By Rebecca Chimjeka Matemba:

In a small village in Balaka District, where maize fields stretch far and wide and power outages are part of daily life, something unexpected is happening. A young girl named Faith Chitenjere is quietly breaking barriers—with a computer in her hands.

At just 16 years old, Faith is already making a name for herself. She is a form 4 student at Mpirisi Community Day Secondary School (CDSS), a school hidden deep in an area under Traditional Authority Kachenga.

Despite the many challenges of rural life, Faith has found a new passion—coding.

“I want to become a doctor one day,” she says with a shy smile. “But I also want to use technology to solve problems in my community—problems such as climate change.”

Faith’s journey into the world of computers started only a year ago when she joined the Malawi Girls Can Code project, a programme supported by UN Women.

The project aims to help girls and boys, especially those in rural areas, acquire skills in information and communications technology (ICT). In places where girls are often left behind when it comes to education, Faith’s story is one of hope and inspiration.

“I had never used a tablet before,” Faith says. “At first, I was afraid that I would break it. But once I learnt how to use it, I loved coding.”

Today, Faith has created a small computer programme that helps students solve maths problems, access digital textbooks and even play educational games. Her classmates, like Beston Philip, now use the programme to study and revise. For them, it is not just about getting better grades—it is about believing that anything is possible.

Mpirisi CDSS may not have reliable electricity or fast internet but the school has become a digital learning centre, thanks to the Girls Can Code initiative. The programme provided solar lights so that students could study even at night. This small change has made a big difference.

“Before the project [was launched], our MSCE [Malawi School Certificate of Education] pass rate was only 43 percent,” says headteacher Jaffar Chibwana. “Now it has gone up to 56 percent and, more importantly, our girls now believe that they can become anything— scientists, engineers or even tech developers.”

Out of the 99 students in the coding programme at Mpirisi CDSS, about 70 percent are girls. Most of them had never touched a computer before but, now, they can write code, make PowerPoint presentations and even create mobile applications.

“It’s amazing,” says Nelia Galeta, a support officer from UN Women. “These girls are learning fast. They are coding their way out of poverty.”

The project began in 2024 and is running in 14 schools across Mzimba, Dowa and Balaka.

In Balaka, four schools, including Mpirisi, are part of the programme. Students not only learn how to use digita