Tag Archives: Africa

January 31, 2014 · 1:13 pm

Welcome to Rwanda

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The TechWomen delegation has started to arrive in Kigali, Rwanda.  Ten of us flew in today (San Francisco – Los Angeles – Amsterdam – Kigali), taking 24 to 36 hours for the trip, depending on what flights we got.  It was dark when we arrived so we mostly went to our rooms to tidy up and get some rest.  Three of the TechWomen Emerging Leaders met us at our hotel – so great to see them again!  The night smells spicy here.  This is my first trip south of the equator.  I am looking forward to seeing something of Kigali tomorrow.

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Images Copyright 2014 by Katy Dickinson

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January 29, 2014 · 5:37 pm

“Global ICT experts to inspire Rwandan women”

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There is another news story about our TechWomen delegation – in the Rwanda Eye today: “Global ICT experts to inspire Rwandan women” by Olive Ndaka, 29 January 2014. I am almost done creating my handout for the Gashora Girls Academy workshop I am developing – on blogging and web-based research.

Later on 29 January 2014… Here is the “Blogging and Web Research Workshop” handout – ready to go!

3 February 2014 – Here are the presentation slides to go with the handout for today’s presentation to the Gashora Academy girls.

Image Copyright 2014 by Katy Dickinson

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January 27, 2014 · 12:20 pm

“Silicon Valley Women Gurus Inspire Rwandans”

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Our TechWomen delegation is a Rwanda New Times front page story today! Read all about it: “Silicon Valley women gurus inspire Rwandans” by Collins Mwai, 27 January 2014.

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January 19, 2014 · 6:51 pm

Rwanda Delegation Pre-Trip Briefing

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Last week, several dozen US-based mentors and program staff gathered at the Institute of International Education offices in San Francisco for a pre-trip briefing for TechWomen Rwanda delegation members. Others phoned into the crowded room. The delegation’s enthusiasm and energy level are high!  TechWomen 2013 Emerging Leader delegates from Rwanda, Cameroon, and Kenya will join us in Kigali.

TechWomen’s 2014 Emerging Leader application is now open! The deadline to apply is 23:59 Cairo time, Monday, February 10, 2014. The delegation will be in Rwanda during the application period. So, while we are making presentations at girls’ schools and technical events, we will encourage women working in STEM to apply to TechWomen.

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Images Copyright 2014 by Katy Dickinson

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January 16, 2014 · 2:33 pm

Katy’s 2013 Book List

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I am in the process of switching from an iPad to an iPad Mini for my upcoming TechWomen mentoring program delegation trip to Rwanda, so I have been sorting what Kindle ebooks and iBooks I will take along…  I am a big reader, finishing one to two books most weeks. When I was ten years old, the librarian in our local public library mentioned that I averaged a book a day (shorter books, back then!). In 2013, I started reading books online, so now I can track my titles. Below are some of the books I read in 2013 that I liked best, meaning I will probably read them again.

* means a re-read (because it was too good to read just once!)

  • Bryan, Christopher, And God Spoke / The Authority of the Bible for the Church Today (2002)
  • * Bull, Emma, Bone Dance (1991)
  • * Bull, Emma, War for the Oaks (1987)
  • De Quincey, Thomas, Miscellaneous Essays (1859)
  • * Dickens, Charles, The Complete Works of Charles Dickens (2011) – 2013 focus was on The Christmas Carol
  • * Doyle, Arthur Conan, Sherlock Holmes, Volumes I and II (1986)
  • * Dumas, Alexandre, The Three Musketeers (2010)
  • Flint, Eric 1632 (2000)
  • * Gaiman, Neil, Anansi Boys (2005)
  • * Gaiman, Neil, and Terry Pratchett, Good Omens / The Nice and Accurate Prophecies of Agnes Nutter, Witch (1990)
  • Holy Bible – New Revised Standard Version (1989)
  • Hunt, Linda Lawrence, Bold Spirit / Helga Estby’s Forgotten Walk Across Victorian America (2003)
  • Ilibagiza, Immaculee, Left to Tell / Discovering God Admist the Rwandan Holocaust (2006)
  • MacCulloch, Diarmaid, Christianity / The First Three Thousand Years (2009)
  • * Melville, Herman, Moby Dick / Or, The Whale (1891)
  • * Modesitt, L.E., The Magic of Recluce (1991)
  • * Nix, Garth, The Abhorsen Trilogy (2003)
  • * Pierce, Tamora Beka Cooper: The Hunt Records (2006)
  • * Pratchett, Terry, Small Gods (1992)
  • * Pratchett, Terry, The Wee Free Men (2003)
  • Sandberg, Sheryl, Lean In / Women, Work, and the Will to Lead (2013)
  • Sansom, C.J., Dissolution (2003)
  • * Sayers, Dorothy, Lord Peter Views the Body (1928)
  • * Sayers, Dorothy, The Nine Tailors (1934)
  • * Shakespeare, William, The Compete Plays of Shakespeare (2011) – in 2013, focus was on Romeo and Juliet, Macbeth, Richard II, Henry IV, Henry V, Much Ado About Nothing, Midsummer Night’s Dream, and Twelfth Night
  • * Stephenson, Neal, Snow Crash (1992)
  • Verghese, Abraham, Cutting for Stone (2009)
  • Webb, Maynard, Rebooting Work / Transform How You Work in the Age of Entrepreneurship (2013)

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January 9, 2014 · 4:53 pm

People To People Global Radio Starts Tonight!

Please join P2P’s inaugural radio show tonight – 9 Jan 2014, at 9:00 pm EST.

Access the weekly show online http://www.blogtalkradio.com/p2pglobalradioshow/ or phone 646-595-4742 each Thursday evening.

The guests for the 9 January show will be: Ambassador David Shinn, the 19th US Ambassador to Ethiopia and currently Adjunct Professor of International Affairs at the George Washington University; Dr. Joseph Berger, Professor of Neurology at the University of Kentucky; and Dr. David Clifford, Professor of Neuropharmacology at Washington University, St. Louis.

Our host will be P2P Board Chair, Dr. Anteneh Habte.

Your questions and comments will be welcome. If you are unable to tune in live, you can access the whole show at your convenience using the link provided on the People To People Global Radio Show Blogtalkradio web page.

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People To People Global Radio Background
People to People (P2P) is launching this weekly radio program as part of its core mission of engaging the Diaspora in health care issues of importance in Ethiopia and beyond. The show will air on Thursdays from 9:00pm to 10:00 pm EST and its target audience will be primarily non-health care professionals. It will be moderated by P2P members who will interview subject matter experts with work experience in Ethiopia. Audience participation will be solicited through phone calls and social media for exchange of ideas. The broadcast will be available through the link http://www.blogtalkradio.com/p2pglobalradioshow/ an hour after airtime and will be achieved indefinitely.

Katy Dickinson is the P2P Chief Operating Officer and is looking forward to becoming a radio show moderator! More about P2P

Image Copyright 2013 by Katy Dickinson

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January 8, 2014 · 4:01 pm

Getting Ready for Rwanda

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Last week, my son Paul asked why I was looking so sad. I explained that I was reading a series of books about Rwanda, and in particular about the genocide of 1994. I will be traveling with the TechWomen (US State Department mentoring program) delegation to Rwanda next month and am learning about the history of that area of Africa.

As disturbing as my reading is, I know the importance of advance preparation when traveling. In 1979, after I graduated from U.C. Berkeley, I backpacked for six months through Europe, ending up with a long stay at the Kibbutz called Ashdot Ya’akov near the Sea of Galilee in Israel. After the Teheran hostage crisis developed in November 1979, I headed home, ending up in an almost-empty youth hostel one night on Mount Carmel. One of the other hostel guests was a young woman from Germany who had come to Israel for a vacation during her college break. At the time, German schools did not teach about the Holocaust. When I met her, this girl was deeply shocked after someone told her about the history of her homeland and the place she had come. She spent the night sobbing with grief, saying over and over “I did not know. I did not know.”

So far, I have read:

Of course, I am also working on all of the other preparations needed for a big trip, particularly since I will take a few days after the delegation period to trek with Ecotours to visit the mountain gorillas. I visited the PAMF Travel Medicine department and have new Yellow Fever, MMR (Measles, Mumps, Rubella), and Typhoid immunizations. I tried out my old hiking boots and got a flat (see photo below). So, I am now getting used to a new pair of Lowa – Renegade boots. Ged Caddick of Ecotours has warned us to expect mud, so I also bought new rain gear at REI.  I have binoculars but I am still thinking how to pack without zip lock bags…

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Images Copyright 2013-2014 by Katy Dickinson

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