Afro-Tech Girls: Sciletes Quiz Competition

So I can't believe how quickly January has gone and how so many things are happening and changing just generally. 2015 should chill oh, no need to play those rushing games that 2014 pulled on us, haha. January has been a great month of accomplishments for me actually and one of my very proudest moments was just yesterday at the very first event of Afro-Tech Girls. 

So a few months ago, my very good friend Deola, who you may know from Coral Blue approached me with an idea of starting an NGO with the aim of promoting enthusiasm in science, technology, engineering and maths (STEM) in young girls. Not everyday sit and talk about boys, some days talk about female empowerment. It came at the perfect time because around the same time I was gearing up to carry out an NYSC personal project aimed at students in the science class! We spoke a lot about girls in STEM and our various experiences and I got introduced to a friend of hers Yvonne who you may also remember from Coral Blue! The three of us got talking and the vision of Afro- Tech Girls was born and brought to life.

As a female engineer myself I know first hand how underrepresented girls and women are in the areas of STEM. Being the only girl in a room full of testosterone is something I've grown quite accustomed to and while I don't mind it per se, it would be nice to have more female faces around. Girls everywhere need to be reminded that science is not just for boys, you can be whatever on this earth you choose to be and there are no restrictions. You don't have to allow anyone to put you in a box, life is too short for confining yourself in small spaces. 

So back to the event we had yesterday, we had our very first Sciletes (pronounced Sy-leets) Quiz Competition and it was between 5 schools in the Osborne Schools Complex in Ikoyi, unfortunately Yvonne our co-founder couldn't be present but the event was a huge success! The girls were excited and very happy to be involved and they especially enjoyed a talk by Susan of Design by Dodo. Just being able to feel like this small event and the prizes they won possibly made a small impact in their lives and would hopefully cement their love for science is more than I could ever ask for. I don't have very many pictures because I was too busy running about to really take very many but fabulous photographer Ari Labadi was on deck to help us make sure we captured the most memorable moments of the day. Here's a few I did manage to take though!

Co-founders Deola and I, missing our third founder Yvonne in this picture though

Competing team for Wahab Folawiyo Senior Secondary School

Competing team of Government College Ikoyi

Cross section of the venue

A volunteer, Tamilore motivating some of the girls from Akande Dahunsi Memorial

Mayokun and Moji, a small part of our amazing supporters club!

I know this is only the first of many events we would have and I know we'd continue getting bigger and better, please support us by liking our Facebook Page and feel free to contact us if you'd like more information on the NGO or ways to help and/or join us.