I am on a Mission to Provide Free Access to Technology for Children of Iraq

I started our first Code Club in Maysan Southern Iraq with the help of Khutwa Training Center to give free access to technology to children who come from low income families.

Code Club Growth leader

Our First Code Club in Maysan - Al Hashimy Primary School

I started as a Code Club Leader volunteer at the Oak Farm Library in Uxbridge - London while I was doing my PhD in Brunel University London. I gave computer training to young children ages 9-13, the training was based on educational, interactive and fun projects. 

After finishing my studies and returning to Iraq, I wanted to bring back the clubs with me. I read about the Growth Leaders program and it was perfect! I presented the idea to my colleagues at Khutwa Center for training and development and they loved it. We applied for the program and managed to be the Growth Leaders of Iraq in 2019. Then, we needed to have trainers (club leaders). I thought to offer the training to females for two reasons: the first one was to increase the number of women in technology (especially in Maysan!) and the second was based on the community mentality; families prefer females to interact with their children! I gave training to 20 females to empower them with technology and together we provided training to more than 250 children, 40% were females and at the time I wrote this blog.

CoderDojo Growth Partner

One of the CoderDojo Iraq Sessions

After attending one of the online sessions presented by the CoderDojo Foundation, I received an email inviting us to apply for the CoderDojo Growth Partner Program. We agreed in Khutwa to apply for the program for various reasons, the most important one was having the freedom to establish a Dojo outside school premises, which we couldn’t do as a Code Club. So, we founded the first Dojo in Iraq and named it CoderDojo Iraq 💖! We offered training in Scratch, Python and HTML/CSS. The range of ages widened too, we are offering training to ages 7-17 years in our new location. 

We established great partnership with other Dojo's as well, we partnered with CoderDojo Vatanikos from Greece to participate in the AstroPi Mission Zero contest 2019/2020. We formed 4 teams, four kids each and 2 from each country, they collaborated together to send four peace messages to space. This experience was the first of a kind! our children improved their confidence, communication and team work skills.

AstroPi Mission Zero Collaboration 

Makey Makey Ambassador 

I wanted to introduce hardware to our children in the club. In summer 2019 I won a Fulbright Scholar Program for Iraqi Academics and went to the University of Central Oklahoma for 10 weeks. This is was great opportunity for me to observe U.S academics, compare to the UK educational system and reflect on the Iraqi educational system, but this wasn’t all! 

I took the advantage of being in the land of MIT , my dream institute ! I heard about this magnificent device that can play music using bananas! and thought it will be great if I can bring home 2 pieces. I sent and email to the Makey Makey team, I explained what I am doing in Iraq and asked if I can get the educators discount. For my own surprise, they send me an email saying they admire my work and they won’t to help our mission and donate 20 B-Stock Makey Makey's !!! it was the happiest day of my life.

Another challenge! I don't know how to use them ! I contacted Tom Heck, the VP for Education Initiatives at Makey Makey and asked for his advice, he invited me to attend one of his workshops as his guest. However, at that time, I had to give poster presentation and couldn’t go, So, he offers me a 2 hours training on Phone ! How cool is that ? he asks me to apply for the Makey Makey Ambassador scheme, I did and now I am certified educator and Ambassador. 

During of the Makey Makey Sessions in Iraq

Arabic Translation Team Coordinator 

As I mentioned above, we use the Raspberry Pi Foundation Projects in our clubs. I wanted to support my community and the #RPiTranslation to break down the language barrier. I volunteered as an Arabic translator, I have translated and reviewed more than 21 projects. In 2019, I was asked to be the team coordinator because of my support to the team and punctuality. We now have projects translated to Arabic in different categories including but not limited to Scratch, Python, HTML/CSS, Wearable Devices, Micro:bit, AppInventor, SonicPI, and more.

We always welcome new members to help translating our projects and to support their communities, if you know another language please apply to be a translator.

What Next?

I run Online sessions during the pandemic of COVID19, I offer free online training to trainers and I record educational videos and post them on my Youtube Channel. We are trying to introduce Code Clubs in the Iraqi schools and I hope one day I see a Code Club in every Iraqi School!