Your Django Story: Meet Anna Makarudze

This is a post in our Your Django Story series where we highlight awesome ladies who work with Django. Read more about it here.

 

Anna Makarudze lives in Harare, Zimbabwe, and was born and raised in Masvingo. She is an an ICT consultant as well as a Python/Django developer.

How did your story with code start?

Well, I started learning programming in high school when I was studying Computer Studies for my GCE Ordinary level. I also learned many other languages in school while studying for my GCE Advanced Level and my BSc in Computer Science. However, after graduating, I did not do any coding, so I kind of forgot the syntax for most of the languages I had learned in school.

After consulting on some projects in which I felt the developers were failing to develop simple business processes, I decided to get back into coding by learning a language that would not only allow me to implement these processes but also allow me to play with data science. No wonder I learnt Python, after doing some bit of research on the language.

 

What did you do before becoming a programmer?

I have been a career nomad within the ICT sector, changing jobs within the industry. The industry I’ve stayed the longest in is the telecom sector, where I have held several positions including: NOC Technician, Billing Analyst and Senior BSS/OSS Consultant.

 

What do you love the most about coding?

Coding enables me to utilize my creative and problem-solving abilities. In my opinion, it is one of the few disciplines that thoroughly engages your mind and gets your brain working to generate and develop new ideas.

 

Why Django?

I learned Flask and struggled with implementing login. During that process, I decided to switch to Django, which automates so much for you and as a result, shortens development time.

 

What cool projects are you working on at the moment/planning on working on in the near future?

I am working on my website/ blog, which I haven’t visited in a while because of tight schedule. I am also working on developing an email classifier to embed to my website.

 

What are you most proud of?

Well, at first I didn’t see myself as able to organize a Django Girls workshop and impact the lives of so many women in a positive way, but I did it! You can read about our Django Girls Harare workshop here. Just being able to do that has made me so proud of myself.

 

What are you curious about?

I am still learning Python and Django and I am so curious to see how an application developed with Django can support data science and analytics. Although I am working on a classifier at the moment, I still haven’t quite figured out how it will work with my apps.

 

What do you like doing in your free time? What’s your hobby?

I enjoy most just hanging out with my close friends and just talking. After that, traveling and going to new places and sight-seeing. I also love going for walks, especially when not in an urban setup, and just enjoying nature.

 

Do you have any advice/tips for programming beginners?

One thing that I always tell new programmers is that programming is always difficult before you plan your code. Planning your code enables you to understand what is required of you. When I don’t plan my code, I have realized my chances of getting it wrong are very high. But when I do plan, I manage to achieve my goals, so take your time to plan your code.

 

How did attending a Django Girls workshop influence your life/career? What did you get out of attending a Django Girls workshop?

Organizing Django Girls enabled me to realize that I can actually organize a workshop, engage sponsors and be able to run the workshop. I had coached at a Django Girls workshop before in Windhoek this January but I had coached adults only. Our Django Girls workshop had a wide range of age groups, ranging from eight to sixty years old. I coached an eight year old and a lady over 40. Another coach coached a nine year old.

One thing all coaches agreed were that our two youngest attendees had greater potential than anybody else present. Despite their young ages, they worked so hard and enjoyed the day so much. It was so thrilling that I did not regret accepting them. It also made me realize that even kids can learn programming: the earlier, the better. I will work on impacting more women and more kids.

 

Thank you so much, Anna!

 

If you would like to suggest someone to be featured in the Your Django Story series (or would like to nominate yourself!), please email us at story@djangogirls.org!

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