Hyderabad: Observing International Day of the Girl 2021, Youngistaan Foundation has brought together 400 people from across Telangana to attend the session on ‘Digital Generation – Our Generation’ organised in collaboration with Telangana State Police, Women Safety Wing Telangana State, and Telangana State Innovation Cell (TSIC).
The session focussed on amplifying the journeys of four young girl change-makers who are using technology to innovate and advocate digital transformation, in turn, aimed to inspire a generation of girls to become technologists.
18-year-old Gadila Anodha from KGBV Dahegaon Adilabad shared her experience of using smartphones to efficiently improve her academics that secured her the first position in the state DEECET examination. An IAS aspirant, Anodha wishes to help all the girl children in her village to overcome their struggles.
14-year-old student Roopa Janampalli from GBHS CPL Himayat Nagar Amberpet in Hyderabad invented a milk-overflow stopper. Learning about sensors in school, she made a bowl with a sensor that triggers an alarm when the milk overflows. She opened up about the encouragement she received from the adults in her home, which further emphasizes the importance of encouraging youngsters with potential. Roopa went further to share the coding club in her school she formed along with other female students. Together, they learned the curriculum on their own through internet research conducted during the lockdown and are preparing themselves and the girls around them for future jobs.
7th grader Jayanthi Angothu from GBHS CPL Himayat Nagar Amberpet in Hyderabad discovered Solar Helmet as many people were avoiding using their helmets due to heat and excessive sweating. She devised the solar helmet using the information she learned in school about the different uses of solar panels. Her main objective was to encourage people to wear helmets and find solutions to their problems.
Using digital technology to encourage people to learn about cyber safety and create awareness about the issue, 14-year-old T. Hasini from Khammam used creative arts and digital technology to spread the message on cyber safety. She scripted songs and wrote poems which she shared on social media to inform people about the pitfalls of cyberspace and instruct people on being safe online.
After the lightning talks, two keynote speakers from UNICEF India and Youngistaan Foundation focused on the importance of using technology to solve the problems around them and the potential of young girls to make great strides in this area.
On the topic of technology, Manasa Priya Vasudevan (Adolescent and Youth Development Specialist with UNICEF India) emphasized the importance of technology in enabling us to access our rights, such as a child’s right to an education – and that a failure to provide people with access to technology distances them from their rights. Arun Daniel Yellamaty (Founder and Director of Youngistaan Foundation) concluded by emphasizing the uniqueness of each child; he explained that much like our fingerprints, our unique lives and unique problems also create opportunities to create unique solutions that can benefit people around us. He encouraged young people to step forward and use the digital tools at their disposal to become a changemaker. (INN)