Judith Owigar (right), and US President Barack Obama during the just ended Global Entrepreneurship Summit 2015 in Nairobi Kenya. I did this interview with her in 2012 in Nairobi (mobile.nation.co.ke)
They are a small bunch of closely knit friends, one can easily observe. And busy, too. When I visited their premises in Nairobi, I found them doing interviews for young ladies intending to join their training programme. I finally spoke to group President, Judith Owigar, after an hour of waiting. But the waiting was worth it. These are the AkiraChix. They are women supporting women in technology by giving them space to meet, discuss and develop skills. The aim of the programme is to encourage more women to get into the world of technology. AkiraChix provides networking, mentorship and training opportunities for young ladies. “We encourage them to use the available technology to make people’s lives better,” says Judith. They had a core team of 12 ladies when they began, which has gone down to 8. Currently, they have 200 registered members. The ladies have their “meet ups” once every two months. Besides, they have mobile garages, which focus on young men and women in universities and colleges. Through these, they encourage young people to come up with mobile applications that will help solve problems in their communities. Judith says theirs is a pretty loose organization where the only criterion for membership is interest and passion for technology. “You don’t need to be a techie. You just need to be interested in technology for you to be admitted as a member.” They have been able to train young ladies from the disadvantaged areas of Nairobi. They provide training, laptops and the space where these young ladies, many of whom do not have the resources, can work from. They offer a one year programme. Their first laptops were donated by Computer Aid Kenya when they began in April 2010. Last year, they received funding of Euros 6,000 from Google RISE (Roots in Science and Engineering), which they will use to buy 10 to 15 laptops and to run their activities. Part of the funds will be used to give some appreciation for some of their trainers, who volunteer their time in the programme. One of their initial challenges was the fact that many ladies didn’t seem to be interested in STEM (science, technology, engineering and Maths) careers, as she calls it. Many think they would have to work twice as hard as their male colleagues in order to receive recognition in the male-dominated technology world. At the same time, she reckons that there are few women role models in the technology world to inspire ladies. They are helping to change this perception by becoming role models to other young ladies. “We are going to high schools to help the girls by talking to them about careers in technology to help them have a change of attitude. It is not easy but it is worthwhile,” she says. The ladies have received support from other lady techies like Ory Okolloh, the Policy Manager, Africa for Google, Juliana Rotich, co-founder of Ushahidi, and Dorcas Muthoni, the founder and CEO of Openworld Ltd. Others are Catherine Nyambala, founder of STEMAfrica, Kaburi Kobia of Kenya ICT Board and Gladys Muhunyo, Director of Africa Programmes, Computer Aid Africa. She also mentions Shikoh Gitau of Google and Jessica Colaco, founder of Mobile Boot Camp Kenya, co-founder of AkiraChix and iHub Research Manager. These are their cheerleaders, she says. “They have given us access to their networks by way of advice, skills, experience and sharing with us information,” she adds. Her journey into the world of technology began by default. Whereas she was always good in Maths and Chemistry in high school, she never dreamt of ending up in a career in technology. She was introduced to computer science by her brother, who ironically, is a marketer. Later, she enrolled at the University of Nairobi to pursue a degree course in Computer Science. After her graduation, she felt that she wanted to do more. And that is when she, together with a number of friends, came up with the idea of Akirachix, which would bring together ladies from different backgrounds who had been hit by the technology bug! All the ladies are either working or doing business elsewhere, and only come together at AkiraChix for the love of technology. She says that their strength comes from knowing that they are changing the world one woman at a time. “We are kept going when we see other ladies having their own businesses, getting better jobs, and getting exposed after coming into contact with us. That is what counts for us,” says Judith. She works for Japan Centre for Conflict Prevention as an Information Technology Officer. Her work entails developing software applications, and providing support for the organisation’s offices in Kenya and Somalia, besides giving technical advice to some of their partner organizations. Talking to her, you realize the passion she has for technology. She reckons that technology can reach where other physical infrastructure cannot reach. “Technology is not a silver bullet to solve all our problems but it can help a lot,” she says with a strong conviction. And just to confirm that AkiraChix is not just talk without action, Judith points out some of the success stories from AkiraChix. One of them is M-farm, an application that was developed by two ladies, Jamilla Abass and Susan Oguya who were members of AkiraChix. It is an application that brings farmers together, to buy and sell in groups using technology. It empowers farmers since the economies of scale increases their bargaining power, something they may find difficult to achieve as individuals. MyOrder is another application that was developed by Hilda Moraa, to help shopkeepers place orders from suppliers from the comfort of their premises without having to go out physically to their suppliers. Ukall is a company that was founded by a member of the group, Catherine Kuguru. It makes software for security companies, one of which helps security managers to monitor the movement of their workers, and to make sure they are where they are supposed to be during working hours. And like in any other endeavour in life, they have their share of challenges. As the project grows, there is need for more resources. This is in terms of money and time. Since many of the group members are volunteers who are either working or in business, sometimes it is not easy to get the time to dedicate to AkiraChix activities. Judith informs me that they have many requests from as far as Rwanda and other parts of the country, but they cannot fulfill all these demands. Thus, they would want more ladies to come forward and be involved in their activities. And they are young and restless, too. They have quite a lot on their plates. Next week, for instance, they have a visit to Egerton University for one of their mobile garage activities. This means the team will have to divide into two groups because some have to remain behind to continue with the interviews for the next class. Their vision is to go beyond the borders of Kenya, to bring more African women into the field of technology. “We want to be there when people are exploiting technology. We want our members to be at the frontlines when these things are happening,” she says enthusiastically. Locally, they would like to work with ladies in different towns to set up programmes like AkiraChix, which will help broaden their networks. ‘Akira’ is a Japanese word that means energy and intelligence. “These two words embody members of AkiraChix,” says Judith. “We are energetic and intelligent. We wanted a name that is memorable, something that had never been heard before.” Surely, these young ladies are doing something that has never been done by many in their time. They are working to change their generation, one lady at a time.
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