Tag Archives: TechWomen

Touring Kigali

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The forty TechWomen delegation members have all arrived in Kigali Rwanda as of today. We spent the morning of our first official day touring the capital, changing money, and shopping for crafts. In the afternoon, we laid flowers on the mass graves and spent several hours at the Genocide Memorial Centre. We just got back from a splendid dinner and dance hosted for us in a private home by the TechWomen Emerging Leaders whom we mentored from Rwanda. We are all tired and more-or-less jet lagged but experienced today as a powerful introduction to the culture we have come to learn about. I am still thinking through the exhibits and museum displays of photos, bones, and artifacts of genocide victims. This will take time to process.

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Images Copyright 2014 by Katy Dickinson

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Heroes Day in Rwanda

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Today was the 20th celebration of Heroes’ Day in Rwanda:

The National Heroes’ Day falls on every February 1 during which time Rwandan leaders and citizens pause and pay homage to specially fallen compatriots who paid the ultimate price for the greater good.

It was also our second day here in Kigali with the TechWomen delegation. Everything was closed for the morning to honor the heroes who fought against the Rwandan Genocide. So, five of us hired a car to see parts of the city and surrounding area that will not be on our official tour tomorrow. We saw one of the sources of the Nile River and even very briefly saw a monkey running uphill. We also went to the Caplaki craft cooperative and did some shopping.

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Images Copyright 2014 by Katy Dickinson

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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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“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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“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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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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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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