[ti:Ugandan Women Show Technology Is Not Just for MenUgandan Women Show Technology Is Not Just for Men]
[ar:Jonathan Evans]
[al:Technology Report]
[by:www.21voa.com]
[00:00.00]From VOA Learning English,
[00:03.42]this is the Technology Report.
[00:05.97]East Africa is a growing technology center.
[00:10.89]The area creates award-winning applications
[00:14.70]for various of mobile devices at a fast rate.
[00:19.66]The newly established companies there
[00:22.92]are full of imagination, what they lack are females.
[00:28.38]One group in Uganda is working to guarantee
[00:32.38]that women are not left behind in the technology industry.
[00:37.70]Christine Ampaire is a 23-year-old 
[00:42.48]computer program engineer in Uganda.
[00:45.53]She says girls in Uganda are pressured from an early age
[00:50.51]to study what many consider to be easy subjects.
[00:54.77]She says that parents and teachers
[00:58.03]often think math and science are too difficult for girls.
[01:03.09]"I won't say they think girls are stupid,
[01:05.50]they just think that the hard stuff is for boys
[01:07.71]because they are stronger.
[01:08.71]They generally assume because she's weaker physically,
[01:12.95]maybe mentally she will not cope with the hard stuff," said Ampaire.
[01:16.36]But Ms. Ampaire knows better.
[01:20.22]Two years ago, she co-founded Girl Geek Kampala,
[01:25.44]the group teaches women the skills they need
[01:29.47]to make profitable applications and websites.
[01:33.56]They also bring in female technology leaders
[01:37.06]to speak to the students
[01:38.81]and serve as models of success in business.
[01:42.71]Ms. Ampaire says one thing Uganda women lack
[01:47.29]is the belief that they are able to do things.
[01:50.51]"In our class, most of the girls just kept quiet
[01:53.61]and took the back seat when it came to doing coursework
[01:56.92]and all these other things.
[01:58.23]I thought maybe if we had an environment
[02:00.29]where it's no judgment, it's safe for everyone to say,
[02:04.10]¡®I want to start from the beginning,'
[02:05.40]it would be really cool," said Ampaire.
[02:06.81]But Ms. Ampaire also says
[02:09.37]Uganda women need more than just trust in themselves.
[02:13.93]"I feel the skills are part of
[02:15.74]that whole process of building confidence.
[02:17.91]If I can write my whole app by myself,
[02:20.90]then I'll be more confident to say
[02:22.61]I'm a girl in tech," said Ampaire.
[02:24.17]Girl Geek's courses are free,
[02:26.47]they are held in facilities donated by a technology company.
[02:31.33]Christine Ampaire estimates
[02:34.50]that they have trained around 150 women so far.
[02:38.37]Similar programs have been created in Kenya
[02:42.54]and South Africa.
[02:43.64]Ms. Ampaire says in years past,
[02:47.31]she would know everyone of the women
[02:49.72]at technology events she attended across Africa.
[02:53.63]Now the computer programmer says she sees more and more new faces.
[02:59.89]"That kind of excites me.
[03:01.24]I'm like, 'Wow, we are growing.'
[03:02.89]The gender imbalance is still high,
[03:06.61]but you can see the difference.
[03:08.01]The change is happening," said Ampaire.
[03:09.56]Joldeen Mirembe joined Girl Geek as a beginner two years ago.
[03:14.93]She was not sure that she had the ability to write code.
[03:19.25]Now, she helps lead the group and teaches classes herself.
[03:24.67]Ms. Mirembe says Africans are eager for technology.
[03:29.48]"Everyone here is so hungry to get these things and understand them.
[03:33.74]They just need to be given the opportunity,
[03:36.20]especially the girls.
[03:37.90]They can be as good as anyone out there,
[03:40.61]given the opportunity," she said.
[03:42.07]Ms. Ampaire believes that for Ugandan women
[03:45.83]to truly succeed in technologies,
[03:48.04]they need to create openings for themselves.
[03:52.10]She says no one else is going to do that.
[03:56.21]I'm Jonathan Evans.
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