DigiGirlz workshop, a powerful weapon for girls’ dreams
“It’s incredible to know that even girls can do interesting things that boys can do; it’s fascinating to know that we can do it.”
The DigiGirlz workshop was recently hosted by the Mpumalanga ICT Club Founder Ms Nomusa Keninda.
The workshop was held on Saturday, August 13 at Nkangala TVET College, Witbank Campus.
“It was empowering, fun, amazing work and brings hope to the nation and a powerful weapon for girls’ dreams” as the saying goes “When you educate a woman, you
educate a nation,” says Ms Keninda.
The DigiGirlz workshop is a program that aims to encourage young girls to pursue Stem subjects in school and learn coding and robotics.
Attendees of the workshop make connections with young female professionals in Stem fields in order to encourage them to study Maths and Science.
“When I was a young girl, I did many household chores such as fetching water far from the river and gathering wood for fire, because I grew up in a small village in Limpopo, but I did well in Mathematics and Science and received a bursary to study a Bachelor of Science, Honours, MHSc, and PhD in Science, all of which I earned with distinctions,” said Dr Edith Phalane.
Dr Phalane informed the thirty girls attending the DigiGirlz workshop that she is now a research manager specialist at the SAMRC/UJ Pan African Centre for Epidemics Research via a zoom platform during her motivational speech.
Suddenly, following Dr Edith’s address, the computer lab was filled with girls’ joy as a sign of confirmation for hope, dedication, and gratitude that they were fortunate to meet her because she rose from a humble beginning to her current position.
When one of the girls was asked about her overall impression of the DigiGirlz workshop on that day, she responded, “It was fun, and yes, it has inspired me a great deal; today I’ve learned that you can be successful, even if you come from a poor background. I read a book about a poor family who struggled a great deal, but in the end, their lives turned out well. I would like to encourage young leaders to pursue their dreams and not give up, because life is meaningless without them”
Sharon Khoza, a Stem and 4IR facilitator from Siyafunda CTC in Midrand, came with her team to introduce the girls to coding using the Scratch platform.
These girls were extremely fortunate to meet Sharon Khoza.
She demonstrated how simple it is to create a game and animation using Scratch.
This is what the girls said after creating their games successfully.
“Today’s workshop was fantastic, I’m glad I’ve learned something new, and I’m glad they taught us how to code, to create your own game, app, and story through the computer. It’s incredible to know that even girls can do interesting things that boys can do; it’s fascinating to know that we can do it.”
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