Girl Child Network Sierra Leone in Partnership with Girl up Vine Club-Sierra Leone and iDT LABS
Freetown, Sierra Leone, 2016, April 28
The event took place at iDT LABS with Girl child Network Sierra Leone in partnership with two organizations in Freetown.
We had a day's trip to the iDT LABS Hub for the celebration wherein government line ministries were invited. We invite the following agencies Ministry of Education, Science and Technology, Ministry of Social Welfare, Gender and Children Affairs, Ministry of Information and Communication, National Telecommunication Commission, Sierratel and World Bank.
We managed to secure a single sponsorship for the event with Sierratel the government sector with part private with Chinese. It was really tough for us to fundraise since the government and the country as a whole is experiencing financial drought after Ebola Epidemic.
Girl Child Network Sierra Leone hired a vehicle to the iDT LABS and we arrived 30min later due to road construction and traffic. However, upon arrival the session was open with our motto and slogan chat as the special guest shower into their seats. The celebration was done in a workshop was represented by girls from various school we are working. Giving an overview on the day, Anita Koroma the Country Director of Girl Child network said she was doing a research when she came across this day which was never celebrated in sierra Leone. She therefore decided to involve other partners to organize the day with little or no funds.
Different speakers from the above agencies informed the girls about the importance of ICT and why they should look at a career pathway. After all a presentation was given by Yasmine Fofanah the Founding Director of GirlUp . The workshop was run by the special invite role model young person with a background in science and technology. However, the girls were divided into five groups of 10s to deal with one question out of five for later presentation by these groups. All the questions were from ICT related topics from the importance, advantage and disadvantages of ICT.
At the end of the day the girls were able to take the leadership and explore for themselves basic skills like booting computer and using the internet, mobile phones and other devices. It was very exciting day for the girls and even our host as it was fulfilling and rewarding. We offer gift to all participants and feedback was amazing as all of said they are looking forward to next year celebrations.
