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| Clarisse Iribagiza |
All around the
world, science and technology departments in schools and related jobs have
mainly been populated by men. Many governments are therefore trying hard to get
girls and women in those sectors, and Rwanda is no exception. Yet despite those
efforts, women in technology are still rare, and upon hearing the word
"geek" most people will automatically think of a man.
Yet
when talking about technology and women in Rwanda, one name will invariably pop
up: Clarisse Iribagiza. At just 24, she is the CEO of a mobile computing technology
company called HeHe, and she rubbishes the idea that technology is not for
women.
"I think
it's basically stereotypes in our culture, which present anything to do with
technology as a man's world, that prevent girls from embracing ICT. This also
affects the way that it is taught in schools, which results into a vicious
cycle and few girls in ICT."
She herself felt
attracted to the field at an early age. "We had a lot of science fairs at
my primary school and this exposed me to technology early," she explains.
"My parents used to help my siblings and me to build science projects like
quiz boards and toy air crafts. I was even obsessed with becoming an astronaut
- from the time I was 10 years old, I had an entire scrapbook on stars, planets
and our galaxy."
So
she feels very much at home with all kinds of technological gadgets - if you
don't find her in front of her laptop, she will be busy either on the iPad or
BlackBerry PlayBook, or maybe playing games on Nintendo Wii.
While still
studying computer engineering and information technology at KIST, she founded
HeHe (Kinyarwanda for 'where') in 2010. Today it has four employees and is
building mobile software for clients such as the Nike Foundation, the ministry
of youth and ICT, the ministry of East African affairs and Rwanda Revenue
Authority. They have also recently launched a directory and mobile marketing
platform for local businesses (http://onhehe.com).
It
didn't take long for Iribagiza to get noticed. She is the winner of the
People's Choice award which she received from the President, for the company's
innovative mobile applications. And in April this year, she became the laureate
of the Inspire Africa Entrepreneurship competition, which netted her US$
50,000.
Rwanda Focus (Kigali)