– Rejoice Aikohi – 

Growth and Project Officer at the Aspilos Foundation

G rowing up without an interest in science, it was a bit strange that

I always ended up doing science- related things. I was the average

student that managed to make an impression on the people I came
across. I got into Senior Secondary school early, and my issues in
accounting class drove me to the science field. After going through a
period of failure, I scaled through secondary school with my self-esteem
and self-confidence greatly affected by my experience failing. I searched
within myself to find my strengths and focus on them. I discovered that I
was good at business and organization/management so I decided to
study Management Information Systems for my first degree with a firm
decision to focus on management.
If you cannot fly, then run. If you cannot run, then walk. If
you cannot walk, then crawl. But whatever you do, keep
moving.
I discovered the course was very vast and I had my first encounter with
the tech world while studying. I still did not feel like I was any good as I
was not doing so well in my assessments. I graduated with the basic
knowledge of programming and an almost empty future in programming.
I applied for jobs in Human Resource and Management and eventually
got a job at Aspilos Foundation, a non-governmental not for profit
organization that trains young women on digital literacy, and I attended
the Visiola Foundation’s Coding Boot Camp to be trained before
commencing work. At this boot camp, I had a change of mind set and it
became clear to me that the digital world is for anyone (male or female)
that sets their hearts out to learn and keeps pushing to achieve more.
At various times during and after this training program, I was faced with
various challenges (bugs being impossible to detect in my code, not
being good in a particular field like graphic design or java script, etc.).
Through these challenges, I had the words from one of our many pow
wow sessions by Mrs Lade Araba, co-founder Visiola Foundation,
constantly resounding in my mind: “If you cannot fly, then run. If you
cannot run, then walk. If you cannot walk, then crawl. But whatever you
do, keep moving.” These words have served as motivation and
encouragement for me at several points in my life when I almost
gave up or felt like I was not good enough. When I come in contact
with people, it helps me recognize the different assimilation and learning
rates and distinguish between those that are flying, running, walking and
crawling. I learned to encourage each person at each stage to keep
moving.