{"id":1001450,"date":"2026-02-12T14:14:02","date_gmt":"2026-02-12T11:14:02","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/197.137.64.198\/mainsite\/?p=1001450"},"modified":"2026-02-12T14:25:57","modified_gmt":"2026-02-12T11:25:57","slug":"rewriting-the-future-two-young-women-transforming-girls-education-in-rural-ethiopia-through-innovation-and-technology","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/197.137.64.198\/mainsite\/rewriting-the-future-two-young-women-transforming-girls-education-in-rural-ethiopia-through-innovation-and-technology\/","title":{"rendered":"Rewriting the future: Two young women transforming girls\u2019 education in rural Ethiopia through innovation and technology"},"content":{"rendered":"\t\t
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By Brenda Odhiambo<\/h4>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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On February 11, the Mastercard Foundation Scholars Program at USIU-Africa marked the 2026 International Day of Women and Girls in Science by highlighting two young women making a difference through innovation and technology. When national examinations move fully online, but students have never touched a computer, the challenge is no longer academic, but systemic. In Jira High School and Preparatory School, technology was something students only heard about, not something they could access. That reality became the idea behind the Bright Direction Initiative, a project founded by Mastercard Foundation Scholars Yanet Niguse and Ftaw Welu to restore opportunity, confidence, and dignity through education and technology. Their project was built on the belief that innovation must include women and girls if it is to drive meaningful change, echoing this year\u2019s International Day of Women and Girls in Science theme.<\/p>

Ftaw Welu is a third-year student pursuing a Bachelor of Science in International Business Administration with a concentration in Finance under the Mastercard Foundation Scholars Program. Her interest in technology and problem-solving emerged from witnessing stark educational inequalities in rural and post-conflict communities.<\/p>

\u201cMy interest in technology and problem-solving was shaped by witnessing educational inequalities in rural and post-conflict communities. Many students lack access to basic learning resources, particularly computers, yet national examinations have fully transitioned to digital platforms,\u201d she says. \u201cStudents who have never interacted with technology are expected to perform in digital exams, contributing to increased failure rates, school dropouts, and limited future opportunities. In extreme cases, these challenges push young people toward unsafe migration routes in search of better opportunities, while many girls are forced into early, unwanted marriages due to limited educational access,\u201d she adds. These realities motivated her to initiate the Bright Direction Initiative, with a particular focus on girls and students with disabilities.<\/p>

Her co-founder, Yanet Niguse Tesfay, is a software engineer whose vision is to use AI and technology for social good, especially for underserved communities. Together, Ftaw and Yanet represent the powerful intersection of business, technology, and social impact, and share a determination to ensure that where a student is born does not determine their access to opportunity.<\/p>

The Bright Direction Initiative is a community-driven action project designed to restore opportunity, confidence, and inclusion through education. It supports students by improving access to technology, specifically ICT resources, while also strengthening emotional well-being through a motivational club. The initiative recognizes that academic performance and mental resilience are deeply connected, especially in post-conflict settings where students have experienced trauma, disruption, and loss.<\/p>

Ftaw and Yanet chose Jira High School and Preparatory School because it serves students from low-income, rural, and conflict-affected communities, including students with disabilities. After the war, the school faced severe shortages of basic educational resources. The urgency of this gap made Jira High School a critical place for intervention.<\/p>

At the beginning of the project, many students were hesitant and unsure when interacting with computers. Some were afraid of making mistakes, while others believed technology was not for them. As they gained hands-on exposure during the three-week project, their fear gradually transformed into curiosity, confidence, and excitement. Students began asking questions, helping each other during training sessions, and showing increased interest in digital learning. This transformation was particularly noticeable among girls and students who had previously felt excluded from technology-related learning. They started to see that technology was not something distant or intimidating, but a tool that belongs to them and supports their future success.<\/p>

One of the most unforgettable moments of the project came during the closing ceremony. On that day, students presented dramas, poems, and cultural performances that reflected their lived experiences, challenges, and hopes for the future. A particularly powerful moment came when a visually impaired student presented a poem, sharing that although she could not see the computers, she could hear hope in the voices, actions, and commitment behind the Bright Direction Initiative. She described the project as something that spoke not only to the eyes, but to the heart. That moment was a resounding reminder of the need for inclusion in education.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>

For Ftaw and Yanet, the project brought important lessons about leadership and community engagement. They learned that effective leadership is rooted in listening, collaboration, and shared ownership. Engaging with school administrators, teachers, students, and community members showed that solutions are only sustainable when the community is actively involved in shaping and owning them.\u00a0 If given the chance to redesign the initiative, inclusion would be placed at the center from the very beginning. That would mean expanding assistive learning tools for students with disabilities, introducing structured ICT mentorship sessions specifically for girls, and providing more accessible digital resources.<\/p>

Looking ahead, Ftaw and Yanet believe that digital technologies, including AI, must be designed intentionally for accessibility, equity, and adaptability to low-resource environments. Tools should be affordable, offline-capable, and integrated with assistive features for students with disabilities. But they also stress that technology alone is not enough.<\/p>

Beyond technical design, technology initiatives must include mentorship, guidance, and awareness campaigns so that social and cultural barriers do not prevent girls from participating. When girls are included not only as learners and users but also as creators, technology becomes a lever for empowerment rather than exclusion. Inclusive design, coupled with community engagement, can transform AI and digital platforms from abstract innovations into practical tools that expand opportunity, boost confidence, and promote equity for those who have historically been marginalized.<\/p>

Yanet\u2019s vision as a software engineer is shaped by working in low-resource environments like Jira. The Bright Direction Initiative has shown her the importance of partnering with educators, technologists, and people who share the same vision: equal access to opportunity. For her, building technology for rural schools means starting from the realities on the ground and designing with, not just for, the communities who will use it.\u00a0 For Ftaw, the Bright Direction Initiative has reshaped how she thinks about financing education, digital infrastructure, and social impact. Implementing the project required careful financial planning, coordination, and creative solutions to procure computers, transport materials, and sustain activities within limited budgets.<\/p>

For both Ftaw and Yanet, being role models is both an honor and a responsibility they take seriously.\u00a0 \u201cIf our journey shows even one girl that she belongs in education, technology, or leadership, then the impact goes beyond the project itself,\u201d they say.<\/p>

The next steps for the Bright Direction Initiative involve scaling the project to reach more students, expanding ICT access, establishing a school library, and strengthening inclusive learning resources for students with disabilities. The team aims to build structured mentorship programs, provide teacher training, and sustain community engagement to create a long-term ecosystem of opportunity. They hope to make the initiative more sustainable and expand it beyond a single school so that an entire region can benefit. NGOs, volunteers, educators, and individuals can support by contributing books, assistive technology, funding, or expertise.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Brenda Odhiambo On February 11, the Mastercard Foundation Scholars Program at USIU-Africa marked the 2026 International Day of Women and Girls in Science by highlighting two young women making a difference through innovation and technology. When national examinations move fully online, but students have never touched a computer, the challenge is no longer academic,…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1001455,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[43],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1001450","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-mastercard-foundation-news"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/197.137.64.198\/mainsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1001450","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/197.137.64.198\/mainsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/197.137.64.198\/mainsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/197.137.64.198\/mainsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/197.137.64.198\/mainsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1001450"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"http:\/\/197.137.64.198\/mainsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1001450\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1001471,"href":"http:\/\/197.137.64.198\/mainsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1001450\/revisions\/1001471"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/197.137.64.198\/mainsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1001455"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/197.137.64.198\/mainsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1001450"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/197.137.64.198\/mainsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1001450"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/197.137.64.198\/mainsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1001450"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}