About AfChix Africa – Women in Technology Group: Thursday, October 11, 2012

Dear Members of the AfChix List

I bring you warm regards from Kampala in Uganda. We recognize that we have not communicated the purpose of this group formally to all of you. Please find below important information concerning our group that each of you are a member of.

Background

The AfChix Mailing list is composed of a group of African Chix (Women) in Computer Science / Information Technology that was previously called Linux Chix Africa (since 2004) and participants of the AfNOGChix series of workshops (since 2007). Linux Chix Africa was the brainchild of Dorcas Muthoni and Anna Badimo – two great African women in Computer Science / Information Technology that had a dream of how to support women in Computer Science / Information Technology to prosper. This group has since evolved to what is now called AfChix and its activities have been championed by Dorcas Muthoni with a focus on the following:

  1. Career Fairs in Kenya targeting high school girls with the objective of enticing them to take up careers in Computer Science and related areas
  2. Support for women to attend global and regional Computer Science / Information Technology related conferences for exposure
  3. Targeted partnerships for training women in technical fields such as Linux Systems Administration, Network Infrastructure & Services, Internet Education among others
  4. Management of the Afchix mailing list to share information and opportunities with women in Computer Science / Information Technology.
Purpose of the AfChix Group

The goal of AfChix is to create a vibrant network of African Women in Computer Science and related areas for the purpose of supporting each other. Specific objectives include the following:

  1. Facilitate networking and sharing of opportunities with women in Computer Science / Information Technology – recognizing that there is power in purposeful collaboration and networking.
  2. Establish a platform for mentorship targeting upcoming young women in Computer Science / Information Technology.
  3. Identify opportunities and broker partnerships for professional training / development and exposure of women in Computer Science / Information Technology
If you are not sure how you got onto this list

Members of this group may have got signed up through the following:

  1. Applied to participate in the Unix System Administration Workshop for Women Engineers (AfNOG Track SA-E), Nairobi, Accra, Gaborone,   Blantyre or main AfNOG events.
  2. Others may have known the group through LinuxChix Africa, APC-Africa Women or FOSSFA work.
  3. The AfChix Africa Group consolidates all subscriptions to better manage our interactions as women in Computer Science / Information Technology. We added you to the AfChix Africa Group to keep you posted on all happenings.
As we move forward we request all of you to feel free to share ideas and ask any questions on this list. We plan to moderate the list and related discussions and ensure we all get value out of belonging to this unique group that holds a lot of promise. If you have any questions please don’t hesitate to ask.

In my next communication I hope to engage all of us in discussing how we could work together and support each other more effectively.

Our website is: http://www.afchix.org/

Best regards

Nodumo Dhlamini