One Misplaced Dot Changed My Career
“Gashora helped me learn something I don't think I could have learned anywhere else: to believe in myself, try again after I fail badly, and give my best in everything I do.” -Jeannine Uwase
By Jeannine Uwase, GGAST Class of 2019
I graduated from Gashora Girls Academy of Science and Technology (GGAST) in 2019. Before Gashora, I attended a school that didn't give me the opportunity to speak or learn English, so when I arrived at Gashora, I struggled in and out of class, communicating was incredibly hard. I genuinely wanted to go home.
Gashora Girls Academy arranged free coaching lessons for me with my English teacher, and that changed everything. Slowly, I gained confidence, started speaking up, and began building real relationships with teachers and classmates; from there, I could get the help I needed. I also found comfort on the football field, playing alongside teachers and students from every level. That gave me real joy.
“Gashora showed me a side of myself I didn’t know existed: patience, persistence, and the discipline to keep trying even when I fail. Now, when I fail, I know it’s normal. I keep trying until I get where I want to be.”
As a kid I dreamed of becoming a medical doctor, so after Gashora, I applied for medical-related programs but was not accepted. While waiting to reapply, I started running youth outreach programs on unwanted pregnancy, alcohol abuse, human trafficking, and leadership in general. The first event drew more than 470 young people between ages 18 and 33. It was a huge success, and I was already starting to find myself.
Then COVID-19 hit, and all social gatherings stopped. I didn't know what to do while waiting for the next school intake, so I started looking for programs to fill the gap. A friend from Gashora, told me about AkiraChix. I applied thinking it was a leadership program. I later found out it was actually a coding program.
I decided to take the chance and spend a year at AkiraChix before pursuing medicine. That's not how it turned out. The moment I started coding, I found my passion, something I could do for hours without getting bored, something that tested my patience the way nothing else had.
One day, our project simply refused to run, and none of us could figure out why. My team asked alumni mentors and other classmates, but we were stuck all day. I took my laptop, found a quiet corner, and sat with it alone. Then, I found it: one misplaced dot in our code. That single character had been breaking everything.
When I finally solved the error, the fulfillment was unlike anything I'd felt before. I knew then that this was what I wanted to do for the rest of my life. That's where I first believed in my technical skills, and it gave me confidence that software development was something I could actually do.
That belief started in Mr. Robert's Entrepreneurship class at Gashora Girls Academy. He would put me in leadership groups even when I didn't think I could do it. He never let me get away with that. He'd look at me and say, "If you can't do it, then nobody can." From that class on, I stopped waiting to feel ready before saying yes. I learned to grab the chance first and figure out the rest after. He helped me believe I could be anything I put myself to.
After the program, I received two offers, one from a Rwandan company, and one from the U.S.-based company, Lionfish Cybersecurity, where I worked remotely. About nine months into the role, I left to pursue my degree in Software Engineering at African Leadership University (ALU).
Since graduating from ALU, I've spent five years in software engineering and development. I joined GanzAfrica while I was still in university and led the Project Tracking System for the Ministry of Agriculture, managing a team of two developers. I managed communication with stakeholders at the ministry and GanzAfrica's leadership, and we delivered the project successfully.
After five years in software engineering, working closely with leaders across government and organizations, I realized I wanted to be in the room where decisions get made and influence how technology is used to solve real problems. Working at GanzAfrica has led me to pursue an MBA in Cybersecurity. I am fascinated by cybersecurity: how we build truly secure systems, stay ahead of hackers, and identify threats early. I will graduate from Wrexham University with my MBA in Cybersecurity in July 2028.
Gashora is known for pushing girls into STEM leadership roles and to this day, I lead nearly every team I'm part of. Gashora helped me learn something I don't think I could have learned anywhere else: to believe in myself, try again after I fail badly, and give my best in everything I do.
My journey was never a straight path. I didn't know I'd end up here, and I believe that's the beauty of life. You do your best, and God leads the way.
As someone who deeply loves my community and my country, I want to contribute to the development already underway here. I want to help lead tech companies and shape government technology strategy, learning from countries that have gone further down this path, so I can help build solutions that make life easier for people. Every part of that vision traces back to what Gashora taught me.
“Every part of that vision traces back to what Gashora taught me.”
