February was another awesome month for our team and students in Zimbabwe and we’re excited to share this quick update.
Youth Coding
In February we had 1,502 students in enrolled in our free, after school coding program – a 3x increase from January.
These students are receiving two, 75 minute classes per week for a three month school term, where they’re learning how to build their own computer games.
Recently, one of our instructors, Dylan, had this to say about the Youth Coding program,
“When we invest in our youth, we invest in our future. By teaching them the latest tech skills, we are creating a generation that is better equipped to face the challenges of the future. It’s not just about coding, it’s about creating a culture of innovation and progress.”
We can’t wait to bring coding into more classrooms this year!
Bootcamps
In February, our Harare students concluded their Digital Marketing crash course, the last of the preliminary modules before specialization.
The crash course was divided into four weeks, during which time students learned about the following:
- Week 1: What is Digital Marketing? Content Marketing and Digital Analytics workshops.
- Week 2: Email Marketing with MailChimp; Search Engine Optimization with Yoast
- Week 3: Digital Marketing Automation, Display Advertising and Video Marketing
- Week 4: Review, Practical Assignments and Examination
Now, students will decide which track – Design, Coding or Digital Marketing – they’d like to specialize in for the remaining six months.
If you’re a professional in one of these fields and would like to Mentor a young student, please email delroy@uncommon.org
In Bulawayo, we faced delays receiving the laptops that were donated from America, but we’re happy to say that the devices have arrived and our 25 students all have their very own MacBooks now.
While the students were waiting for their computers, our HR and Safeguarding Team visited from Harare to conduct a week of workshops focused on Safety, Health and Wellness at Uncommon.
Guest Speakers
We absolutely love hosting guests and guest speakers at our Hubs. For many of our students, this is often their first exposure to professionals in tech outside of their Uncommon peers.
If you’d like to visit a Hub or speak to our students (in person or virtually) please get in touch with delroy@uncommon.org.
In February we had the privilege of hosting the following, wonderful people and organizations at our various Innovation Hubs.
Nikolina Kobali of NK Digital and the Digital Marketing Institute.
Munyaradzi Edson, Founder and CEO of iHelp Technology.
Simon Mukwaya and the Partnership for Initiative Development.
Claudia Koelher & Tina Garway of Farafina Institute.
Dr. Fumane Khanare of the University of Johannesburg.
Thank you all so much for visiting, learning about our program, and meeting & inspiring our students!!
Events
This year, we’re making a big push to both attend and host tech events throughout the year.
For our students, exposure to what’s out there is almost just as important as the skills we’re teaching. Imposter syndrome is something many of us face, but it’s particularly acute in the communities we work in where there just aren’t that many obvious examples of people who’ve made a career in tech.
In February, we sent groups of students & staff to two events:
- Girls In Tech Zimbabwe’s STEM In Heels Workshop
- Zimbabwe Developer’s GitHub Festival
About the STEM In Heels workshop, our Youth Coding Director Tapiwa had this to say,
“The overall message of the conference was to encourage us to be bold, unafraid & intentional about taking up space in this male dominated field.
One of the key takeaways was from Lynette, an executive who stressed the need for us to be comfortable with being uncomfortable and pushing through the inevitable challenges, because that’s how we grow.
We weren’t shy about networking too, the Uncommon girls showed up & showed off 😃
We laughed & danced -in our heels 😇
All in all, it was a fantastic day well spent & I’m sure we all took something invaluable away from the experience.”
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While we have plenty more exciting news to share, we’ll leave it at this for now.
As always, none of this is amazing work is possible without the incredible support from this Uncommon community.
Thank you for believing in our mission and empowering our team to make tech more inclusive and accessible!
With Gratitude,
Peter & the amazing Uncommon.org Team