Samburu girls win global tech competition
Samburu Girls Foundation entrance in Loosuk area, Samburu County. Five girls from the institution are the winners of the Technovation Challenge 2022, a global tech competition for girls.
What you need to know:
- Rozilla Lenanyukie, Dorcas Kanipa, Felister Nashipae, Jacinta Lerte and Siana Lekuraa were part of Team Almasi, who represented Kenya in the finals of the junior division in the 13 to 15 age bracket.
- Team Almasi developed a mobile application EndCut, to help tackle female genital mutilation (FGM) and early marriage.
Five teenagers from Samburu County are the winners of the Technovation Challenge 2022, a global tech competition for girls.
Rozilla Lenanyukie, Dorcas Kanipa, Felister Nashipae, Jacinta Lerte and Siana Lekuraa were part of Team Almasi, from Samburu Girls Foundation, and represented Kenya in the finals of the junior division in the 13 to 15 age bracket.
They were among nine winning teams who were celebrated during Technovation’s World Summit held on August 12.
The virtual global event, which marked the end of the Technovation’s girls’ season, brought together more than 5,700 girls who created nearly 1,700 projects to solve community problems.
Team Almasi led by Ms Lenanyukie developed a mobile application EndCut, to help tackle female genital mutilation (FGM) and early marriage, by providing an alternate road to economic empowerment for Samburu community women.
All five girls in the Almasi team were rescued from either FGM, child marriage or beading, in a community where harmful cultural practices are still rampant.
Samburu women
Through the App, they sell beaded jewellery made by the highly skilled Samburu women to the rest of the world. Additionally, it provides sensitisation to the ills of FGM and offer a toll-free number to report cases as well as provide survivors messages of encouragement.
Every year, Technovation Challenge invites teams of girls of eight to 18 from all over the world, to learn and apply the skills needed to solve real-world problems through technology, and become tech entrepreneurs and leaders.
After identifying a problem in their community they are taught how to communicate their ideas and translate them into a fully launched business.
Another winner from Kenya is Winnie Msamba. She bagged the first ever Alumnae Changemaker Award under the special prizes category, which comes with a $5,000 (Sh597,250) cash prize.
Ms Msamba was recognised for her outstanding contribution to solving an environmental challenge in her community. With her initiative Morogoro Cocopeat, she helps small farmers switch to the more environmentally-friendly Cocopeat; a 100 per cent organic growing medium made from coconut husks. So far, she has manufactured and sold more than 50 tonnes of Cocopeat.
Apart from Kenya, Tanzania was the only other country from Africa to win an award.
Their Fahari Ya Msichana team emerged top in the beginner division of girls aged between eight and 12 years. The team’s Andalio app, a digital lesson planning tool allows teachers to replace their outdated paper lesson plans and booklets with a quicker, more environmentally friendly tool.
