By Jerry Omondi
Across the world, governments have initiated various efforts to ensure women and youth are not left behind in technological advancements, as science and innovation increasingly become the focus of the future.
According to the United Nations, the global community has over the past 15 years made a lot of effort in inspiring and engaging women and girls in science. Even with these, however, women and girls continue to be excluded from participating fully in science.
In Kenya, an Eldoret-based tech hub is doing its bit in ensuring women and youth are at the center of technological advancements and innovations.
EldoHub is an I.C.T. and entrepreneurship innovation hub that targets women and youth, to provide them with skills-based training, working space and a platform to interact network with their peers and share ideas.
The hub aims to help create and grow young tech businesses, and help them survive in their early stage by providing them with the necessary support and also financial and technical services.
Magdalene Chepkemoi, the Founder & Executive Director of EldoHub, says her decision to start the hub was inspired by her own life. Having grown up in a rural setup where women are still restricted to various roles and career paths, she felt the need to create a path for them to compete better with their male counterparts.
“I grew up in the rural areas. And I remember when I was young, I really wanted to be a scientist. I wanted to be a computer scientist. And when I mentioned to my parents that I want to pursue a career in computer science, they really objected and some of the reasons I was given was because you know you are a woman and it’s really good for you to be a teacher or a nurse,” she says.
She stuck to her dreams despite the parental pressure and years later she has grown to become of the most notable names in the fields of science, innovation and technology.
One of the main programs at Eldohub is a ‘Women in STEM’ initiative, which encourages and supports women and girls in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) and entrepreneurship.
Through this, women and girls are empowered to pursue technical careers.
Each day, Eldohub hosts tech lessons for women, helping them achieve their dreams of becoming part of Kenya’s science, innovation and technology fields.
“I have always loved math and logic and I also consider myself to be a creative person. So, coding and programming gave me a chance to combine those two things and also being able to offer solutions to problems that surrounded me. Technology offered an easy way to do that,” said Wanjiku Njoroge, a Web Development Student at EldoHub.
On her part, Purity Kosgei, a Web Development Student and Communications Officer at EldoHub, says her journey at the hub has been partly inspired by Chepkemoi’s own life journey.
“I have been here for about one year right now and I can say that my experience has been really great. It’s been awesome and I have learned so many things especially from my Director who even before I came to EldoHub I used to see her sometimes and she used to motivate me. I can say she is my mentor,” said Kosgei.
Now also a mentor to many women and girls across Kenya’s western region, Chepkemoi often organizes field classes, where ladies who cannot reach Eldoret are also able to benefit from the hub’s programs.
“It’s possible. If I did it, you can do it as well. If so-and-so can do it, you can do it, and no one should really discourage you from pursuing what you want to achieve,” she said.
According to U.N. data, less than 30 percent of researchers worldwide are women, and only around 30 percent of all women students select STEM-related fields in higher education. This translates to even fewer women in STEM-related workplaces, a tiny fraction of whom make it to management or leadership roles.
According to Azron Brian, a Software Engineer & Lead Trainer at EldoHub, with continued efforts, this imbalance can be changed, and the result would help the world tap into women’s brains in the quest to ensure more technological advancements.
“Being on this kind of program where we are equipping girls with tech skills and anything to do with technology, mathematics, engineering and science, you’ll find that in years to come, the narrative will change,” said Brian. “We’ll either have equal representation or more women will come in – not necessarily to do away with the men – but we’ll have a good representation of women. The narrative will completely change. We will have more women, more girls pursuing such careers and doing well in the fields as well.”
For Chepkemoi, the future still holds much more. Even though she draws a lot of pride in Eldohub’s journey so far, she is keen to ensure even more success.
“We want to build EldoHub more like an education technology platform for them to learn full capacity building in terms of digital literacy, STEM education, entrepreneurship lessons and through the entrepreneurship lessons, we want to build an entrepreneurship development program where they can be able to be guided on how they can start and grow their business from ideation stage all the way to taking their products to the market,” she said.
