GoGirls ICT Initiative

contact us
Gender Narratives Through the Lens #GNTL

Gender Narratives Through the Lens #GNTL

by | May 14, 2021 | Career Guidance, Girls Coding, GoGirls Mentors, Our PJects, School Competition and Activities, Sponsorship

A participant reciting a recording
Co-Founder, Eva Yayi explaining concepts of "Design Thinking"
Participants recording scenes
A participant explaining a scene
A participant raising a hand to ask a question during a session
Two participants working as a team
A participant smiles before an audio recording scene
A mentor showing participants an audio recording
A mentor taking participants through a session
A participant reciting a recording
Participants being taken through "radio programming"
A participant expressing her opinion

Gender Narratives Through the Lens #GNTL

#GNTL a pilot project, is a virtual mentorship hub in the areas of audio content production, film making and entrepreneurial skills.

The target beneficiaries are women and girls from secondary schools, graduates and school dropouts to use these skills to improve their livelihood through digital storytelling.

The overall goal of this project is to build the capacity of South Sudanese women and girls in the digital creative industry.

#ClassroomOnPhone

#ClassroomOnPhone

by | May 14, 2021 | Family Intimacy, Our PJects, School Competition and Activities

Co-Founder Yine Yenki asking pupils' about their home learning during the pandemic
A P.5 pupil of JCC Model Pr. Sch shows off a memory card containing her science content
A P.5 pupil of JCC Model Pr. Sch shows off a memory card containing her math content
A P.5 pupil of St. Thomas Pr. Sch shows off a memory card containing her math content
Pupils look on - during a virtual learning session
A P.5 pupil shares her views about learning Mathematics virtually
An interactive session between pupils and Co-Founder, Yine Yenki
Pupils paying keen attention during a virtual learning session

#ClassroomOnPhone series (GoGirls learning podcast)

#ClassroomOnPhone is a pre-recorded learning program where learners are taught science subjects with the aim of enhancing the love and practice of science in primary and secondary school students.

When South Sudan went into a lock down in March 2020 due to the pandemic, we had a conservation with parents and teachers who were beneficiaries of our Time To Shine ICT #TTOSICT project on how they were and their children coping up with the closure of schools. And that’s when the GoGirls team embarked on a research on Virtual learning methods for Offline communities as part of its Access to Skills and Knowledge network #ASKnet Project.

During this time, we held workshops to introduce South Sudanese primary and secondary school Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) teachers to virtual learning, including their definition, examples, content development for virtual learning, challenges of virtual learning among others. Teachers explored virtual learning platforms both online and offline and mockup projects to create content for virtual learning.

The team further interacted with 25 students who were beneficiaries of #TTOSICT project in their various communities to know the challenges faced by students during the pandemic so that to build a knowledge base to help us tailor our training activities to the current situation. The interaction with them revealed that girls didn’t have time to read due to several home chores, noisy environment during the day so they can’t concentrate, lack of electricity and for those whom their schools provided with reading materials found Science subjects to be the most boring and hard subjects to study alone.

These findings were shared with the teachers who were providing these students with handouts and holiday packages to study at home. The teachers too found out that most of the assignments these students answered were not done by them hence proving not effective. This led us to explore cheap affordable technologies by our communities such using Micro SD cards and feature (button) phones since they are very affordable and accessible by everyone.

Together with GoGirls teams, the teachers from four primary and secondary schools developed STEM learning material with an integration of Arts (STEAM) in the form of podcasts loaded on micro SDs for a selected group of learners.

The students were introduced to virtual learning platforms and how to access these platforms including access to this content in form of podcasts hence, #ClassroomOnPhone.

Here is the link to the podcasts

https://anchor.fm/classroomonphone/episodes/ClassroomOnPhone-Series-GoGirls-learning-Podcast-ergreh

Gosanitize

Gosanitize

by | May 14, 2021 | GoGirls Mentors, Our PJects, School Competition and Activities

Download our Open-source #GoSanitize Resource

#GoSanitize

The Gosanitize project  is a social enterprise brand poised to reach great heights in the production of hand sanitizers of high quality and affordable prices by the community within South Sudan.

Download Report

Gosanitize Project

Gosanitize project  is a social enterprise brand poised to reach great heights in the production of hand sanitizers of high quality and affordable prices by the community within South Sudan.

These hand sanitizers are made from locally available resources such as lemon epicarps, Aloe Vera and locally brewed alcohol in South Sudan. 

The main goal of Gosanitize is to build resilient infrastructure, promote inclusive sustainable industrialization and foster innovation in South Sudan to achieve Sustainable Development Goal Nine (SDG 9).

This project brings together chemistry experts from secondary schools and local female brewers to exchange knowledge and ideas on the production of high quality and affordable hand sanitizers. 

 

This project has also featured on UNDP‘s site. More in the link below.

https://www.ss.undp.org/content/south_sudan/en/home/presscenter/articles/2020/UNDP_AccLab_launches_experiment_to_locally_produce_sanitizers.html

https://undpsouthsudan.exposure.co/gosanitize-a-made-in-south-sudan-initiative

#ASKnet – Access to Skills and Knowledge Network

#ASKnet – Access to Skills and Knowledge Network

by | May 14, 2021 | GoGirls Mentors, Our PJects, School Competition and Activities

Access to Skills and Knowledge network #ASKnet Program

The #ASKnet program provides access to skills and knowledge to empower South Sudanese communities to address challenges within their communities through Open Source innovations to promote and encourage Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics with an integration of Arts (STEAM) Education.

This program seeks to address the root problems of gender inequality in South Sudan that doesn’t encourage girls and women to learn STEM using Art through a peer to peer approach focused on the sharing of skills and knowledge leveraging on Open source and STEAM methodologies through research.

In partnership with _r0g/agency for open culture and Critical transformation, this program started in 2019 and through this funding, the capacity of the GoGirls team has been enhanced and we have been working on a pilot called “Open Science Framework for Classroom experimentation” to promote STEM education in schools together with primary and secondary school teachers within Juba. 

The Open Science Framework for Classroom experimentation was developed during the Teachers in Science Hackathon hosted by GoGirls ICT Initiative and some of the questions raised were;

  • How can feedback channels between curriculum developers, policymakers, teachers and learners be improved? 
  • How do we break the stereotypes of girls not taking sciences?

Three key discussion points took centre stage such as;

  • What Innovative #OpenScience approaches can be used to conduct Science experiments in Primary and Secondary Schools?
  • How can Science Educators, Schools and Institutes of Higher learning collaborate to bridge the gap between theory and experiments related to science?
  • How can science teachers improvise with locally available materials /resources to overcome the challenge of limited or no available materials for conducting experiments?

And the outcome of this framework are the following innovations by the GoGirls team,university students and Science Educators.

  1. Gosanitize
  2. Classroom On Phone 
  3. Access to Skills and Knowledge related to Internet of Things (#ASKrIoT)
  4. Repair Cafes

Interactions with Teachers: Follow up on #TTOSICT 2018 Mentees

Interactions with Teachers: Follow up on #TTOSICT 2018 Mentees

by | May 25, 2019 | Blog, Our PJects

Interaction with Schools, Teachers and learners - 24th April 2019 to 25th April 2019

The Time To Shine ICT  #TTOSICT2018 project was supported by UNDP South Sudan with funds from Sweden.

Over the years, I have learnt that no student is dull – they  will always be good at something despite their poor grades. Sometimes, it could be a personal issue, sometimes it’s their learning environment, sometimes, they needed to be reminded that there is a shoulder they can lean on, Sometimes, they need a ladder they can use to climb to the rooftop, sometimes, they need the staircases laid for them to reach the top..In Other Words, a little push to a student could change their life completely it worked for me, it will certainly work for others! we all need that one person to hold our hand and tell us we can make it despite the odds” Yine Yenki Nyika – Mentorship Director 

Following our#TTOSICT2018competitions, participants who emerged with the best projects ideas implemented using Scratch Programming were awarded school fees as a prize to support and encourage them in school with 61% Female, 39% Male supported through our school fees scheme for one year while the other 4 students awaits joining Higher institutions of learning, our team visited each of the 15 schools and interacted with 18 teachers to find out how they were doing, performing and for the new students how they were adapting to the new environment or classes.This visit was to help us understand further some of the challenges hindering the performance of the various students through their teachers and the mentees themselves.

24.04.2019: Atlabara West Basic School

Our day started with the visit to our first school at 12:30 PM  – Atlabara West Basic School to have a meeting with Jane Juru David, Contact person 2019.

Dalia Wani who is in Primary Eight this year is a beneficiary of our school fees scheme and this is how their contact person had to say.

 

“I am impressed with the program. Although Late John Wassey was the one closely following up on the program since 2016,the students mentored by you have shown a great change in behavior and their performance greatly improved for the past three years.I expect the number of students to increase this year”.

Juba Adventist Secondary school: Lagu Joseph Edward:Director of Studies

Achiro Jennifer was our mentee from Sadaka Primary School. She sat for her Primary Leaving Education last year and made it to Senior one this year! And because of her excellent results she was admitted to the above school.

And this was how our interaction went on.

 

To get a clear understanding of the environment in which our mentee was in, he highlighted the programs which they have in their school. And he continued”

we are looking forward to seeing that this program becomes part of our activity in this school. Supporting one student is very good, but we are looking forward to seeing more students supported through this program.I am looking forward to seeing you again and anytime, you are very much welcome to speak and interact with Achiro Jennifer”, he concluded.

Munuki East Pre & Primary School : Pitia Andrew, Head Teacher

John Asega and Emmanuella Khalil both in Primary Eight this year emerged the best performers in their school and beneficiaries of our school fees scheme.

 

Here is what their Head Teacher had to say

 

Two years experience working with you, has brought change to my students whom you mentor especially the girls. previously, they were very shy, but now active in class .

John’s performance in class is very good, no challenges of school fees as before and he attends school regularly. Your program has targeted the most vulnerable in my school. Emmanuella, an orphan who is also in primary Eight attends school regularly and we are glad that she is in class without missing like before. In your program, I am  looking forward to see that at least 30 pupils from my school are involved this year.

Following the case of Ayak, your mentee in 2017,I realized most parents abuse their children; parents are not giving their children enough time to study especially the girls.

I  have on several occasions tried to contact her parent, but she has never turned up for any of the meetings we have arranged to have with her and that’s how we lost track of her till date.

Through your forthcoming session with the mentees, if you realize they have an issue, please follow up with their parents ,he concluded.

Juba Proper International Secondary School:Charles Ladu Daniel - Deputy Principal

This school emerged the best in our competition and all the three groups are beneficiaries of the school fees. Ageno Mungu,Moriba Margaret Stephen, Stella Tabu all in Senior Four and Wande Suleimann, Senior Three while the other two participants awaits their Senior Four results this year.

 

Their Deputy Principal had this to say

 

“First of all, I acknowledge receiving our school package for being the best among the many school. I do really appreciate the work done by the Mentor and the skills they gained are very useful to them because they had no knowledge about it .I am looking forward to seeing more programs which my students can be involved in and more students participating in this program…Last year since it was our first time to have this program..we selected a few students from arts class to see the relevance of  arts and sciences applying to their daily life, but this year, we want to see our science students and arts both engaged in this programs.

The students you mentored have changed greatly in their attitude and their class grades. And they are in love with what they study.I want the time given to our students to be increased so that they can learn more” he concluded.

Fatima Fakhur Girls School: Both Head Teachers

Abuk Kuol, Senior Two 

 

“Through Saidia Simon who joined our school last year from Juba Girls Secondary School, this program came to our school for the very first time.

Saidia was helping the girls in her school being mentored through this program and closely guiding them. The support you are giving to this girls is very important. Abuk attends class regularly.I wish you could continue supporting this girls throughout their time of study in school because I realized when the support for one year ends, some of the girls drop out.

And for this year, we will have a specific contact person from our school to closely monitor the performance of our students during the mentorship throughout to have more participants in the competition this year and have more students supported by this program” she says

Mahad Secondary School: Thomas Tombe, Contact Person & HeadTeacher

Sebit Nyok Akol, Senior two now

This what his school had to say

“This year Mahad will be committed to the activities this students will be engaged in.Your support to Sebit, he really deserved it because he was very regular in all the activities. And he is the best student in his class. Sebit shared about his experience in the program with his teachers..”I didn’t know how to open a computer,but now, I can use my brother’s computer to continue learning”.

We realized, one of the girls in our school dropped out due to family issues. We will arrange with you and visit their family to have a dialogue”, he concluded.

Prestige High School:Stephen Joseph Amanya , Deputy Director of Studies.

Both Leah Baraha and Ajulu Christine were our mentees from Juba one Girls Primary School. They both sat for their Primary Leaving Education last year and made it to Senior one this year! 

And this was how our interaction went on.

 

“I warmly welcome this program to our school already” he stated. Being their first term in this school and in Senior one, we will closely monitor the performance of this girls in school and every end of the term, you can interact with them closely as planned.I hope to have more students benefiting out of this program”, he said

Juba Commercial Secondary School: Gama Elia, Head Teacher

Joyce Nyanya John Senior Four and Margaret Henry William Senior Three are our mentees of 2018 benefiting from our scheme.

 

Here is what their Head Teacher had to say

 

“I have been following the program with the students closely and one of the girls is now in S.4 with great improvement in academic and moral behavior since 2017. ”I expect more students especially the girls to participate in this program and we have two girls who conceived, but one is a very complex case though she is not your mentee. Both her family and the man responsible rejected her. I don’t want these girls to drop out, but to be supported and counselled. We also want more mentorship for both the boys and girls because parents now respond positively  towards the program”, he concluded.

Juba one Girls Primary School: Mama Mary Samuel Jada, Head Teacher

Leah Angelo – Primary Eight, Jackline David – Primary Eight and Elizabeth Modong Primary Seven are among the beneficiaries.

 

“I am impressed with the program for supporting girls in school. When you educate a girl, you educate the nation.My girls have made this program very important to me because the girls you are supporting faced challenges previously and others are orphans. She further shared about one of our mentees whose performance was deteriorating at the beginning of the term last year,but when she began attending this program her performance has greatly improved. And this very student spoke about how she is being abused at home because she is an orphan. it’s good that you are already planning a one on one interactions with the students, I believe this will give a platform to understand more of their problems both at their personal and academic level”, Concluded Mama Mary.

Nile Model Secondary School: Levi Simbe Lasu GurGur - Deputy HeadTeacher

George Marko Ongore was our mentee from Mahad Secondary School. Due to the closeness of this school to their home,he decided to join the nearby school.Marko is currently in Senior Three.

Being our first time in this school, this is what our colleague had to share with the Head Teacher.

“ Since he just joined this school, we are following up on this performance and also to give you a clear understanding of our programs, target groups and how it benefits the student. This visit is to help us establish the specific date when we can have our one on one interaction with our mentee following up on his performance and behavior among others” Beatrice shared.

Juba Technical Secondary School: Head Teachers

Daada Suzan was our mentee from Juba One Girls Primary School. She sat for her Primary Leaving Education last year and made it to Senior one this year! And she made it to the above school.

 

And this was how our interaction went on.

 

“ Since she just joined this school, we are following up on her performance and also to give you a clear understanding of our programs, target groups and how it benefits the student. This visit is to help us establish the specific date when we can have our one on one interaction with our mentee following up on her performance and behavior among others”.

Bridge Academy Nursery and Primary School: Head Teacher, Akech Jacob - Director of Studies and Bursar - John Lual

Dalia Charles was our mentee from Juba One Girls Primary School.She is in Primary Six this year.She joined the above school due to the closeness to their home and sometimes when it rains, she used to miss school when the stream is overflowing and that’s why we decided to enroll her to the nearby school.

 

“ I already see impact in this program, he started. Being her first time in this school, she had the confidence to contest for the position of  Health Prefect and the support she got from the students was overwhelming and this was portrayed in the way she conducted herself!Confidence is what she showed. Your support to her financially keeps her in school and I would be glad if this is expanded to support more girls.  I am looking forward to having this program in my school”, he concluded. 

JCC Basic school – both Primary and Secondary School

Both these schools were among the winners in our competition. We have 7 students in primary section whom we are supporting and 8 in the Secondary Section. Gilda Milton who was in Primary Eight in JCC primary last year made to Secondary this year likewise, David John from Atlabara West Basic School made to the same Secondary school.

And with a smile on his face, there focal person had to say this: “All the students are doing  very well”. 

Light House International School:Wonsuk Charles Edward – Director of Studies

Hadia Hamid Mohammed was our mentee from Sadaka Primary School. She sat for her Primary Leaving Education last year and made it to Senior one this year! And because of her excellent results she was admitted to the above school.

And this was how our interaction went on.

 

“ I am willing to follow up with you and under more about this program.he continued, I have a lot of Vulnerable students in my school and I am looking forward if given the opportunity for my students to participate in this program”.