Send 150 Girls to STEM Camp in Nigeria

Dear friends,

The 2019 camp season has come and gone and ended on an unbelievably high note. Again, it was another year of some memorable firsts!!

Over the last 3 months, W.TEC:

• Completed the 2019 She Creates Camp Season & Recorded Highest Number of Participants

• Launched our 1st She Creates Camp in Ilorin - Kwara State

• Introduced Digital Electronics into She Creates Camp Curriculum

• Hosted 2 Early Innovators Camps & Launched New Site

• Selected as GlobalGiving October 2019 Project of the Month

• Reached Finalist stage of Girls Voices for Change Multimedia Contest & Other Awards

a.) Completed the 2019 Camp Season & Recorded the Highest Number of Participants

The She Creates Camp took place in 4 locations across Lagos, Kwara and Anambra states:

• She Creates Camp, Lagos Island – July 29 to August 9 with 17 girls

• She Creates Camp, Lagos Mainland – August 19 to 31 with 50 girls

• She Creates Camp, Awka, Anambra State – August 26 to September 6 with 17 girls

• She Creates Camp, Ilorin, Kwara State – August 26 to September 6 with 19 girls

Across all 4 camps, we had 103 girls participating – up 29% from 2018. The girls learned Digital Electronics & Circuitry, Mechatronics, Python Programming, Computing Fundamentals, Website Design, Mobile Phone Repair, Digital Photography, Artificial Intelligence and Internet of Things. The girls also benefited from Gender & Leadership workshops, Career Presentations, Excursions to Technology-focused companies and participated in Team-Based Projects.

Partners for this year’s camp include Oracle, SAGE Foundation, Laureates College – Lagos, Kiddies Kingdom Private School, Roboton Robotics, Chris Ogunbanjo Foundation, Hadassah STEM Millenial Foundation, Swift Networks Ltd., Kenneth Dike eLibrary – Awka, Anambra State, Kwara State Ministry of Education, Queen Elizabeth School – Ilorin, African Women Global Technology Initiative, FGGC Sagamu Alumni, Ajoke Ayisat Afolabi Foundation, The Wellbeing Foundation, Roboton Robotics Academy & Bestman Games, Devamplify, Edufun Technik and YOU.

We deeply thank everyone who is receiving a copy of this newsletter, because it means that you have also provided financial support for our programmes.

You can read more about the camps online: https://wtec.org.ng/w-tec-holds-its-12th-girls-she-creates-camp/

b.) Launched our 1st She Creates Camp in Ilorin - Kwara State

Following 2 years of running our weekly after school technology clubs for secondary school girls in the cities of Ilorin and Offa in Kwara state, we finally launched the She Creates Camp for girls in Kwara State.

The exciting curriculum covered Website Design, Digital Photography, Mobile Phone Repair, Science & Technology Career Presentations and an excursion to the Nigerian Television Authority.

You can see photos from the Kwara State camp online: https://www.flickr.com/photos/wtec/albums/72157711216923597

c.) Introduced Digital Electronics & Mechatronics into She Creates Camp Curriculum

As we work to keep the camp content more engaging and equip girls with the skills and capacities to solve for today and tomorrow’s problems, W.TEC introduced Digital Electronics and Circuitry and Mechatronics modules into the curriculum of the Lagos Mainland She Creates camp. Mechatronics is a combination of Robotics, Mechanics, Electronic and programming.

Read more: https://nnn.com.ng/ngo-trains-50-girls-on-electronic-circuit-technologies-web-designs/

d.) Hosted 2 Early Innovators Camps & Launched New Site

W.TEC continued our commitment to raising the next generation of technologists through our Early Innovators Camp.

The Early Innovators Camp harnesses the curiousity of children ages 5 to 10 years old and introduces them to computing and science concepts through play and exploration.

In 2019, the girls and boys participated in our 2 week Early Innovators Camp, where they learnt and developed skills in Digital Story-Telling and Robotics.

W.TEC launched a second site of the Early Innovators Camp in Lekki, Lagos to cater to children in this neighbourhood and environs. This was in addition to our existing camp, which took place on the Lagos Mainland and hosted by Kiddies Kingdom Private School in Aviation Estate, Mafoluku.

In all, 40 girls and boys participated in both Early Innovators Camps, up from 14 students in 2018.

The sponsors of this year’s camps are The Chris Ogunbanjo Foundation, Kiddies Kingdom Private School Lagos, and numerous individuals. Our media supporters for publicity were: Bella Naija, NAN, Tech Cabal, The Nation Newspapers & The Punch Newspapers.

You can learn more about the Early Innovators Camp online: https://wtec.org.ng/w-tec-holds-early-innovators-camps-for-children/

e) Selected as GlobalGiving October 2019 Project of the Month

We are honored to have our She Creates Camp, selected as “Project of the Month by GlobalGiving – the world’s largest crowd funding community.

The Project of the Month recognition is given to projects with a high-impact on their target communities and which actively demonstrate a high level of effectiveness and engagement with the GlobalGiving community. Selected projects must have in the past provided regular high-quality, substantive, and informative project reports to donors and have the capacity to absorb the generous funding from Project of the Month gifts.

Read more about our big win: https://wtec.org.ng/shecreates2020-wins-project-of-the-month-status-on-globalgiving/

f) Awards Galore for W.TEC

2019 has been a phenomenal year of recognition for W.TEC as we have won some prestigious awards and be shortlisted for others.

We have won:

We have won:

• The inaugural NEDIS Recognition Awards in the Gender-focused education intervention category for our work on the She Creates Camp. The NEDIS Recognition Award for Innovation in Education which is designed to identify and recognise innovative solutions within the education space that addresses identified problems of access, equity and quality in the education sector.

Read more: https://www.tepcentre.com/awards/

• NIRA Presidential Awards: The .ng Presidential Awards are special awards presented by the President of NiRA to individuals and organisations for their contributions to the Nigeria Internet Registration Association (NiRA) and the growth of the .ng brand. The awards promote the Nigerian businesses, individuals, charity, public and private sector organizations which help to make the Internet a more secure, accessible and rewarding experience.

Read more: https://www.nira.org.ng/pdf/2019.ngAwards_winners.pdf

• GlobalGiving October 2019 Project of the Month Award: Read more about our big win: https://wtec.org.ng/shecreates2020-wins-project-of-the-month-status-on-globalgiving/

We have emerged as finalist for:

• EQUALS in Tech Awards: The annual EQUALS in Tech Awards is organized and presented by the EQUALS Global Partnership – a network of 90+ organizations, companies, UN agencies, and research institutions. The Awards recognize groundbreaking initiatives from around the world aimed at bridging the gender digital divide.

W.TEC emerged as finalist in the Skills category: https://twitter.com/equals/status/1192488858811863041

• Girls Voices for Change Contest: One of W.TEC’s students made it to the finalist stage of the Girls Voices for Change contest in the Photography category. From hundreds of talented girls in 20 countries, she was one of the outstanding finalists of the contest and emerged in the top 5 for the Digital Photography category.

• Project Zero Awards: The Inclusive Technology for All project, which is led by the Children’s Developmental Centre (CDC) and the Women’s Technology Empowerment Centre (W.TEC) was shortlisted as a finalist for the Zero Project Awards.

The Zero Project Awards celebrates Innovative Practices and Policies that help improve the lives of persons with disabilities.  In 2019, 169 Practices and 24 Policies made it through to the Shortlist, selected from an incredible 469 nominations. All shortlisted projects will be invited to attend the Zero Project Conference 2020 at the United Nations Offices in Vienna, Austria.

W.TEC is proud that the IT4A project has been recognised among the world’s best practices seeking to improve life for differently-abled people.

Learn more about the Zero Project: https://zeroproject.org/shortlisted-projects/

Learn more about our awards online: https://wtec.org.ng/w-tec-win-multiple-awards-in-2019/

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In all, this has been an exhilarating year for us and we are excited about what lies ahead next year.

Thank you for supporting and sharing our work. Because of you, we have been able to increase our reach and improve the quality of our programming.

Please continue to donate to our work. Also consider becoming a recurring donor and setting-up automatic monthly payments to us. And please share our work with others in your network.

Together, we can keep working to build a pipeline that supports girls and women throughout their journeys from early engagement to a career in technology and sciences. We thank you and our girls thank you too.

This will be the last report for this year and so we take this opportunity to wish you a happy celebratory season ahead.

Warm regards,

Oreoluwa Lesi

FOR MORE INFORMATION:

“Teary farewell for teens at STEAM camp” (Newspaper Article): https://thenationonlineng.net/teary-farewell-for-teens-at-steam-camp/

“W.TEC’s ‘She Creates Camp’ is committed to increasing the numbers of Nigerian Women / Girls working in Science, Technology & Maths related Fields” (Online Article): https://www.bellanaija.com/2019/10/w-tec-steam-camp/

“W.TEC Summer ICT Training Camp Ends In Awka” (Online Article): https://www.nobedad.com/article/b58c8472?c=226dc472ad&nc=1

“Group organises summer ICT training for girls” (Newspaper Article): https://www.nationallightngr.com/2019/09/12/group-organises-summer-ict-training-for-girls/

“WTEC empowers 50 schoolgirls on technology skills” (Newspaper Article): https://punchng.com/wtec-empowers-50-schoolgirls-on-technology-skills/?fbclid=IwAR3C3wrmgGyC-LpeuF1G3hculBCzEOmNhICFcDvfWq6UvqnE0JSlXRiDTqI

See more photos of the camps and our other programmes online: https://www.flickr.com/photos/wtec/albums

View videos from the camps & our other programmes: https://www.youtube.com/user/watchwtec

Follow W.TEC on Instagram,Twitter and Facebook

Visit W.TEC website: www.wtec.org.ng

Email W.TEC: info@wtec.org.ng

ABOUT W.TEC & THE GIRLS TECHNOLOGY CAMP:

The She Creates Camp is an initiative designed to help Nigerian secondary schoolgirls develop an early interest in computer science, information technology and related careers. The She Creates Camp helps to intervene early, combat stereotypes and tackle the digital gender divide. We teach girls to create digital content, create software and develop skills that use information and communication technologies. Our two-week immersion programme empowers girls to contribute meaningfully to the digital economy and improve their economic opportunities.

The Women’s Technology Empowerment Centre (W.TEC) is a Nigerian nonprofit organisation committed to building a more inclusive technology ecosystem, with the next generation of women technology creators, entrepreneurs and leaders.

Links:

• "Teary farewell for teens at STEAM camp" (Newspaper Article)
• BellaNaija Article
• "W.TEC Summer ICT Training Camp Ends In Awka" (Online Article)