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I wanted to take
the chance to capture a glimpse into the deeply transformative impact
our training has been facilitating in the lives of the WeCode women. We
get these textures every day, but those who are focused on the back end
infrastructure to enable the WeCode project often don’t get to see what
is most beautiful (and motivating) about it.
To
me the story of Consolee in particular embodies the values we are
nurturing in this learning environment (We Seek Excellence, We Love
Questions, We Fail Forward, We Win Together). Consolee was in our first
cohort in September and October but really struggled because she was
starting off from such a low level of English competency. However, she
brought a lot of heart competencies to the work (positive attitude,
grit/persistence), and as a result we saw great improvement across many
of the competencies, as she challenged herself.
We could see that she
was really coming alive and thriving in the safe environment of her
team, which embraced everyone from different backgrounds and economic
means. Consolee, was from a very low Ubudehe economic level. We could
also see early on in the training that her low English was really
handicapping her.
Although she completed both the Basic Work Readiness
and Advanced QA & Project Management training, she failed to qualify
to sit the October 15 ASTQB (international proficiency) certification)
exam. There are some at that threshold who complain, protest, while
there are others who (sometimes through tears) just say, “Next time I
will get there."
During
the internship that followed the training, Consolee was selected to
be on a team that remained focused on ISTQB and English proficiency, and
in fact, she was chosen as the Malayika (facilitator) to lead her team
of learners during that four month internship. The internship required a
high degree of self-organizing from the teams, especially those that
were not selected to be on live Muraho client software testing projects
but were given further learning objectives to pursue to further prepare
themselves.
At the end of the internship, we assessed the teams
according to the projects they were on, including the learning projects.
Those who demonstrated they were persisting in learning during the
internship were invited into the second cohort’s intensive two weeks of
ISTQB training and coaching to try for the exam again.
Six
of those who did not qualify to sit the ASTQB in October were invited
to join cohort 2 Advanced training the first two weeks of March. All six
of them qualified and sat the official ASTQB on March 18. Of particular
note, Consolee’s marks during the mock exams were consistently at the
top of the pile, and her English and confidence were also markedly
improved (measured by questions and presentations). She shifted from one
of the lowest mock scorers in round one to consistently scoring at the
top. When we asked her what she had done during the internship in order
to improve so well, she and her team reported that they helped each
other set and keep their study goals (e.g. they committed to learn 15
new words every day, etc.). During this second Cohort training, we were
constantly seeing Consolee helping newer students in the mixed teams to
understand difficult concepts; they looked up to her.
Not
everyone who was given that further opportunity of a paid internship
after the training took advantage of it, or we would have had 20 from
Cohort 1 join Cohort 2 ISTQB training. Some complained they had less
formal training structure on internship; some gave up when they were not
assigned to projects they wanted to be on, but some hunkered down and
did the work together of on-going learning and earned a second chance.
I
am purposely reporting this story of Consolee before we have received
the results of her ASTQB exam (sometime later this week). She has
already proven that it is irrelevant whether she passes the exam (this
time). She and all the 6 embody a "not yet”, growth mindset and a
fearlessness to fail forward. They’ve also demonstrated that they are
worth hiring onto teams without this certification and that the
intangible qualities like dynamic ongoing learning is one of the most
valuable competencies to train and nurture in WeCode. Creating the safe
environment that enables that learning for women is the most fragile
part of what we do.
We
hear firsthand many of the impediments these women have to overcome and
when they do, we celebrate them. I just wanted to share this so you can
join us in celebration of these amazing women. If GIZ wanted to give
some kind of award for embodying the WeCode values, Consolee would be at
the top of my pile, simply because she started further behind than
most, climbed, failed, climbed again and got there, and led several up
there with her.
Update on March 29, 2019: I can now add that Consolee passed her ASTQB and has CTFL after her name. Her life and opportunities are changed.
Dr. Michael Pucci
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