A Programmer's Gift: Building Access to Technology for Young Women in Cameroon
An engineer reflects on founding a computer programming club at her former secondary school, motivated by her own lack of early exposure to the field. She argues that technology is an equalizer and that early exposure—particularly for girls—can reshape educational and career possibilities.
[WOMAN POWER] Mbu Waindim is an Engineer taking responsibility by giving others what she never had.
In her own words:-
Two years ago I started a computer programming club in Saker Baptist College, the high school where I spent my formative years. That place gave me so much -- long lasting friendships, role models (I still visit my teachers' homes when I go home), a strong sense of justice and fairness. I also partially credit Saker with my early feminist tendencies -- it reduced the likelihood of building stringent gender roles/ expectations.
For all it's greatness, I left Saker (And Cameroon) without ever knowing what computer programming was. That posed the biggest challenge in my freshman year of college -- that and my English not being English enough but that's another story.
I started the club to plug the hole in my education and to expose teenage girls to programming early on -- You can't decide if you want to pursue a computer programming career if you've never heard of it. In my proposal to the school, I explained my intent and pointed out that "the biggest advantage of acquiring the skill is probably the ability to use your own mind and creativity to determine your path." I believe that technology is a big equalizer. We've seen people build empires from nothing. Others find ways to fight for a more just and fair world. And the voiceless amongst us find a voice using the "dsame" technology.
After I posted this in 2015, I found an incredibly reliable facilitator [Elcid Chawa] and we were in business... until November last year when school came to a grinding halt.
But the story is not over. If you're interested in replicating this in a neighboring school, or in your community (it might be a good use of time for kids who've been out of school) please reach out so we can coordinate. I got a chance to talk to some of the students who participated and it's been a worthwhile investment of time and money.
The goal is to provide exposure and teach the basics. Interested students will find their way. The next Facebook founder might never emerge if s(he) doesn't find out what programming is. Or what it buys you.
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Reach out to her and together, let's make a difference for our future generations. It is now our responsibility. With the reopening of schools in the anglophone regions of our country still unclear, who says such initiatives have to remain on school campuses. We can make this a full after school program.
Written in 2017, as Cameroon's education system faced mounting disruptions, the piece speaks to a moment when informal, community-led initiatives became crucial alternatives to institutional learning. It also captures a broader moment of technology-enabled empowerment narratives gaining traction across African professional networks.
The post articulates a quiet but powerful principle: that access to knowledge about possibility itself is a form of justice. Its insistence that exposure precedes choice—that one cannot decide to pursue a path one has never encountered—remains urgent in contexts where information gaps compound inequality. The piece also models a specific kind of leadership: the return of the beneficiary to build for others.