Girls are somewhere in the future #DigiGirlz

"I'm somewhere in the future, and I look better than I look right now." Thandiwe Mbila  from Mkhephuli Secondary School came up with this phrase, and now it has become part of our workshops to motivate learners to picture their future, especially their workplace. It is a gem rap followed by a snapping of fingers and footsteps. I really loved it, especially yesterday with the girls in a DigiGirlz workshop at Morelig Secondary School.

The girls were joined by Sheena Satikge-Sibisi  virtually to share some of her experience during her career journeys. As a young star inspired by how townships were designed in South Africa it motivated her to study town planning.

She shared how she navigated high school troubles using confidence and a positive attitude to show up where no one could imagine. She delivered a powerful lesson to these young stars.

The DigiGirlz workshop is one of the intensive sessions where girls are taught various 21st-century skills, including career guides to STEM. We had a design thinking session where they had to identify problems in various newspaper articles, develop problem statements, brainstorm and design prototype solutions. After this exercise, the girls presented their work to the group for positive criticism and improvement.

Another session involved a coding and robotics lesson where girls were introduced to various platforms to learn coding skills. This time, we used one of the Raspberry Pi Foundation  Scratch projects for beginners, and the girls were excited to get this opportunity to learn the skill.

I take this opportunity to thank Ms. Malevu of Morelig school who was on leave yesterday but made this event happened at her school. My colleagues Duduzile, Glenda and Sheena Satikge-Sibisi for supporting the workshop. I appreciate the support from the Nkangala TVET College  for sponsoring some goodies for the girls.