ANGEL De Mendonca and Ariel Taylor are just two of the girls in the local Information Communications Technology (ICT) sector who are well aware of the vast possibilities that careers in this sector can provide them. To this end, they both have been making waves in the field, sparing no effort to encourage other youths, especially girls, to get involved with technology.

International Girls in ICT Day, which is observed on the fourth Thursday in April (April 28 this year), takes on special meaning for Angel and Ariel as both has an interest in helping younger children to pursue the ‘tech’ field, and even to become STEM coaches themselves!

Perhaps their passion for propelling the field of ICT comes from the practical benefits that they’ve clearly seen resulted ever since they joined STEMGuyana, a non-profit entity that provides world-class technology education to Guyanese youths.

The ongoing Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) Guyana programme has been working wonders for Angel and Ariel; teaching them how to design, build and programme robots. But apart from imparting such knowledge, it has also contributed a great deal towards sharpening their soft skills.

“Paying attention to details, problem-solving, critical thinking, communication, creativity, self-confidence, team work are just some of the skills that the programme has taught me,” 14-year-old Angel, who is a pupil of Brickdam Secondary, told Pepperpot Magazine.

Five years ago, Angel hadn’t any real interest in ICT, but it was her mom, Amanda Mohamed, who recognized the value of the STEM programme and signed her up for it. Looking back, Angel couldn’t be happier that her mom did! In fact, she now says: “I would like to become a coach to assist young people like myself to gain a better understanding of the technological world.”

Angel’s mother believes that the future of Guyana and the rest of the world are highly dependent on the ICT sector and hence her decision to relentlessly pursue the STEM programme for Angel. “We’re in a technological age, so this is a means of developing the children,” Mohamed shared, adding, “It has remarkably developed her self-confidence. Persons should definitely sign their children up.” At one point, Angel said she felt her mom was more excited about the STEM programme than she was, no doubt because of the tremendous benefits she knew it could bring.

Just last year, Angel assisted her team, Team Legendary, to build and programme a ‘helping’ robot in an international competition for which they won the Bronze medals. She explains: “We build robots that can clean or pick up items, help the elderly, or the environment; we can programme it to do exactly what we want. Last year, my team and I built a helping robot to assist the elderly to get their medication, to shine the light in the dark for them, etc.”

In fact, STEMGuyana participates in global competitions where club members compete against other countries. Angel, for example, represented Guyana at two robotics competitions in 2020 and 2021. She is also a part of the Robin the Robot Show that airs on the Learning Channel. The show is said to be a very good prerequisite for young children desirous of joining STEMGuyana.

Empowering Girls
Sixteen-year-old Ariel Taylor, a Saint Stanislaus College student preparing for the CSEC exams in May, started in the ‘tech’ field with the Guyanese Girls Code programme and then went on to sign up with STEMGuyana. As part of the STEMGuyana Scratch programme in the summer camp, she became intrigued by robotics and thus decided to sign up for the weekly club at the Cliff Anderson Sports Hall.

She is currently a part of Team Guyana Robotics, that would take part in the International First Global Competition every year. “What I do is a way for me to express my love and passion for robotics,” she said in an interview. She, too, would like to become a coach at STEMGuyana to empower others, especially girls, about ICT and robotics.

Asked why she wants to be able to empower “especially girls,” she responded: “From my observation and being a part of certain competitions, I have seen more males than females participating. But just as I was empowered, ICT can do the same for other girls out there.”

Ariel believes that STEM is what the world is revolving around currently and is proud of her accomplishments thus far in the field. “I graduated from the ICT programme in 2018, placed second in a regional Scratch programme in competition, was on two international robotics teams and in 2021, we won the judges award. I was also recently a part of Stanford University’s Treeshack Hackathon; this competition forced me out of my comfort zone since it was my first international hackathon.”

She spoke further about some of the benefits that she is able to enjoy as a result of being in tech. “It gives you that confidence and skill set needed for any future endeavours.
I was able to strengthen my soft skills, including communication, problem-solving, critical thinking and, most importantly, collaborating with people. It also boosted my self-confidence.”

Both Ariel and Angel are grateful Karen Abrams, Executive Director of STEMGuyana, and the rest of the STEM coaches, whom they said are very supportive in guiding young people into the future of technology. They are also thankful to Guyana Telephone Telegraph Company (GTT), Tullow Oil, and other agencies for supporting and sponsoring STEM.