{Ikirezi Ketia, is an 11 year old girl who has taken the IT community by surprise, has created an animation program on her laptop. Her innovation gave her the opportunity to meet one of the biggest champions for ICT in Rwanda- His Excellency President Paul Kagame at the Smart Rwanda Days this past October.}
Ketia recently completed the primary school national examinations this past month at Salesian Elementary School (EPAK) in Kimihurura, Kigali. This year Ketia also excelled in other subjects and took second place in her class.
Ni Nyampinga sat down with this young confident girl for an exclusive interview where she shared her passion for IT, excitement for the future and her achievements.
{{NN:}} In few words, who is Ketia?
{{Ketia: }} My name is Ikirezi Ketia, and I am 11 years old. I was born in Gisenyi (Rubavu district), and at the age of two I went to live with my grandmother in Cyangugu (Rusizi district). A few years later, my parents moved to Kigali and I joined them and continued my primary school here at EPAK Don Bosco.
{{NN:}} How did you get the opportunity to meet the President?
{{Ketia:}} Since Primary four, I took IT courses, where we used to have training on how to use the laptops we got from One Laptop Per Child program. In Primary six, they give us an assignment to think about a project that can help Rwandans through ICT, and to work on topic that we feel comfortable with. The top three students with the best projects were to present their projects at the Smart Rwanda Days event. I was selected among those three and participated in Smart Rwanda Days in October, and that is when I met our President.
{{NN}}: And what topic did you work on?
{{Ketia:}} My project was an animation of a mother talking to her children about having a balanced diet. I wanted to show the difference between children who have access to healthy food to the ones who do not.
{{NN: }} Did you present your project during Smart Rwanda Days?
{{Ketia}}: Yes, I did. We were three students from our school and other pupils from different schools. People came to our stand where we were sitting, and we presented to whoever was interested in our projects. I presented my project to the President and I also got a chance to ask him a question.
{{NN:}} What question did you ask him?
{{Ketia:}} I asked him, “Will we continue to use the same laptops, as we are finishing the primary school?” and also asked, “will we get opportunities to study subjects we like at secondary school? He answered that: “ The best is yet to come”. This response made me happy and so did my colleagues!
{{NN}}: Did you face any challenges while doing your project as a child and more especially as a young girl?
{{Ketia}}: Not really, the only challenge was that I had trouble mastering the laptop, but the school brought us two teachers who supported us.
{{NN}}: Please give advice to young girls like you who are afraid to use ICT.
{{Ketia}}: ICT is not difficult at all, same for other subjects. If you like something, do not be afraid to do it, whether you are a boy or girl. What a boy can do, a girl can do it too!
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