On International Day of the Girl in 2021, Techbase partnered with the Initiative for Integrated Community Welfare in Nigeria (IICWIN) to open a STEM pathway for twenty underserved girls in Ibadan. For many of them it was the first time they had been introduced to technology education.
What we did
We kept it practical. The girls used laptops, worked in small groups and built things with Scratch, with instructors sitting beside them to guide and encourage. The aim was not to teach everything in a day. It was to show that this world is theirs too.
What we still remember
- Confidence changes quickly when a child sees something they built move on a screen.
- One-to-one attention matters. A mentor sitting next to a learner makes the difference between giving up and carrying on.
- Representation counts. Girls are more likely to see themselves as future engineers when they meet women and men who do the work.
That day is a big reason our programmes stress small groups, hands-on sessions and encouragement for every learner. You can see the photos and the story in our Portfolio entry.