Digital skills are no longer optional, they’re essential. For girls around the world, access to ICT training means access to opportunity, confidence, and the power to shape their future.
In Dakar, Awa Ndiaye found this power thanks to our Introduction to Computer Basics (ICB) and coding courses she attended at the Pire Center, where we have a lab. On Girls in ICT Day, we want to tell her story.
“My name is Awa, and I study physical sciences at Cheikh Anta Diop University. Before joining the training at the Pire Center, I had only touched a computer at school, but I never truly understood it. Then I was informed about the ICB classes, and through them, I learned how to use a computer from scratch: how to turn it on, write documents, send emails, and use Excel for calculations. Although it may seem straightforward, it unlocked a completely new realm for me.
Then came the coding course, and everything changed. I built projects like traffic lights and soil moisture sensors, and I realized that technology could solve real problems in everyday life. It was incredible to see something I created actually working. That feeling pushed me to go even further; I contacted a developer and started learning Python and Java on my own. I no longer dream of just working in a lab. I want to become a developer to build apps and platforms that matter.
People around me noticed the change- my friends, my family. Some of them started getting curious too. That curiosity is contagious, and I’m proud to be the spark.”
When girls learn how to code, they gain more than a technical skill; they gain a new voice, a new vision, and the ability to transform their lives. Awa’s journey is a reminder that investing in girls in ICT means unlocking potential that can reshape entire communities.
Let’s keep building a world where more girls like Awa can not only access technology but use it to lead.
#GirlsinICT #24April