Django Girls Maputo
This blog post was written by Cecília Tivir. Thank you, Cecília :)
Last month Django Girls Maputo held its first Django Girls Workshop in Maputo. The event was attended by 30 women.
A total of 70 applicants had registered for the event, with two applicants being rejected. The workshop was organized by five members (four of them women) and we selected eight amazing coaches (comprised of three women).
Organizing the Django Girls workshop was my first experience in organizing such an event. I was initially scared as it was challenging and difficult to find local sponsors.
The workshop kicked off at 8am with the registration of attendees. This was followed by python and sublime text installation, introduction to command prompt and introduction to python programming.
After a break, we got into the second session, starting it off with lessons in python. We then installed Django and presented the framework to the attendees. After lunch, we continued the Django tutorial. The attendees were so excited and motivated to create their blogs.
In the end, we had a special moment, attendees did an exercise in which they drew a woman and tell us: what she thinks; feels; does; and what her dreams. The result was impressive; we realized that somehow the technology was present in all drawings. We also realize that they are willing to explore this technology further.
We had great feedbacks (that we asked the girls to write on their social media and we made a video) such as:
“… Despite being familiar with basic coding, the experience of learning from and with a community of women was deeply meaningful to me. To be able to experiment, make mistakes ask questions, help and receive help in such an open and caring environment (on Women’s Day on top of that!) was truly impactful. To the organizers, trainers, facilitator and participants who made this experience as wonderful as it was, my most heartfelt ‘thank you’ ”
“Best April 7 ever !! I did not receive flowers, I received an intense, challenging and above all inspiring day. To know that I can literally have no price. Thanks Django Girls for the opportunity”
“… Together we made it happen! Thanks the team! Thanks Django Girls for the opportunity to expose the little and learn more from others. ”
“… Create opportunity and curiosity for the exploitation of technology”
“… the exchange of ideas and experience with the girls and boys who were here was excellent did not expect to learn and teach as it was today.”
“… In this event it was possible to realize that anyone is capable of developing technological tools. Django Girls has come to say that women are capable of programming, coding and creating technological solutions. ”
“… It was my first contact with technology and I found it incredible how people strive to be able to do something expended.”
“We need more opportunities like these and more communities that integrate women with technology.”
Special thanks go to our sponsors Amorambique and Kasunga that donated 30 beautifully printed bags; Ideario Hub for providing us with a wonderful hall and laptops for the attendees who did not have any; GitHub Community and Google Boarder Developer Community supported us financially; and Muthiana Code for helping us making this workshop a great. Your support is highly appreciated as it means a lot to us.
Our awesome coaches and organizers (@Carina, @lars, @Sheila, @Sindia, @Ivo, @Nelzio, @Baboi, @anavera, @shazia, @miwanda, @jose, @arnaldo) thank you for your engagement, it wasn’t easy but you did your best. I really appreciate your effort.
See the pictures of our Django Girls on Flickr
Dream Code Create
Django Girls is a non-profit that teaches programming to women all around the world. Want to help us? Support us!