‘When you have skills, you become free’

The granddaughter of Senegalese royalty, Lady Mariéme Jamme has one main objective and it’s to use her platform to impact the lives of disadvantaged girls worldwide. She wants to do this by empowering them with educational tools for economic development.

The founder of iamtheCODE, a global coding platform of empowerment – now launched in 89 countries and operational in 88 - tells a story of abandonment as a child, despite her royal bloodline, because her mother, the last child of 14 children for her royal parents, did not follow established marriage traditions in Senegal.

“I have a background. My mother come from an aristocrat background. And so my grandfather was a king in Senegal decades ago and so that’s my background. Senegal is a very small country and we had five main families around colonisation, post-colonisation. My mom’s family are very prominent in Senegal. They were very involved in building the country,” the businesswoman, who was in 2013 honoured as a Young Global Leader of the World Economic Forum (WEF), told The Sunday Gleaner.

Despite her bloodline, Jamme did not benefit from the bells and whistles that come with royalty. Instead, her mother was banished and her children abandoned.

“I didn’t have the chance to benefit from that because we were abandoned as children. And so my mother who was the youngest daughter from my grandfather’s side [which] had prominence and wealth and they were the first Senegalese people to go to France. They were the first civil engineers, the first literate people,” she explained, noting that this was during the leadership of President Leopold Senghor, a poet, politician, and cultural theorist, best known as a leading figure in the negritude movement, which celebrated African identity and culture. Born in the 1940s, her mother was part of Senegal’s elite, and was married according to tradition. An extra-marital affair resulted in the birth of herself and her twin brother in 1974.

“She had difficulty of raising us because I did a lot of work in finding out what happened to us. And so that created a big problem. And so we were then sent into a village called Kaolack, which is not far from Dakar itself. And that created a big problem for us. So really, very tumultuous childhood. Very challenging upbringing,” she said.

The reasons for the banishment/abandonment would be excavated by journalists, and historians, and Jamme said the affair was viewed as an abomination.

Suffering as a result of societal norms, customs and culture, Jamme not only believed it was unfair to her mother and herself, but said it is the fuel that has lit her fire for social justice advocacy, not only on the continent, but in educating girls worldwide.

Long-term goal

Though she lives in the United Kingdom, the Senegal-born French-British businesswoman and technology activist founded iamtheCODE Foundation in 2016. Among its long-term goals is to impact governments in relation to family planning laws in not just Senegal, but many other countries; working with organisations on abortion issues and child abuse – particularly because she had the experience of being abused as a child.

Jamme says too many young girls and women are left behind around the world, stripped of their self-worth, denied opportunities, and relegated to the backrooms in their families. The victims of many wars around the globe, many are in mental distress.

“Young people are living with PTSD (post traumatic stress disorder) around the globe. We have not taken the time to care for people, to nurture them. And so I feel that technology is the only way for me to do that. And that’s why I decided to find another meaning rather than complaining and being negative about it. And I wanted to use the tools I have to make a difference,” she said.

Connecting with fellow Young Global Leaders of the WEF alumni – in Mariame McIntosh Robinson and Nadeen Blair Matthews – Jamme said Jamaica’s voice is known and heard around the world, and the island would have a chapter of iamtheCODE, sooner rather than later.

That local chapter was launched last Thursday and joining Jamme at the event were McIntosh Robinson and Blair Matthews as its co-founders.

Designed specifically for disadvantaged girls and young women, the initiative offers digital training to help them become economically independent and equipped for the modern workforce.

Individuals who register for the programme must undergo a mandatory 12-week curriculum before certification. Jamme explained that, with the fulcrum of the world based on technology, it was natural that a technology-based programme is used, as all it needs is a cell phone. In the 12 weeks, technical, coding and soft skills will be taught.

McIntosh Robinson and Matthews Blair encouraged both sponsors and participants to support and engage with the programme, noting that while it is reliant on funding, for the hardware, partnership is important.

Coding entails giving an instruction to a computer. For her, iamtheCODE has two meanings. One, that you are a coder to give the instruction, but also, you are the code. Likening it to making an omelette, she says it’s the individuals who make the most impactful omelette, which has the lasting taste, who get hired. They can become economically empowered by developing apps, chatbots, building websites and becoming influencers.

She theorised that there are many industries in Jamaica that need an app.

“And so the platform is fully funded and we are improving it all the time for a variety of partners. But we also need laptops. The hardware is something that we always fundraise for. We fund raise for operations to make sure that girls are eating as well, and the transportation of the teachers. So now we just need a little money to get to the last mile. And so that’s why we need Jamaican support,” she said.

An investment in

young women

Describing the platform as an investment in young women, she said too many girls are undervalued. She feels the coding platform will play a leading role in reaching the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals by 2030. It is against that background that iamtheCODE Caribbean was launched in Jamaica.

“We are trying to reach the entire Caribbean and we have English-speaking Caribbean countries. So I feel that there’s always a model and Jamaica always leads the way. And my hope is that, if Jamaica can lead the way, the other countries can also follow through because the methodology is so simple, but it requires leadership. And that’s why we have Mariame and Nadeen and [an] entire team behind them. And then, once the model is very well understood in Jamaica, it’s going to be very easy to replicate in other countries,” she said.

Speaking to what obtains in countries in Africa, she said she has been working with individuals displaced by the wars in Sudan, Somalia, the Congo and other countries for the past nine years.

“We want to give you tools and skills to uplift yourself. But we have people who have mental health issues, and I was just saying your country (Jamaica) is a very good example of resilience, of emancipation. We had leaders, legends like Bob Marley, who’ve been talking about the emancipation of the mind and how that translates into my world as the freedom skills. When you have skills, you become free…” she declared.

Given Jamaica’s rich culture, she said it is hoped that one day the country will have artificial intelligence that utilising the music of reggae legend Bob Marley to guide its coding. .

Across the world, she said, there are young people with self-esteem issues, because nobody nurtured or coached them, leaving them neglected by society. Calling it a worldwide epidemic of neglect, she does not want her circumstances of 50 years ago to be perpetuated, even as she remains disappointed that not much has changed.

Jamme is however determined to break the cycle.

“So, the reason why I’m coming to Jamaica is to use the resilience of the people, but at the same time show them that actually if we show you all the examples, collaborate with you, show you how Filipinos are doing it, show you how Pakistanis are doing it, how Kenyans are doing it, and if you collaborate as a global community, we can advance your society and we can make Jamaicans more prosperous,” she stated.

One of her most impactful stories was the certification of a young girl in Afghanistan, and the pride she expressed in being able to hang her certificate on the wall, telling her father that she was worth something. Individuals earn badges and certification and the learning is continuous, to develop individuals who can multi-task and are disciplined.

In too many countries, there is resistance to girls’ education and the need for children to go to school, and Jamme’s task takes on even greater importance as the older persons in those countries have to be taught why children need to be educated, especially girls.

“I try to explain why educating the girls can make the house and societies more prosperous,” she said.

erica.virtue@gleanerjm.com