When Amina typed her first line of code, she didn’t really know what it meant. The laptop was old, the keys sticky, and the generator outside the school buzzed louder than her confidence. Still, when she hit “Enter,” something shifted. A lightbulb flickered on in her mind.
She had just built something.
And for the first time in her life, Amina felt seen.
That’s the moment I always go back to. Not because it was dramatic, but because it was simple and powerful. A girl from a quiet village in Oyo, Nigeria, had just taken her first step into a world that had never made space for her before. She wasn’t just learning a digital skill. She was stepping into possibility.
We hear about the importance of preparing young people for the future. And it’s true. But whose future are we preparing for?
Too often, these conversations happen in glass-walled offices and air-conditioned auditoriums. They talk about upskilling for AI and training for the jobs of tomorrow, but they skip over the broken classrooms, the girls who are told to stay quiet, the communities without Wi-Fi or even electricity.
At The Sapphires Development Initiative, we’ve met girls like Amina many times. Girls full of fire, curiosity, and creativity, but trapped in places where their dreams are not expected to grow. That’s why we don’t wait for perfect conditions. We bring the skills to them – on paper, with gadgets, through storytelling, through trust.
The Future Isn’t Just Digital. It Should Be Dignified.
Skills aren’t just tools for employment. They are tools for agency. When we teach a girl to build a water purifier, write a Python script, or design a solar phone charger, we’re not just giving her a skill. We’re leaving her a voice. A sense of worth. A path to a life she can shape for herself.
That’s why our programs at TSDI are built not just to teach, but to uplift. We don’t just want coders or engineers. We want thinkers. Leaders. Girls who see the world and say, “I can fix that.”
And we believe the best kind of skill is the kind that helps someone feel powerful in their skin.
At TSDI, we believe every girl deserves to understand the future that’s unfolding around her. Even if she doesn’t have a laptop. Even if her school doesn’t have electricity. Our learners may not have the internet at home, but they have ideas. They have hunger. They have the right to be part of the conversation.
It’s Time to Build With Everyone in the Room.
