Your Django Story: Meet Joldeen Mirembe
This is a post in our Your Django Story series where we highlight awesome ladies who work with Django. Read more about it here.
Joldeen is currently working as a backup and storage systems engineer IT domain at Wipro Technologies/MTN-Uganda project. She graduated with honors with a bachelor’s degree in information systems from Makerere University in January 2014. Joldeen volunteered as a team lead for Girl Geek Kampala, an initiative that seeks to create a community that promotes and seeks to celebrate women in the technology field by infusing entrepreneurship and programming skills to girls and women that are very much passionate about information technology. She also helped as a volunteer facilitator for the Women of Passion Program (WOPA). Joldeen was a column writer for an e-magazine known as citEzine at university. She held a number of leadership positions throughout her years in school. Joldeen is passionate about technology and emancipating other girls and women in science and technology.
How did your story with code start?
My story with code started when the first set of girl geeks Kampala was established that was when I was at the university in July 2012. It created a community of girls who came together to learn how to code.
What did you do before becoming a programmer?
I was basically trying to figure out myself in the IT field since I was a university student at the time. Discovery is a continuous process I must say, because every day we discover something new and interesting that we want to be part of.
What do you love the most about coding?
Coding allows you to put your thoughts in reality, it allows you to be innovative and think creatively at the same time. It makes impossibility seem like it’s just a word.
Why Django?
My first encounter was with the language called Ruby and then of course led to the use of its framework Ruby on Rails. This created greater interest in Django as well.
What cool projects are you working on at the moment/planning on working on in the near future?
At the moment there are no cool projects yet, but in the near future I hope to work on a project that would be an absolute solution to the people in remote villages in my country, to be honest am still looking at what could be the most pressing challenge in these remote villages in terms of health so as to find a good viable solution. So I have not exactly made up my mind what the project is yet but I am sure of the area and sector I want it to impact.
What are you the most proud of?
I am most proud of the fact that more girls and women in Uganda are getting more exposed to coding which was unheard of in the former years. Also the fact I participate in communities/projects that help to facilitate such causes to uplift women in technology especially in computer programming.
What are you curious about?
I am curious about the possibilities technology is yet to expose us to, right now it might seem that its possibilities are being exhausted but I believe there is still more undiscovered and the thought of the unknown that is yet to be discovered keeps me on my toes curious: what is next?
What do you like doing in your free time? What’s your hobby?
I like to take part in activities of my clubs/societies.
Try and discover something new in the tech scene.
Fashion
I should say I like to hang with close friends and family and catch up.
Watch the latest fascinating TV show especially detective works and science fiction.
Reading different kinds of interesting literature, right now am reading “The book of Negroes” by Lawrence Hill
Do you have any advice/tips for programming beginners?
Just two words: Patience and Persistence.
Thanks Joldeen! :)
