A jewel from the Pearl of Africa

Seminar #1 – East African Fellows, Class of 2013

“Create something that will make the world awesome” – The Kid President said in his Pep Talk, what an amazingly inspiring young future leader – I would love to still be alive and see the kind of change such a young mind will bring to his generation. (Watch the full video of the Kid President [...]

Acumen fund | 2013 East African Fellows named

The world is calling out for a new kind of leader – a leader who has the humility to see the world for what it is, and the audacity to envision the world for what it could be. Development in East Africa must be driven by people who have the business and operational skills, as [...]

GirlGeek Kampala brings first ever RailsGirls event in Africa

Who says women can not code? Who says girls are not meant for the hardcore programming courses? All those stereotypes against women in technology will long be gone if forums like Girl Geek Kampala keep rising up to do an amazing job at showing that it can be done. Girl Geek Kampala is an innitiative that seeks [...]

Women in Technology Uganda (WITU) opens calender year with networking session

Planning for a calender year is always an essential part of every organisation – It involves planning for how you want things to spin out in an entire year – and this is not always an easy process. Many companies spend a lot of time planning out activities and plans and goals they want to achieve [...]

TEDxWomen makes thrilling debut in Uganda

What happens when you bring people together who are passionate about different things in life and give them a platform to share their ideas with others? When you have ideas and gather people together, have inspired speakers to share knowledge and thoughts – it is the most inspiring thing. That is the core of what [...]

TEDxWomen makes thrilling debut in Uganda

Posted by enamara on December 6th, 2012

What happens when you bring people together who are passionate about different things in life and give them a platform to share their ideas with others?

When you have ideas and gather people together, have inspired speakers to share knowledge and thoughts – it is the most inspiring thing. That is the core of what TED’s mission is.

Now there are independently organised TED-like events internationally which help more people who can’t make it to the global TED events to also plug in to their communities and share ideas and inspiration. These events are called TEDx events.

TEDxWomen is an international event that is dedicated to women all over the world to plug in, share stories and inspiration about issues that face women in different fields. It is an event that showcases amazing works of women – in the same spirit of “Ideas worth spreading”.

This year’s theme worldwide was “THE SPACE BETWEEN” – and all over the world from November 30 – December 1 2012 women gathered and shared stories and inspiration around that theme.

Capturing the space between…
Photo credit: TEDxWomen website

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The Rise of Women in Tech

Posted by enamara on October 30th, 2012

I read this article about the rise of women in Tech the other day on this website and I am really proud of where Women are headed in the Tech industry.

Am glad to read statements like – Technology needs WOMEN and not the other way round!
I felt I would share this infographic that shows the shift and women participation in Technology to date – it is amazing to see the great shift of women in tech today.

“In a historically male dominated field – Women are rising to the challenge” – I agree. Read more »

The Power Of Small

Posted by enamara on October 26th, 2012

Ashoka Changemakers are running a competition dabbed “The Power of Small” – Entrepreneurs strengthening local economies, and am proud to say that our organisation Solar Sister is a finalist in the competition.

I was inspired by the title “The Power of Small” to write about my journey as an entrepreneur and also share my own experiences learned in this journey, and why Solar Sister has taught me that the power of small can really have a huge impact on our economy.

When I started out at Solar Sister – I had no idea what to expect, and I believe so many people who have started doing something new will relate to that, you go in with both legs and hope that along the way things will work out the way you expect them to sometimes.
I have always had a passion of working with Women and Girls, it just comes naturally to me, and technology has always been something that I love and quite honestly I can’t live without in this day and age. Being able to link technologies and using a network of women to help send the message home is what attracted me to Solar Sister.

Starting anything new, that has never been done before the way you want it is never going to be easy, and this journey has taught us a lot at Solar Sister. As an entrepreneur, I have learned that you have to be patient and a good listener if you want to achieve much.

Here are some of the very beneficial things I have learned with working with grassroots initiatives that have proved to have a great impact to societies and communities around them. Read more »

Change Agent Award – Acceptance Speech

Posted by enamara on October 18th, 2012

Hello all,

The Change Agent Award Winners were honored and awarded at the Grace Hopper celebration of women in computing in Baltimore, Maryland – USA.

Here is my acceptance speech for the award,

Enjoy

Special thanks to my dear friend Michael Kirk Patrick for editing this video and bringing only my moments.

Change Agent Award

#DaretoDream

Grace Hopper Conference – A celebration of Women in Computing

Posted by enamara on October 18th, 2012

Three thousand, six hundred women in technology – all in one place a few weeks back, with 1,500 of these students who are passionate about developing new technology and not afraid to say so because they are GIRLS!

That was the reality that was in Baltimore, Maryland from 3-6th October 2012 at the 7th annual Grace Hopper Celebration of women in computing.
You see when you live in your own gutter, you tend to look at the world in your own perspective, I knew there were a lot of women in computing – but normally when you are back to your tiny reality in your space, it always seems as though there are few women and indeed we are still few compared to the men, but we are on our way there.

I had never seen so many women in one place, gathered to share about their passion in technology and ready to take the world over! Conferences like these are surely one of the best ways to help many young women who are seeking assurance that the field of computing they are pursuing has a lot of well able ambassadors. Read more »

Reasons why you need that sleep time!

Posted by enamara on September 11th, 2012

If you have a busy work schedule, you might forgo a couple of hours of sleep in favor of workplace productivity. I get it, there is a lot of work to do, and somebody has to do it! It can often feel as though there simply aren’t enough hours in a day to get your work done, so you might burn the midnight oil and neglect to get your zzz’s from time to time.

However, skipping out on valuable sleep can have dire consequences to your health. Not only does lack of sleep cause the obvious side-effects like exhaustion and headaches, but it also has some serious long-term consequences that you may not realize you’re putting yourself at risk for.

1. Weight gain
According to research, lack of sleep causes a fluctuation in hormones that could easily promote weight gain. In as little as two nights of compromised sleep, brain chemistry was altered considerably to cause increased appetite.

That, paired with foggy decision-making skills induced by lack of sleep, caused sleep-deprived study participants to make unhealthy choices concerning their diet. When blood tests were complete, researchers found that the participants with negotiated sleep patterns exhibited lower levels of leptin, the hormone that suppresses appetite. Read more »