Coding and Computing for Community
How 2020 Student of Vision Abie Award Winner Pelagia Majoni is Building a new Future for Zimbabwe
Pelagia’s home country of Zimbabwe is dear to her heart. As a young girl, she felt strongly motivated to solve the problems of poverty and hunger she saw around her. She came up with the idea of growing potatoes in a bucket, envisioning them as a “cheap, sustainable source of electricity.” Little did she know, potatoes would continue to play a key role in shaping her future.
With this idea, she came upon the solution to the lack of available electricity that created challenges for her and other students who wanted to study past dark. She envisioned a piece of technology that would allow decayed potatoes to fuel a battery with a 30-day lifespan. Her essay on this subject won her the silver medal in the 2017 at the Eskom Expo South Africa International Science Fair. It also earned her a winning title at the 2017 Intel International Science and Engineering Fair, where she became the first Zimbabwean to place. To honor this momentous accomplishment, MIT named an asteroid in her honor. Not only did her potato innovation open the door to recognition and awards, but also the opportunity to continue her education in technology and further her impact at-home and abroad. She was awarded a full-ride scholarship from Haverford College of Pennsylvania to pursue an undergraduate degree in Computer Science.
Moving from Zimbabwe to the United States and taking her first-year Computer Science courses posed new challenges for Pelagia.
“I was eager to come to the United States to study,” she recalls. “But unlike my peers, I had not taken Computer Science as a school subject. I felt discouraged by the setbacks because until that moment, I had been used to excelling and doing well.”
Pelagia’s advice for other young women whose goals and determination lead them to unfamiliar environments is, “Build a sense of community.” She drew strength and support from the Facebook group Rewriting the Code, an organization focused on recruiting, retaining and advancing women in technology. “Engaging with others in the group and learning from their experiences made me realize I was not alone,” Pelagia states. While she delighted in the virtual connection, she also relished the physical presence and energetic environment of her first Grace Hopper Celebration in 2019 and is eager to attend again, especially now, as the 2020 Student of Vision Abie Award winner!
The desire to give back remains a key driver for Pelagia. She is enrolled in a plethora of extracurricular activities and generously offers her time and talents to her fellow students. Pelagia is also deeply connected to her roots. “My ambitions to serve my community keep me motivated because I know that one day, I will make a phenomenal impact on the girls of Zimbabwe.” During her recent winter break, she returned to Zimbabwe and taught a course called “Introduction to Programming.” She now continues to support those students back home, and constructed a website that would allow for continued communication.
Pelagia plans to use machine learning and data science to solve societal problems plaguing her home country. Her dream is to create a Zimbabwe with “no street children” and is eager to show African girls that they too can have their names engraved in the Science and Engineering halls of fame.
“It is my community that keeps me going. I am, because we are.”
This story was written by Saranya Murthy, Wogrammer Journalism Fellow. Connect with her on LinkedIn. Hear directly from Pelagia at our 2020 Virtual Grace Hopper Celebration. Register today! #TogetherWeBuild
