From robots to girl power, getting Cameroon's women into work

Record ID: 1354845

  • Title: From robots to girl power, getting Cameroon's women into work
  • Date: 4th September 2018
  • Summary: VARIOUS OF JANET FOFANG, FOUNDER NEXGEN DIGITAL TECHNOLOGIES TALKING TO STUDENTS (SOUNDBITE) (English) JANET FOFANG, FOUNDER, NEXGEN DIGITAL TECHNOLOGIES, SAYING: "Any young girl that has exceptional ability and is extraordinary. It's all about helping them go to where they want to go to. Actually it starts with them. It's a dream, so you are nurturing someone's dream and
  • Embargoed: 18th September 2018 15:25
  • Keywords: Robots technology girls artificial intelligence. STEM
  • Location: YAOUNDÉ, CAMEROON
  • City: YAOUNDÉ, CAMEROON
  • Country: Cameroon
  • Topics: Science
  • Reuters ID: LVA0038W7OSBB
  • Aspect Ratio: 16:9
  • Story Text: A robot whizzes across the pavement, obeying the remote control commands of 15-year-old Xaviera Nguefo and her team in Yaounde, Cameroon.
    Xaviera and her friends are among 20 young Cameroonians studying at the NexGen center, picking up the basics of artificial intelligence.
    Students here learn to write code, make robots and acquire advanced computer skills.
    "It helps me grow intellectually and as well it inspired me every single day. Also I'm a girl and I want to gain my respect as well because in robotics the theory part we do in class it's being directly applied as we build the robots and so it's makes me more smarter than a girl that just goes to the normal school classes," said Xaviera.
    NexGen has a particular focus on getting girls interested in technology, as a way to help women move away from poverty.
    In 2016, 95 percent of all children out of school were girls, and U.N. data for 2010 - the most up to date available - showed women and girls made up 60 percent of Cameroon's illiterate population.
    Studies suggest educating girls has a broader societal benefit that goes well beyond the individual child.
    If all girls had a secondary education, child deaths would be cut in half, saving almost 3 million lives across the globe, according to research by the U.N. cultural agency UNESCO.
    The center is the brainchild of Janet Fofang, a pioneering scientist and teacher who aims to train the future tech innovators of her country.
    Fofang has set up various initiatives, including a technological school for 800 pupils.
    She wants to take technology to schoolgirls around the country and has launched a scheme to encourage other schools to set up clubs to get girls interested in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM).
    "Any young girl that has exceptional ability and is extraordinary. It's all about helping them go to where they want to go to. Actually it starts with them. It's a dream, so you are nurturing someone's dream and then taking them to the high of their ability. That's the best we can do for that person. So we do not want to find situations where people are not archiving their potential because they did not have the opportunity so we are levelling the ground," she said.
    Xaviera and her team have participated in various international competitions. They are currently working on ways to devise robots that provide reliable energy power systems - a topic close to their hearts given the frequent power outages in Cameroon.
    "In the future I will like to be able to create a robot which can translate what our grandparents, aunty, uncles; relatives in the villages can't themselves very well in English. If they can speak in their own language the robots translate it to the doctor," said Lynne Yenwo, a student.
    "Other people inspire me with their stories with what they did, and I want to empower myself as well and also I aspire to inspire other girls to take part in such activities," said Xaviera.
    In the meantime, robotics is helping Xaviera assert herself against the boys in the team and at school, who she says often think they know best. Xaviera recalled a recent case where she came up with the solution to a problem - forcing them to concede she was right.
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