Every girl should take part in creating the technology that will change our world and change who runs it!î A Pakistani activist Malala Yousafzai who spoke out against the restriction on education of girls quoted the above statement. She has been advocating for the unprivileged ladies of the community who carries an ocean of possibilities to change the world through education and technology.
The fact that every lady can nurture themselves well in the lap of technology has been true to me when I run my first program in the computer. It might not have been a huge success to the people around me at that time but I always knew that I had, then, discovered my self-identity. It was that very moment that helped me in choosing my career as a computer engineer. Whenever I make a glance at the software that Iíve created, it reminds me of that very first program of mine.
Being born in a middle class family as the fourth daughter of my parents was always a challenge towards having enough possessions of tech gadgets. The technologies that my childhood was familiar with were TV, radio and few of Mario games where Mario always died in minutes (although I had to wait for hours to get my turn). One who has never been hungry can never understand the hunger of others and this is what makes me deeply understand the importance of technology for girls. Some girls might feel like fish out of water when it comes to technology. So, it is not just the opportunity but also the proper guidance that can drive any girl towards the path of technology.
There are several career paths in IT that any average girl like me can choose without even coming from the technical background. If you like to write, may it be stories or poems or essays or blogs on any specific topic; technology can help you transform your passion into profession. Simply, the number of visitors that your website gets is directly proportional to the amount of money that you make. A girl might enjoy singing or dancing or cooking or eating or teaching or makeup or travelling or fashion. She can turn any of her hobbies into her good source of income through YouTube or Facebook page or blogs. My own best experience of connecting my hobby of creative writing with technology that has given me encouragement and a feeling of self-worth was; when one of my blog became viral on social media without the real identification of my name. Technology provides a girl with unlimited choices to live her dreams in this society where girls often compromise with their ambitions. The risk of being prone to physical and sexual abuse at workplace is completely minimized as technology provides ladies with a platform to work from home. On the other hand, the period pain that almost all girl faces will not affect her work anymore when she becomes her own boss by deciding the time and type of work she chooses to do with the help of technology.
There is a huge misconception among people that one should have the knowledge of technology only if they come from technical background. It shames me to remind people that the generation we are living in now will rarely survive without technology. Today no offices run without computers, no homes run without Wi-Fi and no individual can do without smartphones. Having the proper knowledge of such technologies helps us in solving several day-to-day problems of life. The issues like online harassments that mainly targets girls can be minimized to a great extent if only girls become aware enough of technology.
From the information that girls share on social media to the friends they make, there has a lot to do with their security, both in virtual (social media) and real world. An article on the Kathmandu post (19 Dec 2019) stated that nearly 70% of the 353 cases filed at cybercrime bureau in the last two months were online abuse directed towards women. Studying these facts we need to become more focused towards enlightening girls with the knowledge of technology. Especially the shy, reserved, and suppressed girls of rural areas need to be well introduced to technology so that they can easily confess their problems of harassment and injustices to confession pages or helpful organizations through web.
To bring half of this generation i.e. girls into the world of technology for their real good, International girls in ICT day is celebrated worldwide on fourth Thursday of April, every year. It was my honor to have contributed as a keynote speaker on this very occasion of International girls in ICT day, couple of years ago, organized by CAN federation Morang. The next ICT day for girls will be observed on 23 April, 2020 on different parts of the world where both IT and non-IT girls can participate free of cost.
From a small program to software, from hidden stories of diaries to viral blogs, from non-IT to an IT girl and hopefully an inspiration for many junior sisters from a hopeless girl, there is a lot more to go. Always keeping in mind the fact that first computer programmer of the world was a lady, respectable Lady Ada Augusta Lovelace; there are no mountains in technology that a girl cannot climb and no barriers of IT that a lady with determination cannot cross. Technology not only provides a safe working environment to a girl but also helps her know her self-worth. The participation of girls in technology will become Key to the growth of a family, society and as a whole; the country.
By - Dibya Guragain