The Andela Ladder
Today is more than just a holiday in Kenya it’s a great day here in Mombasa, precisely in SwahiliBox. I have postponed writing this Andela Learning Community(ALC) article and I guess today is that night that I finally get a chance to draft this. A lot of Andela news in the air I got to release. Before sharing about the so far great and amazing journey of ALC 2.0 in Coast Region, I have to pass my congratulatory message to this great hardworking and amazing soul Rodgers Mzungu on behalf of the SwahiliBox CodeChallenge Team and Rails Girls Msa Cc Rahma Halane, Catherine Chepkirui and Daniel Otieno for joining Andela Fellowship. Yes, developers join Andela every month but Rodgers is not just any other developer, he is that Developer that deserved it.
“Andela doesn’t think about how to build walls to keep people out, but instead, we build ladders to get people in”-@EvanGreenLowe, Vice President, Talent @ Andela Cc Chimdindu Aneke. I now live to see this leaders incorporate people around me day in day out.
ALC 2.0 kicked off 25th November 2017 with a lit slack launch Party. As the Kenya Coast Region ALC Program Assistant, this was the first ladder that got me to be part of this amazing team that also on-boarded learners and LCA’s using the same ladder. Coast Region has a team of energetic learners driven by zeal to share, learn and help each other better their skills in Android development. Facilitated by Kevin Barasa and Dennis Onkangi, Coast region has 38 learners 8 of them being ladies. A large percentage of learners are already enrolled to Udacity classroom and as this is an online course #YOYO is much they need for motivation . Behind the scenes is the PA squad doing their best to make sure learners get the best learning experience, it feels great working with this team.
As the first meet up approached, this sure came with thorough hunting for Android devs in Mombasa with lots of challenges but with Andela’s spirit, we always conquer. We managed to partner with SwahiliBox (The Technology Open Space in Mombasa, Kenya which focuses on socio-economic technology empowerment, inspiring and developing individuals and help them develop new and innovative ideas through networking, access to training and support and professional mentoring and coaching). It has also laid foundations for many great developers hence making it efficient for some to be Andela fellows despite the ladder steepness. Hope this space will bring the best out of ALC in Coast Region.
Two weeks into ALC came Meetup 1.0 that happened on 9th December 2017 across all states in Kenya and Nigeria.In Mombasa it happened at SwahiliBox.There existed this excitement to finally meeting this amazing online team physically.
In attendance were 2 LCA’s, 2 Andela Student Ambassador’s(Alex K. Nani and Issac Kyalo) and 8 learners.These learners are the pivot of ALC. Just to mention a few;
Sydney Hillary from Mombasa, is a passionate gamer, tech lover and an upcoming android developer. He also loves Mechanics and owns a cyber shop. Collins Kamuyu from Mombasa, is a passionate techie, car and sports enthusiast (Liverpool fan) who looks forward to own his learning through his ALC journey. Others present too were Daniel Otieno, Catherine Chepkurui, Susan Were, Mwanaidi Lupalo Wangia, Riyaz Mustafa and Ian Kamau Githu.
Also to recognize in absentia is; Ken Chelanga from Mombasa, is a tech enthusiast, web developer, and football lover (Chelsea fan). Billy Gibendi (Raphael) alias King of spades, is a BBIT student at JKUAT, Mombasa Campus.He is a tech innovation enthusiast who is new to android development and geared to learn and network with like minded individuals. Wekesa Duncan from Voi, is a student at Taita Taveta University(TTU), who is also new to android development and a chelsea fan. Stella Kaniaru, an IT student at TTU and android beginner excited to be part of this learning curve. Griffin Makokha, an enterprenuer in the making and a total pitcher,he is a student at Mount Kenya University, Mombasa Campus who is also passionate about tech, plus 25 others.
The day started amazingly hot with some rain showers but this didn’t prevent learners from showing up. This session was led by ALC Coast Region facilitator Dennis Onkangi, an android developer also with various skills in embedded systems and wireless networks. The Meet up started around 11 am EAT with a welcome note from Dennis followed by a presentation about Andela by Alex Nani who is the Mombasa’s Andela Student Ambassador, this was a motivation to joining Andela fellowship. On my ALC presentation, a thing that stood out was “Utamu wa soda ni kuteuka” , a Swahili word meaning; ‘The sweetness of a soda is belching’. How are you belching the great feeling of being part of the Andela Learning Community?
Warm up sessions came in between the break sessions, Peter’s story by Dennis really stood out, that funny and involving icebreaker story. If you missed this you really wouldn’t want to miss our next Meet up come January 2018. The overall topic of meet up 1.0 was about Building Layouts using Android Studio. This had been covered in the Udacity classroom but hearing it and hands-on with Dennis was an experience of its own kind. One learner with help of a facilitator managed to create a simple twitter layout.
This was one of those fun, educative and inspiring sessions that turned out really productive despite the turnout.
Of course a meet up doesn’t end without a group photo and a group photo by the ocean shore only happens in Mombasa. Wishing all ALC participants happy holidays as they climb up their ladders.
