By Seleoe Nonyane
Girls Coding Academy founder, ‘Maneo Mapharisa is headed to Cape Town this coming Sunday to get her Women in Technology award.
Girls Coding Academy is a new organisation in Lesotho that aims to teach basic computer skills, robotics, and computer science concepts to both girls and boys.
They offer various programmes such as hackathons, coding and robotics sessions, coding boot camps, and more.
In an interview with theReporter this week, Mapharisa explained that Women in Tech was founded by Ayumi Moore Aoki. It was formed solely for women’s empowerment globally. The project was only done in the United States of America but it has now evolved to every continent.
She said the nomination means that she is being recognised for the work she does in the country at the Girls Coding Academy.
“My work has been recognised globally and I am part of the six ladies who have been nominated. I believe I was nominated by individuals in and outside the country.
“On November 5, 2023, I will be in Cape Town to get my award. On the same day, I will also attend a programme where I will get training and mentorship on how to be a successful woman in technology,” she said.
She disclosed that in her department she is sponsored by Amazon AWS.
Mapharisa mentioned that since there is a shortage of women in the technology space, women tend to not be trusted and jobs are normally awarded to men in most instances.
She also said the curriculum of coding and computers is only done by 20 percent of schools in the country, some of which just draw computers on boards. That means students do not get to the correct feeling of working with a computer.
She noted that running a company that motivates children to get into coding, which is not part of the curriculum, makes it hard to get people’s buy-in because there is no way it can take one to university.
“Coding is just regarded as a hobby, just like when an individual plays soccer; it is not addressed as a core need here but other countries have tapped into it,” she pointed out.
Mapharisa added that it is not easy to run the initiative, but enthused that the nomination motivated her and encouraged her to push further because she knows someone out there is aware of her efforts.
