Dada is Swahili for sister. TechDada is the women's empowerment track at Learning Lions: a circle of women explorers, trainees, Lions and staff, led by women who came through the programme. It runs alongside the three levels, not inside any one of them, and every woman on the programme is in it from her first day.
Why It Exists
- Fewer girls than boys reach a laptop, a phone of their own or a paid digital job in Turkana. The gap is not talent; it is who gets asked, who gets the time and who gets believed.
- A woman who has done it is the strongest proof that it can be done. TechDada puts those women in front of the ones coming up.
- Equality is one of the programme's values, the one carried in the last week of BootCamp. TechDada is where it is lived all year.
What TechDada Offers
- The circle. Women meet as a group, with no trainer grading in the room, to talk about the work, the pressure, money, home and what comes next. Where and how often is set with each cohort.
- A big sister. Every woman on the programme can ask for a mentor: a Lion or a staff member who has walked the road ahead of her. Ask the Cohort Captain or any woman on the welfare team.
- Outreach. TechDada goes out to secondary schools and community groups so that the next cohort has more women in it. Explorers and trainees who want to speak at a school are welcome; it counts as leadership.
- A seat at the table. The Gender and Welfare Committee hears the circle. What the circle raises reaches the people who can change it.
- Your own record. Time given to the circle, to mentoring and to outreach goes on your Career Map as evidence, like any other work.
What You Can Count On
- The seven promises from orientation hold for everyone, every day: two adults, no private digital contact, no leverage, no romantic or sexual contact between staff and learners, no shouting or humiliation, no photos without asking, no gifts or loans. If someone with power over you breaks a rule, the rule is still on your side.
- You can ask for a coach or a trainer of your own gender for any private conversation, and the answer is yes.
- Turns are taken: presenting, leading the ritual, speaking for the team. Equal time is the rule, not a favour.
- Reporting is never punished. Sauti Yangu takes a report with your name or without it.
Getting Help
If something is wrong, or you are not sure whether it is, start with Safety and Welfare: the people on campus, the numbers that work from any phone, and how to report.
How to Take Part
- Come to the circle. Nobody is marked for being there or not being there.
- Ask for a mentor whenever you want one, and say if the match is not right.
- Put your hand up for outreach, for leading the ritual, for presenting first.
- If you are a Lion or a staff member and want to mentor, tell the welfare team.
The rhythm of the circle, who leads it and how mentors are matched are being settled with the current cohort and the women among the alumni.