College student from Uganda brings her computer science education home

College student from Uganda brings her computer science education home​

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/berkeley-student-from-uganda-teaches-computer-science-to-girls-back-home/

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A student at the University of California, Berkeley, who is getting her masters in computer science decided to take on a side project during the pandemic lockdown. A full scholarship launched Gloria Tumushabe's engineering and computer science studies at a top U.S. school, but she says too many others in her native Uganda, 14,000 miles away, are left behind.

"I felt like I won the lottery when I got the letter that said I got into Berkeley and that I got a scholarship," Tumushabe said. "I don't think I slept."

In Uganda, 77% of the population is under 25. Opportunities are limited, she said, especially for women.

"In a lot of homes, it's still very traditional. The woman does more of the housework and the cleaning and all that" she said.

Many of those who do attend school were set back by the pandemic. Martha Atwine is one of them.

"As a girl, I basically had to stay at home and do housework," Atwine said. "That's all I could do in a pandemic."

But a world away, Tumushabe decided to help.

"I thought maybe this is my moment to actually start teaching and really empower these people to learn computer science," she said.

Tumushabe spread the word back home that she'd teach girls how to write computer code.

"Gloria told me to reach out to other girls that were interested. Very many of my friends were interested, but they didn't have laptops," Atwine said. So, they had to figure out how to get computers. Atwine was able to get a hand-me-down, but spotty Wi-Fi kept some girls away. Tumushabe pitched in there, too.

"I'm so lucky. I have a scholarship that gives me a stipend. So part of my stipend goes towards the girls' internet," Tumushabe said.

A GoFundMe followed.

"Now, instead of teaching one class, we're actually teaching two classes," Tumushabe said.

Her program, called Afro Fem Coders, now includes mentors from Silicon Valley.

"I've been able to create some games and then I've also been able to learn how to make websites," Atwine said.

Those Tumushabe helped in this pandemic year will be applying to U.S. colleges. But her work is not finished — she still has her own studying to do.

"Sometimes it feels like a lot, but I get the satisfaction from watching how much my students have grown... And then I get these phone calls like 'Hey, Gloria, I'm calling you to say thank you.'"

She'll head home to Africa — bringing with her, she hopes, lessons for an entire continent.

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A very nice story which everyone can be happy about.

 

[Spasticus Autisticus]

At least they're actually going to be motivated by wanting to get out of poverty (real poverty, not "I can only afford to buy the cheap weed and not the good shit" American poverty) instead of being ideological entryists. Until they get into the industry and get indoctrinated into wokeism, anyway. Oh well, it's nice while it lasts.

 

[Apotheosis of the Liver]

Tumushabe spread the word back home that she'd teach girls how to write computer code.

Literally learn to code.

 

[Male Idiot]

Good! Come on girl, those Ugandan Knucles games won't make themselves!

 

[Snekposter]

Good! Come on girl, those Ugandan Knucles games won't make themselves!

Hey, at least she knows da wae ta make dem.

 

[DumbDude42]

She'll head home to Africa — bringing with her, she hopes, lessons for an entire continent.

im pretty sure they have a lot more pressing issues over there than software development tbh

if you want to build up a countrys economy, you need to do it at the level of development and infrastructure that is present. trying to establish an advanced high tech sector in a place where most homes don't even have running water or electricity isn't going to work out very well.

 

[Snekposter]

im pretty sure they have a lot more pressing issues over there than software development tbh

if you want to build up a countrys economy, you need to do it at the level of development and infrastructure that is present. trying to establish an advanced high tech sector in a place where most homes don't even have running water or electricity isn't going to work out very well.

Well, you need money to do that. And whatever money Africa makes goes directly to numbered, off-continent bank accounts. So that leaves foreign investment, and so far all of the most accessible natural resources are either taken or got taken during the colonial era. That leaves intellectual work such as this, where a few Ugandas can telecommute in best they can, and let's face it, they can't be any worse than the Pajeets most companies hire.

 

[BobbyBriggs69420]

I'm in IT on like infrastructure side of things and I don't have too much contact with devs and maybe the ones I do are just too old but I've never really heard the words "code" or "coding" used outside of "omg gurl coderz can slay because of course they do!" articles like this.

"Tumushabe spread the word back home that she'd teach girls how to write computer code." like wtf does that even mean? shell scripts? javascript? python? sql queries? an android app-builder? Its like me saying I can teach someone to travel hundred of miles from their home but whether that means showing them an app store and how to get an expedia app or whether that means teaching about shoeing horses and packing up lots of feed and water, who knows?

 

[DumbDude42]

Well, you need money to do that. And whatever money Africa makes goes directly to numbered, off-continent bank accounts. So that leaves foreign investment, and so far all of the most accessible natural resources are either taken or got taken during the colonial era. That leaves intellectual work such as this, where a few Ugandas can telecommute in best they can, and let's face it, they can't be any worse than the Pajeets most companies hire.

indians are much much more competent and effective than africans

but thats not even my point. my point is that a backwards african country has little to no local demand for the products and services that a local software engineering sector could provide, and i dont think they can be competitive on the global market either. the only way i can see something like this survive is if it's propped up by a perpetual stream of international aid money.

 

[Spasticus Autisticus]

I'm in IT on like infrastructure side of things and I don't have too much contact with devs and maybe the ones I do are just too old but I've never really heard the words "code" or "coding" used outside of "omg gurl coderz can slay" articles like this.

"Tumushabe spread the word back home that she'd teach girls how to write computer code." like wtf does that even mean? shell scripts? javascript? python? sql queries? Its like me saying I can teach someone to travel hundred of miles from their home but whether that means showing them an app store and how to get an expedia app or whether that means teaching about shoeing horses and packing up lots of feed and water, who knows?

According to their website, they teach "web design" (unclear whether that means HTML and JS or just cobbling together a Wordpress install), Python, and Scratch. If their website is anything to go on, it's not the most impressive, but probably enough to get some Fiverr gigs which you could probably live well on in Uganda.

 

[FlappyBat]

I'm in IT on like infrastructure side of things and I don't have too much contact with devs and maybe the ones I do are just too old but I've never really heard the words "code" or "coding" used outside of "omg gurl coderz can slay" articles like this.

"Tumushabe spread the word back home that she'd teach girls how to write computer code." like wtf does that even mean? shell scripts? javascript? python? sql queries? Its like me saying I can teach someone to travel hundred of miles from their home but whether that means showing them an app store and how to get an expedia app or whether that means teaching about shoeing horses and packing up lots of feed and water, who knows?

It doesn't really matter if it's SQL, python, javascript, or pascal. Getting general population to code, to code anything at all is a success when you're starting from them not knowing anything. "Teach girls how to write computer code" is a reasonable enough goal.

The devs you talk to don't talk about coding because it would be like a fish bitching about the water. They're already surrounded by it so they can be more specific.

 

[Screw Danlon]

im pretty sure they have a lot more pressing issues over there than software development tbh

if you want to build up a countrys economy, you need to do it at the level of development and infrastructure that is present. trying to establish an advanced high tech sector in a place where most homes don't even have running water or electricity isn't going to work out very well.

A lot of Ugandans have cell phones and use them for a lot of things because of how bad the infrastructure is, so she actually could possibly find ways to use coding skills to make apps that benefit Ugandans - maybe a schooling app, or something to help them find AIDS treatment stations or something.

 

[Jonah Hill poster]

More proof that African students seem to actually appreciate science and schooling than actual black students that have been indoctrinated into making it more about themselves than the actual curriculum

 

[Just Another Apocalypse]

She's going to run that place. Viva Idi Admin.

Teach girls how to write computer code" is a reasonable enough goal

Tbh it's the new typing. But she'll be able to make memes...

 

[FlappyBat]

She's going to run that place. Viva Idi Admin.


Tbh it's the new typing. But she'll be able to make memes...

I was going to add in sperging about how it's likely to fail for most of them as well, since I consider most of these programs to fail. I'm not sure it will be the new typing.

Most people are able to type out something useful after having taken a typing class. I don't think most people who take an intro to programming (cs / computing / one of these outreach type programs) end up ever being able to write a useful program on their own after the class. I'm not sure that will change either.

 

[Tasty Tatty]

The sad part of third world folk learning to do any tech-related job is that the often end up doing freelance work and get pennies for their job while the ones hiring them, get paid the proper wage.

 

[HarblMcDavid]

He doesn't miss does he.

That being said, I can't bust their balls about this too badly, literally anything is an improvement when it comes to combating brain drain in Africa and while web-design is kinda low hanging fruit, the intentions seem pure and I this is what you should do if you get educated in the West: make your home a better place with what you learn (assuming you got a useful skill in College).

 

[Spasticus Autisticus]

It doesn't really matter if it's SQL, python, javascript, or pascal. Getting general population to code, to code anything at all is a success when you're starting from them not knowing anything. "Teach girls how to write computer code" is a reasonable enough goal.

The devs you talk to don't talk about coding because it would be like a fish bitching about the water. They're already surrounded by it so they can be more specific.

Giving more young people the opportunity to learn to code is definitely a good thing. I doubt I would be a programmer now if I didn't have the good fortune to grow up with access to a computer and a library with programming books, and went to schools and camps that had programming courses. It's even easier these days with "easy" languages like Python that have large standard libraries and third-party ecosystems, full API docs online, YouTube, etc. These days, unfortunately, the motivation for teaching is often less "get kids exposure to coding to see if it's something they enjoy and have aptitude for" and more "this is to fight the patriarchy and racism that are the only reasons there aren't more BIPOC womxn designing scalable distributed systems at the top tech firms". We can't simply provide opportunity to those who want it, give special attention to those who excel, and stay realistic about the expected results. Everything has to be a woke crusade.

 

[Screw Danlon]

More proof that African students seem to actually appreciate science and schooling than actual black students that have been indoctrinated into making it more about themselves than the actual curriculum

Weird how when you’ve seen actual hardship, it motivates you to actually work hard and learn to solve it, rather than just wallowing in self pity.

 

[Just Another Apocalypse]

Teach girls how to write computer code" is a reasonable enough goal

Tbh it's the new typing. But she'll be able to make memes...

I was going to add in sperging about how it's likely to fail for most of them as well, since I consider most of these programs to fail. I'm not sure it will be the new typing.

Most people are able to type out something useful after having taken a typing class. I don't think most people who take an intro to programming (cs / computing / one of these outreach type programs) end up ever being able to write a useful program on their own after the class. I'm not sure that will change either.

I'm more making a comparison to girls being taught a useful skill that was typically seen as a female skill. Women are/were better at typing, ergo teaching girls to code is a sensible thing to do.

I'm middle aged, so I'm thinking from a different culture time frame.

As for employment, I imagine a lot of schools suddenly being funded by foreign IT corps.

As for Gloria, she's most likely retire at 40 in a country with no extradition treaty, just before the Ugandan governments pension fund disappear. More power to her elbow.