Teach Tech Innovation to Girls & Women in Tanzania

The program centers on a dedicated Girls Innovation Club that provides a safe, supportive, and stigma-free space where girls and women can engage with technology and creative problem-solving on their own terms.

Since January, 45 girls have been enrolled in the Innovation Club and have been introduced to the fundamentals of design thinking and human-centered innovation. Participants have engaged in community research, empathy exercises, and challenge identification and are now in the exciting process of selecting the specific problems they will prototype solutions for in the coming phase.

In February, we also successfully delivered the SheMakesIt Workshop a one-day intensive that brought together 15 girls and women 20-36 ages for hands-on training in digital fabrication, covering human-centered design, 3D printing, CNC routing, and CNC laser cutting.

Highlights at a glance: 60 total participants in Arusha and Dar es salaam regions.

Innovation Club

Skills and Learnings: Design Thinking

Key learning areas covered during this period include:

• Empathize – Learning to observe and listen deeply to understand the real needs and experiences of community members, rather than assuming what problems exist
• Define – Synthesizing research and observations into a clear, focused problem statement that captures the root of a challenge
• Ideate – Generating a wide range of creative ideas and solutions through structured brainstorming, suspending judgement to allow bold thinking
• Challenge Identification – Using research and personal experience to pinpoint the specific community challenges participants are most motivated to solve

Upcoming Milestones

• Finalize challenge/project selection
• Launch the prototyping phase, first hands-on build sessions
• Introduce participants to making and fabrication tools relevant to their chosen challenges
• Begin iterative testing: build, test with community members, refine, repeat

SheMakesIt

Skills and Learnings:

The SheMakesIt Workshop covered four interconnected areas across the course of the day:

• Human-centered Design; empathy, problem framing & ideation
• 3D Printer; design & printing
• CNC Router; precision cutting of materials like wood & plastic
• CNC Laser Cutter; detailed cutting & engraving

Impact & Outcomes

The SheMakesIt Workshop was successfully completed with all 15 participants, making it one of the first digital fabrication training experiences of its kind designed specifically for girls and women in Dar es Salaam.

Over the past three months, Twende has empowered young Tanzanian women to design and prototype technology-driven solutions for local challenges in energy, agriculture, and waste management.

Key Achievements

• 37 women trained in design thinking, prototyping, and business modelling
• 7working prototypes developed, including:

• Bar Soap Maker – Produces solid soap bars efficiently.
• Liquid Soap Mixer – Blends ingredients to make liquid soap.
• Chicken Plucker – Quickly removes feathers from chickens.
• Onion Harvester – Lifts and collects onions from the field.
• Jewellery Maker – Designs and assembles jewellery pieces.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                       4 teams (Chicken plucker, Onion harvester, Liquid soap mixer and Jewellery maker) progressing toward commercialization with ongoing mentorship

Impact

• 100% female participation, promoting gender equity in tech
• Enhanced skills, innovation mindset, and entrepreneurship potential

Next Steps

• Support prototype improvement through mini grants
• Connect innovators with local partners and markets

Thanks to your support through GlobalGiving, young women are gaining tools, mentorship, and opportunities to become problem-solvers and change-makers in their communities.