By Joseph Nsengimana, Executive Director of WiSci STEAM Camp
As we kick off the second week of WiSci2015, it is worth taking some time to reflect on the first week of camp; and what a week it was! From the first arrivals a few minutes past midnight on Saturday, July 25th, to the buses pulling into Gashora coming back from the first outing on Saturday, August 1st, the campers exhibited energy levels that only teenagers can reach! If there was a way of harnessing it, it could light up an entire city! Literally! Even now, I am still startled by the encouraging screams from the campers during culture nights, and I am usually in the office, a little over one hundred meters from the venue where the events take place.
Of course it is not all just having fun and games; the campers are also learning! They completed the first week's training which the mighty Microsoft team conducted through Kodu, a computer programming software. It definitely sparked campers' interests as a number of them are already talking about pursuing computer related studies thanks to this camp, and it has only been one week; I can't wait to see what happens at the end of weeks 2 and 3!
The camp was kicked off by an opening ceremony that featured the Rwandan Minister of Education, the Rwandan Minister of gender and family promotion, the US Ambassador at large for global women's issue, the U.S. Ambassador to Rwanda Erica Barks-Ruggles and the governor of Eastern Province, where the camp is taking place. Such a high level delegation underscores the importance that is placed on girls' education.
The campers are being taken care of by a dedicated team that I am honored to be part of. Nkubito Bakuramutsa and his team at Ministry of Education, and Alain Munyaburanga and his team at Gashora have been spectacular; Julie and Rachel from Girl Up and their band of super counselors have masterfully attended to the girls, it is hard to believe that they have just met them a week ago; Tania, Jen and Gretchen at Meridian International, what can I say, simply rock! Erika, Aldrinana and Connie from the US State Department need to come up with a new term for this kind of diplomacy, maybe there is already and I just don't know it. Either way, it was well executed indeed.
The camp has come together so well; it is as close as possible to the image it conjured up back when it was just an idea, what seems like a million years ago. It makes all challenges, hassles, runarounds during the preparation time worth it all.
I look forward to reflecting on week2! Judging by how the kids reacted to the Intel's Inshuti Team this morning, I am sure it will be an exciting week!
Joseph Nsengimana is the Director of Programs and Strategic Alliances at the Intel Foundation. In his role, Joseph oversees all programs funded by the foundation and supports innovative partnerships to develop technology solutions and education opportunities for girls and women, as well as programs targeting youth development. Joseph and Thomas Debass of the State Department are the initiators of the WiSci project and he is the Executive Chair of the Camp. From 2008 to 2012, Joseph was based in Johannesburg, South Africa, where he held the role of Director of Corporate Affairs Group and Strategic Alliances in Africa for Intel Corporation. In this role, he led a team responsible for government affairs, ICT and broadband policies, and CSR in Sub Saharan Africa. He advised and assisted governments, regulating agencies, and bilateral and multilateral development organizations on the use of technology to fast track development. As part of Intel education programs, Joseph and his team worked with 12 ministries of Education in Sub-Sahara Africa on their education transformation. Joseph served on the technical advisory committee of the African Leadership in ICT project to build capacity and raising awareness of African leaders on the issues of Knowledge Society, ICT, Education, Science & Technology and Innovations in support of EU-AU Strategic Partnership 8 and AUC action Plan; as well as on the ICT Taskforce of the Association for the development of education in Africa (ADEA). Joseph holds a BA and MS in Electrical Engineering from Brigham Young University.