Tag Archives: Mentoring

March 8, 2014 · 5:33 pm

Don’t You Have Any Friends?

A group of us TechWomen US State Department mentoring program delegates arrived in Rabat, Morocco, yesterday and we have been having delightful adventures ever since. Unfortunately, I can upload my photos to my TechWomen photo collection but the hotel wifi is flakey so I mostly cannot see them once uploaded.

We have made a friend in Lamia Bounahmidi (CEO of startup venture Looly’s Couscous) who has been showing us her home country. Today we got very lost driving to Fez. Apparently, the Fez road signs were removed for a construction project. When Lamia asked for directions, the toll taker asked “Don’t you have any friends? They should have told you!” We ended up following signs to Kinitra and then signs to Khemisset and then signs to Fez by using what Lamia calls Moroccan GPS – rolling down the window and asking for help frequently. Finally in Fez, we went shopping and walked miles among the lovely old buildings. I bought spices in the souq, and a rug at Dar Benhayoune (also called Dar Zaoula) in Fez, then we drove back to enjoy an amazing traditional dinner at Dinarjat in Rabat.

Our TechWomen official tour is tomorrow.

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Tagged as Africa, Mentoring, Middle East, Morocco, technical women, TechWomen

February 25, 2014 · 9:42 am

TechWomen Rwanda Press

The TechWomen delegation to Rwanda earlier this month was honored to receive a great deal of local and US media attention, before, during, and after our journey. New stories are still coming in…

‘Connect To Learn’ boosts girls education The New Times – Rwanda’s First Daily – February 11, 2014
TechWomen boosts Rwanda female scientists, techies The East African – February 8, 2014
TechWomen Delegation Visits Akilah Campus Akilah Institute for Women – February 7, 2014
U.S. Embassy Kigali Connects Rwandan Girls to STEM Dipnote – U.S. Department of State Official Blog – February 6, 2014
Fusing technology with efforts to empower women Carnegie Mellon University Rwanda – February 5, 2014
US: Women leaders in tech to mentor Rwandan women | TechWomen va parrainer des Rwandaises AfrikanSpot – February 5, 2014
TechWomen Delegation Visits Rwanda to Expand African Women’s Role in STEM Rwanda Post – February 4, 2014
U.S. State Dept. Says Women Leaders In Technology To Mentor Rwandan Women Daily Times – February 4, 2014
TechWomen Delegation in Rwanda To Expand Network of African Women in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) Fields U.S. Department of State – Office of the Spokesperson – February 3, 2014
U.S. Embassy Welcomes TechWomen Delegation to Rwanda Rwanda News Agency – February 3, 2014
Assistant Secretary for Educational and Cultural Affairs Evan Ryan Travels to Uganda and Rwanda U.S. Department of State – Office of the Spokesperson – January 31, 2014
Hope for girls in ICT as more mentorship programmes roll out The New Times – Rwanda’s First Daily – January 30, 2014
Global ICT experts to inspire Rwandan women Rwanda Eye – January 29, 2014
Silicon Valley women gurus inspire Rwandans The New Times – Rwanda’s First Daily – January 27, 2014

4 March 2014 addition: Institute of International Education Quarterly Newsletter: March 2014 “TechWomen Expand the Network of African Women in STEM” (lead article)

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February 13, 2014 · 8:15 am

Golden Monkey Trek, Crowned Cranes in Rwanda

Terra Incognita Ecotours helped some of us TechWomen mentors visit the Mountain Gorillas and Golden Monkeys after last week’s delegation to meet the girls and women working in STEM in Rwanda. We stayed at the Mountain Gorilla View Lodge. While there, we also saw Grey Crowned Cranes, really big worms, and other interesting creatures. As soon as we returned from the monkey trek, we scraped off the mud, showered, ate lunch, and drove to the airport to start our 30 hour travel home to the Silicon Valley.

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February 12, 2014 · 8:41 pm

Mountain Gorillas Trek in Rwanda

Many of the TechWomen mentors signed on with Terra Incognita Ecotours for a Mountain Gorilla and Golden Monkey trek after the delegation work week, staying at the Mountain Gorilla View Lodge. We eleven were the first to arrive at the lodge. Early the next morning, we were split into two groups – since only eight tourists can visit any gorilla family in Volcanoes National Park for one hour each day. Our trek group took the easier route through the bamboo forest (1-1/2 hours hiking in, 1 hour with the gorillas, 1-1/2 hours back). The other group walked for twice as long up a much steeper volcano. We all hired porters to help us up the muddy trail – and to contribute to the local economy. My porter was called Uwemama in Kinyarwanda (Clementine was her English name). I was grateful for her helping hand. Our capable trackers were Eugene and Emanuel. The Sabyinyo group of gorillas we saw were a fascinating combination of near-human intelligence and inhumanly structured quiet calm in their relationships.

The night after our trek, at the lodge we enjoyed a fascinating presentation by Dr. Jan Ramer of Gorilla Doctors about their work caring for the medical needs of the Mountain Gorillas. She said that the endangered global-population of over 800 was growing at about four percent a year, partly because of veterinary interventions in cases of poacher snares and respiratory infections brought in by tourists.

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February 12, 2014 · 7:55 pm

HeHeMobile, The Office, art shopping in Kigali, Rwanda

I am back in the Silicon Valley (land of great Internet access), catching up on blog posts from last week in Rwanda…

On Friday, 7 February, the TechWomen delegation visited CEO Clarisse Iribagiza and her startup team at HeHe (creators of SuperCow games), and Jon Stever of The Office, a co-working space in Kigali, Rwanda. After this last morning with our delegation, five of us visited the Inema Art Center and Ivuka Arts Kigali to enjoy a better class of local painting.

Then, eleven TechWomen mentors headed out to the mountains with Terra Incognita Ecotours on our way to visit the Mountain Gorillas and Golden Monkeys. Along the road to the Mountain Gorilla View Lodge, we saw two genocide memorials that our driver Charles said were graves of thousands slaughtered at checkpoints during the 1994 Rwandan Genocide. Charles was part of the Rwandan army that stopped the genocide. We also saw delights such as a young biker hitching a truck ride up the mountain, and rolled up bee hives in the eucalyptus trees that line the road.

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February 6, 2014 · 1:16 pm

TechWomen at Girl Hub and Rwanda University

On our last full day together in Rwanda, the TechWomen delegation visited Girl Hub and the University of Rwanda – College of Science and Technology (formerly called Kigali Institute of Science, Technology and Management or KIST).

Girl Hub is a strategic collaboration between the UK’s Department for International Development (DFID) and the Nike Foundation. Girl Hub helps transform the lives of adolescent girls living in poverty by unleashing their potential and empowering them with the assets they need to end poverty for themselves, their families and their community.

Girl Hub publishes Ni Nyampinga magazine and distributes it to 90,000 girls in Rwanda.

Four of the six 2013 Emerging TechWomen Leaders from Rwanda were KIST graduates. We spoke with the faculty, and enjoyed a well-escorted campus tour before meeting with about a hundred women technical students – answering their personal and professional questions. After our university visit, the TechWomen group went shopping for fabric, then had a farewell gathering at the hotel. Tomorrow, the first group of us departs for the mountains to see the gorillas. This has been a moving and inspiring week.

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February 5, 2014 · 1:01 pm

Gashora Girls School – Guest Blog List

As part of yesterday’s TechWomen delegation visit to the Gashora Girls Academy (GGAST) in Rwanda, I worked with other TechWomen to present two sessions of the Blogging and Web Research Workshop. Here is the list of blog topics that the girls signed up to write about as guests on Katysblog:

Clubs at Gashora and what goes on
Novels in the library (especially by James Patterson)
Team sports and games
School talent and fashion show
End of term bonfire
Many clubs for personal interest, community service helping local families
Why Gashora is non-religious
Dr. Ben Carson’s books on America
School magazine (“Light of GGAST”) – reprinting good articles
GGAST focus on science and technology
“Peace and Love Proclaimers” Club – to remember the genocide
Graduation day
Parent visits
University counseling and plans

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Tag Archives: Mentoring

Don’t You Have Any Friends?

TechWomen Rwanda Press

Golden Monkey Trek, Crowned Cranes in Rwanda

Mountain Gorillas Trek in Rwanda

HeHeMobile, The Office, art shopping in Kigali, Rwanda

TechWomen at Girl Hub and Rwanda University

Gashora Girls School – Guest Blog List

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