org.ng
Email W.TEC: info@wtec.org.ng
ABOUT W.TEC & THE GIRLS TECHNOLOGY CAMP:
The She Creates Camp is an initiative designed to help Nigerian secondary schoolgirls develop an early interest in computer science, information technology and related careers. The She Creates Camp helps to intervene early, combat stereotypes and tackle the digital gender divide. We teach girls to create digital content, create software and develop skills that use information and communication technologies. Our two-week immersion programme empowers girls to contribute meaningfully to the digital economy and improve their economic opportunities.
The Women’s Technology Empowerment Centre (W.TEC) is a Nigerian nonprofit organisation set-up to encourage more girls to pursue technology careers and support women (entrepreneurs and in civil society) to use technology confidently to increase their economic power and ability to speak about issues affecting their lives.
Links:
By Oreoluwa Lesi | Executive Director
By Oreoluwa Lesi | Executive Director
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