Everyone knows that when you educate a girl you have educated a whole community.
This is why Maneo Mapharisa is is giving young women and girl opportunities in STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths) she does this through her academy Girls Coding Academy. By doing so, the organisation’s 7 co-founders are making a tangible and lasting contribution to the reduction of the gender gap in Lesotho. Girls have always been socialized to like the arts and stay away from “boys” subjects such as the Sciences, the kind that are said to be hard. But recently, girls have also been challenged to try something new and they are astounding.
Girls Coding Academy is a startup movement founded by 7 women within the Computer Science field.
They were part of the female 2017 Africa Code Week team trainers and from that training they were inspired to start their own academy. The academy is dedicated to educating, mentoring, innovating and equipping young women and girls with technological skills by club program, campus program and summer immersion. Their mission is to reduce the gender gap by engaging and encouraging young women and girls to participate in Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths or STEM fields.
The academy has encouraged many girls to reach their full potential.
A potential that would not be unlocked in a normal academy. They offer a range of one-on-one sessions, group sessions, computer skills sessions for women, summer and winter coding camps, and school coding clubs. So far the startup has 7 Basotho women within the Computer Science field with both local and international exposure and experience in the same fields.
Their mission is to reduce the gender gap by engaging and encouraging young women and girls to participate in Science, Engineering, Technology and Maths or STEM fields.