Episode 7: with Anna Makarudze

Episode 7: with Anna Makarudze
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00:20 Hello, everyone.
00:21 New PyPodcats again. Here today.
00:24 We have, we are so excited because we have Anna
00:27 from the Django Girls Foundation to be with us.
00:30 And so you have already seen Mariatta and I'm Cheuk
00:35 and we are the host of the PyPodcats.
00:37 So for Anna, I think it's the best if you
00:40 can introduce yourself because we really want to know about
00:42 you and I don't want to miss anything.
00:45 Hi, Cheuk.
00:45 Hi, Mariatta.
00:47 I'm so excited to be here.
00:49 Thank you for having me.
00:50 So my name is Anna Makarudze.
00:53 I'm the current Django Girls fundraising coordinator, a
00:56 position that I've held since June 2017.
00:59 And I'm also a trustee for the Board
01:02 of Trustees for Django Girls Foundation and also
01:05 Software Engineer for Django Girls foundation since August
01:08 2020 when there was a transition in leadership.
01:11 I also support the Django Girls website and
01:14 the other resources in the GitHub repo.
01:17 So I'm kind of like the lead maintainer for the
01:20 website and also work with volunteers to maintain our resources
01:25 because the website and the tutorial in our coaches manual,
01:29 organizer manual, they are all open source.
01:32 So we work with volunteers to maintain them,
01:34 to make sure that they are kept up
01:36 to date and accessible to the general public.
01:41 Yeah, I have heard some so much like exciting
01:44 news from Django Girls like earlier this year.
01:47 So I know now we are Django Girls plus.
01:50 Yes. Yes.
01:52 It was addition that the board of trustees made
01:57 because over the years we're being asked if we
01:59 were inclusive of trans women and LGBQT.
02:03 So it was just easier to add a 'plus'
02:06 to our name without really changing our the known
02:10 name that we've had for 10 years.
02:12 As you know, we turned ten this year.
02:13 So yeah, it was a win for us.
02:15 So we, over the years we've tried to change
02:18 the language on our website to show that we
02:20 are inclusive of everyone who identifies as a woman.
02:23 So that was the idea behind the name change.
02:28 Yeah, I'm so happy to see that.
02:30 And you will be very busy and I know
02:32 you also personally have to make a big change.
02:35 You're moving country.
02:37 Can you tell us a little bit about that?
02:39 So I've moved from Zimbabwe to
02:43 Sweden for my Master's studies.
02:46 I'll be studying software engineering at Blekinge
02:49 Institute of Technology in Karlskrona, Sweden.
02:52 So I left Zimbabwe on the 14th of August and I'll
02:56 be starting school on the on Monday the 2nd of September.
03:01 Are you excited?
03:03 Yes, I am.
03:04 So that's when we have our introduction day.
03:08 I get to learn more about the program, as well as
03:11 meet my classmates as well as my lecturers and professors.
03:16 So, yeah, I'm excited for that and it's been
03:19 a great change to what I'm used to.
03:22 Yeah.
03:23 Yeah.
03:24 Because when you.
03:26 In Zimbabwe, when you say, I want to
03:27 buy a bed, you buy a bed that
03:29 is complete, already assembled with a mattress.
03:32 But I was shocked to find out. Yeah.
03:34 You buy a bed separately and
03:36 then you buy a mattress separately.
03:37 Yeah.
03:38 And the base comes in a box
03:39 and you have to, like, assemble everything.
03:42 So I had to buy a drill.
03:44 I now have a screwdriver, and I have
03:47 I have a hammer.
03:50 Yeah, the Swedish furniture.
03:50 We know, like, we don't have to mention the
03:52 name, but if we see, let's say, like Swedish
03:54 furniture, we know you have to assemble it yourself.
03:58 That's how it works.
04:01 Yeah.
04:03 So, it was, the shock for me, I.
04:05 I thought I ordered two pieces of
04:06 furniture and I get two boxes.
04:09 It's like, oh, this is my bed. You sure?
04:13 But you are now very good with
04:15 hardware as well, so that's good.
04:19 Hardware and software, we can do everything.
04:21 Yeah.
04:21 It's really been a learning curve.
04:22 So.
04:22 Yeah.
04:23 And it took me days. Yeah.
04:25 But I'm getting there now.
04:26 So I am glad that I had time for this
04:28 because I came about two weeks earlier than when I
04:30 was supposed to start, so I had time to go
04:33 through these new changes, you know, patiently.
04:36 I didn't get frustrated because I wasn't in a rush.
04:39 Yeah.
04:39 It would have been something else if I
04:41 arrived just in the nick of time when
04:42 I was supposed to start my program.
04:44 So, yeah, it has been a good
04:45 change, but I'm looking forward to it.
04:48 Yeah, that's good.
04:49 That's exciting.
04:50 Yeah, I'm glad for you.
04:53 Yeah.
04:54 Tell us more about.
04:56 You mentioned you're doing software engineer lead for
05:00 Django Girls, because I think that's really interesting.
05:04 I know the Django Girls tutorials is one
05:08 of the resources I like to share for
05:10 people who are learning Python, learning Django.
05:14 So it's really useful resources.
05:16 Can you tell us more about
05:17 this new role within Django Girls?
05:20 What do you do?
05:21 Okay, so the tutorial is a
05:23 bit separate from the website.
05:25 I normally work on the website, I'm maintaining
05:28 it, making code changes, fixing bugs, and then
05:32 I'm also in charge of deployment as well
05:35 as adding new contributors to the website.
05:39 Then with the tutorial, every now and then, I
05:42 also contribute to it, like introducing new changes.
05:47 For some time, we're offering, we added a section where
05:50 people could learn on the cloud using RunCode.
05:53 They were giving us the platform for free.
05:55 But we have since removed it.
05:57 Now because it's no longer
05:58 available, people have to pay.
05:59 So we try to make sure that
06:02 we have the things that we mentioned.
06:04 The resources that we mention in the
06:05 tutorial are free for the participants.
06:08 So because it's no longer free, we removed that.
06:10 So every now and then, if they say, I
06:13 wanted to restructure the tutorial actually, but it's huge.
06:18 So the first pull request that I did, it was a bit big.
06:23 It took time to have people review it.
06:25 What we've been trying to do is to
06:27 shorten it by making sure that if you're
06:29 on Windows, you follow Windows instructions.
06:33 If you're on Linux, you follow Linux.
06:35 If you're on iOS, on Mac, you follow Mac instructions.
06:39 But because everything is so mumbled up and it's a
06:42 long tutorial, it's difficult to do it in stages.
06:45 But at the same time, if you do
06:46 a large pull request and it takes time
06:48 without being reviewed, it gets overtaken by events.
06:52 So now I'll.
06:53 I think I'll have to start again.
06:55 But that's something that we have
06:56 wanted to do for some time.
06:58 If I can get people to work with, we would
07:00 want to do that, to separate the instructions so that
07:03 our participants are not confused by having to read through
07:07 so many notes that really don't affect them.
07:09 If you're on Windows, you don't need to know
07:10 about a note about Ubuntu or about Mac.
07:13 And the same applies to those on Ubuntu and Mac.
07:16 They don't need to know about Windows.
07:18 It would actually make it easier for
07:19 participants if they just yet to go
07:21 through what is platform specifically for them.
07:23 So that's one thing that I hope we'll be able to do.
07:27 I don't think, I'm not sure if we'll be able
07:29 to do that in 2024, but maybe in the near
07:32 future we should be able to work towards that.
07:35 I'm not sure how my schedule will be.
07:37 Like, you have a lot of work already.
07:43 Yeah, it's cross platform and also multiple languages.
07:46 It's like, wow, yeah.
07:49 And is this something that, you know,
07:52 the PyLadies community or the Django community
07:55 can help create PRs or can people
07:58 Contribute to it? Or?
08:00 Yes, it will be great.
08:02 I think what happened with Django Girls is the burnouts
08:08 did not affect the founders only, but I think most
08:11 of the contributors who worked with the founders when it
08:15 started in 2014, they also went through the burnout.
08:19 So we have fewer contributors now than
08:22 Django Girls yet, like back in 2017.
08:25 So we are always open to new contributors
08:28 coming up to work on the tutorial, work
08:30 on the website and all our other resources.
08:33 And if PyLadies, if you, they can work with us on that.
08:37 Will definitely welcome them as
08:39 well as the Django community.
08:40 Every now and then, at sprints at DjangoCon Europe.
08:45 I do attend them and I get people who contribute.
08:49 I have some regulars who contribute
08:51 only at DjangoCon Europe.
08:52 I think that will help if we add more people
08:55 from the Django community and PyLadies contributing to the
08:58 resources because I know many people use the Django Girls
09:01 tutorial to introduce people to Python and Django.
09:05 It's just that we have fewer maintainers these days.
09:09 Yeah, I think that's really good.
09:11 So maybe we can have a
09:12 sprint for the Django Girls tutorial.
09:15 Yeah, yeah, that'll be great.
09:17 Yeah.
09:17 Can you let us maybe can you share with us?
09:20 Like, how can people get started
09:23 to contribute to this project?
09:25 And do you have links or what's the best way?
09:28 All right, so for each of our
09:30 resources we have a Contributing Guide.
09:34 Oh, that's good.
09:36 On GitHub. Yeah.
09:37 So if you.
09:38 If you want to contribute to the
09:39 tutorial, there's an how to contribute guide,
09:42 contributing guide there.
09:44 If it's the organizer manual, it's also.
09:47 We also have that as well as the website.
09:49 So you can just go on GitHub, fork our
09:52 repo, whichever one you want to contribute to.
09:55 You read the contributing guide on how to set up
09:58 on your local machine and then you can also check
10:01 the issues that are already there on the repo or
10:04 if you find any issues like typos, especially in the
10:07 cases of the tutorial and our organizer manual, coach manual.
10:11 You are welcome to suggest pull requests for them.
10:14 Yeah.
10:15 So maybe after that we will collect the link from
10:18 you and then we'll add it in the episode.
10:20 Yeah, I can compile all the links for on how
10:24 to contribute to our resources and give them to you.
10:27 Yay. Thank you.
10:29 Thank you.
10:30 So, yeah, you're doing so much for Django Girls.
10:34 I know Django Girls is, like you said, it may be
10:37 the first step for a lot of people to discover Python.
10:39 So is it how you discover Python and Django?
10:42 When and how do you discover them?
10:45 Oh, so up until 2015 I had no idea there's Python.
10:53 Okay.
10:53 So I met a friend of mine who was learning,
10:57 I think he was doing Android through digital, a digital
11:01 skills program offered by Muzinda Hub in Harare.
11:05 And then he encouraged.
11:06 We worked together at one of my previous
11:09 employers and he encouraged me to apply.
11:11 So I applied and I chose Python because
11:15 I thought I was interested in data science.
11:18 I still am, but I think I
11:20 like the software development side more.
11:23 So I chose Python because it's general purpose,
11:27 you can use it for many other uses.
11:30 And that was, I think I started around March 2015.
11:35 So we're learning through Treehouse and
11:38 back then Kenneth Love was still working
11:40 at Treehouse, so he was my teacher.
11:42 Yeah, yeah.
11:43 But it was online and remote.
11:45 After, after doing Python, I did Flask, which
11:49 I used for my first project is.
11:51 Which was a portal of some sort.
11:55 And then a friend of mine,
11:56 Humphrey, introduced me to Django.
11:59 We wanted to organize a Django Girls event
12:02 in Harare for 2016 and we wanted also
12:06 to organize a PyCon in Zimbabwe in 2016.
12:08 So for me to learn Django, I used the
12:11 Django Girls tutorial and the Django tutorial themselves together.
12:15 And then, yeah, that's how I got started with Django.
12:19 Yeah, that's really cool.
12:20 So, yeah, and I, I love hearing that.
12:24 I, I feel like 2015 isn't that long ago.
12:27 It maybe long to people, like, it feels quite
12:30 recent to me, you know, and you're just learning
12:33 and already you're contributing back to the community.
12:36 You're leading the Django Girls, you know, being in
12:40 part of, you know, being involved in the DSF,
12:42 I think that's really, it's really inspiring.
12:46 So thank you for all the work you do.
12:49 Thank you.
12:50 Actually, yeah, you're right.
12:52 I think I, I started contributing to
12:54 Python and Django when I was actually
12:58 a beginner, mainly because there wasn't much.
13:01 Python wasn't very known in Zimbabwe back then and
13:04 there were no opportunities for us in Zimbabwe.
13:07 So it was.
13:07 We thought it best for the community to get together,
13:11 organize events and somewhere it led me to the DSF
13:15 and then I ended up being on the board
13:17 for five years as Director, Vice President
13:20 for two, and President for two years.
13:23 And I remember my first event was
13:25 Django Under the Hood in 2016.
13:27 I went under the Django Girls umbrella as well.
13:29 And like I felt like I am a beginner.
13:32 I couldn't understand like most of
13:34 the things they were talking about.
13:37 I couldn't understand things that are going on at Django
13:40 codes because I joined the community as a beginner and
13:44 became a leader before I had actually honed up my
13:48 skills, you know, in Python, in Django.
13:51 But it has also helped me to grow because
13:54 you let you meet people, you learn from them.
13:58 Sometimes it doesn't make sense then, but when you go
14:00 back you can go on and reflect and learn and
14:03 understand the concept that they were talking about.
14:05 I think I got involved with the community too early.
14:12 Is there something for you, like happen in your first
14:15 Django Girl that makes you feel like this is.
14:18 Feel like home to me.
14:19 I want to, you know, work more on
14:21 this project or like this, you know, initiative.
14:24 And so my first Django Girls event, I was
14:28 a coach at Django Girls Windhoek in Namibia.
14:32 It was part of PyCon Namibia 2016.
14:34 We, Daniele is always talking about this.
14:37 We traveled like 33 hours by road
14:40 to get there because the grant couldn't
14:42 cover flights for us, Humphrey and I. So.
14:46 But it was nice.
14:47 There were high school students, there were university students
14:50 and then they were more like there were other
14:52 women who were like almost my age or younger.
14:57 Then there were mature women who
14:58 were like older than me almost.
15:00 Almost like the same age as my mother, you know.
15:04 Yeah.
15:04 Who were learning Python and Django
15:07 through a Django Girls workshop.
15:10 I've worked at a university for women before.
15:14 When I was starting, I think I like, like
15:16 I like it when we create environment for women
15:20 which is welcoming, where they can learn without being
15:24 judged, you know, without being told, you know, it's
15:26 easy, you know, why can't you get this fast,
15:30 quicker and you know, learning at their own pace?
15:32 So I think after attending Django Girls Windhoek as well
15:35 as organizing Django Girls Harare for our Django Girls Harare,
15:38 which was my second event, we had like primary school
15:41 kids who were aged nine, they were youngest participants and
15:45 then we had women in their 40s, 50s and then
15:50 we had like the middle aged women.
15:52 So yeah, I think because those were like
15:55 my first events, I saw what Django Girls
15:58 was doing to women and girls.
16:01 And when I went to, when I then went to
16:05 Django Under the Hood in 2016, November, I already like
16:09 organized two Django Girls events are in Harare and Mashingui
16:13 and also attended Django Girls Windhoek in Namibia.
16:16 Then I thought we have the problem
16:19 of women being underrepresented in tech was
16:22 something that was peculiar to Africa.
16:24 In my girls, in my class when we're doing in high
16:27 school I did math, physics and computing for A level and
16:30 we two girls in our physics class out of 20.
16:33 So we're like 10% and for my degree we started
16:36 like we about 110 and we were about 10 or
16:40 11 women by the time we graduated we were around
16:44 45 to 50 and we were six women.
16:47 So I had grown, you know, used to being 10
16:50 of yeah the population because you are in STEM.
16:53 So when I went to Django Under the Hood, I was surprised
16:56 when I walked into the room for the first time and I
16:58 was like, oh, there are so many white men here.
17:02 And I could count the women who were there at
17:05 the event, you know, so then that's when I realized,
17:08 okay, so probably this is what Ola and Ola had
17:11 in mind when they started Django Girls.
17:13 And that's when I realized what Django Girls,
17:16 you know, means to the tech community globally.
17:20 Not just for me as a Zimbabwean
17:22 in Zimbabwe, but everywhere in the world.
17:25 We kind of have the same problems where we have
17:27 fewer women in tech than compared to any other field.
17:31 So I guess that's why I ended up working for them,
17:34 because the course makes sense to me even up to now.
17:37 I can relate to it.
17:39 Yeah, I totally understand because I also study physics and
17:43 my class also only 10%, and like, half of the
17:47 women who studying physics actually don't want to be there.
17:50 So it's very tough.
17:53 And I wish when I was younger, I have the same insight.
17:56 I was like, oh, maybe we should
17:58 create a space like Django girls.
18:00 But, well, now we're here.
18:03 Yeah.
18:04 Yeah, I think it's really important.
18:07 And I mean, even now, it's still.
18:10 Representation of women is still an issue in the.
18:12 In our community, in the Python
18:14 and Django, in open source.
18:16 Not quite there yet. So.
18:17 Yeah, but we are trying.
18:20 I know, like, there are people like you who are
18:22 trying, you know, and that's like, I think we need
18:25 more people to actually realize that this is a problem.
18:29 And it's not because, you know, there's no women. Right.
18:32 It's not because women are not interested.
18:35 We are trying. Like, we try.
18:36 But maybe there is something else that is,
18:39 you know, the environment like you mentioned, like,
18:42 maybe women are being judged more and it's
18:45 just not a safe environment. So we.
18:48 So I'm really glad to hear that there are
18:50 initiatives like the Django Girls to make it.
18:53 To make it more inclusive
18:54 and, you know, more welcoming.
18:55 But you're taking on another challenge.
18:57 You are now, like, studying overseas and, like,
19:01 you know, how does it feel for you?
19:04 You're in a new place.
19:05 And maybe also, like in the class, there isn't
19:08 a lot of people who are like you.
19:09 So, yeah, I think, honestly, I. I.
19:14 Feel so old now because.
19:18 No, never say that.
19:20 2009.
19:23 So it has taken me 15 years to pursue
19:26 a master's in software engineering, which is something that
19:29 I've wanted to do for a very long time.
19:31 I'm excited, but I'm also.
19:34 I'm looking forward to it.
19:36 I am hoping that I can manage the
19:39 pressure of being back in school again after,
19:41 you know, many years of taking a break.
19:45 I've done some courses in between, but full
19:48 time education, this is the first time that
19:50 I'm doing full time education after graduating.
19:53 So I'm looking forward to it.
19:55 It's a new challenge.
19:56 I'm waiting to see what it's going to look
19:59 like next week when I start because here they.
20:02 The way the courses are structured is different
20:04 from what I am used to in Zimbabwe.
20:06 You have a set timetable in back in Zimbabwe where
20:10 you know, I have these courses here and then like
20:13 your day, you know, your how your
20:17 timetable is going to look like for the whole semester.
20:19 But now here they do like you do two courses at a time.
20:23 Okay.
20:23 Yeah, out of four.
20:25 So I have the schedule for the first two courses.
20:28 Then we, we write exams.
20:30 We do the other two courses.
20:32 Okay.
20:33 Beginning in the middle.
20:35 Yeah.
20:35 Then you as you, you kind of like you
20:39 have few hours of lectures but they say it's.
20:42 You have to do a 40 hour week when
20:44 you left like maybe at most probably you have
20:47 like six hours, maybe 12 hours of lectures.
20:50 But you're supposed to be 40 hour weeks.
20:52 So the other study is supposed
20:55 to be either in group work.
20:56 They do a lot of group work here.
20:58 I haven't met my classmates so I don't know what's my.
21:01 All my group is still going to look like.
21:03 But you also have to like pace yourself, be organized and be
21:07 able to study on your own to make those 40 hours.
21:11 So yeah, it's going to be a new challenge.
21:16 Yeah. Yeah.
21:18 That's a very like brave like you know, kind of
21:22 jump because I know like for women, like a lot
21:25 of women, luckily I don't have that problem.
21:27 But like maybe some women, oh, they kind of take a
21:30 break from their career, you know, take care of the family
21:32 and like you know, have to start something again like back
21:35 in tech or like it's, it's a huge challenge. Yeah.
21:39 Yeah. For me. Okay.
21:40 So for me it's taking a break. Okay.
21:43 To go back to school.
21:45 But I'm still single so I
21:47 don't have a family to consider.
21:48 I think that makes it easy.
21:49 It's just a matter of holding up my residency, the
21:54 apartment that I was living in Harare and coming here
21:57 and set up another apartment for two years.
22:00 And then we see how that goes after two years.
22:03 But yeah, it was, I.
22:06 Maybe it's because the application process for to study in
22:11 Sweden, it takes a bit of some time because I
22:14 started looking at the programs in October last year.
22:17 I was hoping to get a scholarship
22:20 with the Swedish Institute, which I did.
22:22 And they opened the announcement, the programs
22:26 that they were going to fund in
22:28 the 15th of the 15th of November.
22:29 So I now knew which programs that I wanted to apply to.
22:32 And then the application closed in the
22:34 15th of January, and then deadline for
22:38 payment of application fees was one February.
22:40 And then they opened the scholarship the 12th
22:42 of February and closed the 28th of February.
22:46 So I had to wait for the admission
22:48 for the 21st of March and then wait
22:50 for the scholarship announcement the 25th of April.
22:53 So I guess with.
22:54 Through all that waiting and as well as
22:58 then after knowing and then doing the application
23:01 for the residence permit and you kind of
23:04 have time to prepare yourself mentally.
23:06 Am I going to leave the country now?
23:09 Am I going to fold things? Yeah.
23:11 By the time that you have to leave in August. Yeah.
23:13 You kind of have like, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.
23:19 You know. Yeah.
23:20 You are mentally prepared to say, okay, I'm now
23:22 living this and I'm starting a new chapter.
23:25 We'll see how it goes.
23:27 Yeah.
23:27 I'm afraid of the cold.
23:33 In the winter.
23:35 So I don't know how it's going to look like.
23:39 I've been.
23:39 I have been to the west and I think
23:42 November in 2016 in Amsterdam, but it was in.
23:47 It was cold, but it wasn't that cold.
23:50 It's very cold in February, in January and February.
23:55 And then I was in Prague for Ubuntu Summit in.
23:59 In November as well.
24:00 Early November.
24:01 Yeah, both times were early November,
24:03 so it wasn't that cold.
24:05 So I have no idea.
24:08 And I remember when I was.
24:10 When I was coming for. Yeah.
24:11 To DjangoCon Europe in June, I left Zimbabwe.
24:15 It was very warm.
24:17 Then when I got to South Africa,
24:19 it was like 14 degrees Celsius.
24:21 And like when we getting off the
24:23 plane, it was windy and cold.
24:27 And I'm like, okay, this is.
24:29 This is at a time that I'm thinking
24:30 of leaving Zimbabwe, which is like 300 days
24:33 of sun and warm, to relocate to Sweden.
24:37 And I'm struggling with 14 degrees
24:39 Celsius, something they call summer in.
24:43 In the West.
24:44 Yeah, yeah.
24:47 Because your summer.
24:48 Because the summer here is as good
24:50 as my winter in Zimbabwe, you know?
24:52 So I was like, if I really.
24:54 Another thing that I have, like, still not getting
24:58 used to maybe, probably because I live in London,
25:00 is that the snow and the slipperiness of the
25:03 floor, because we don't snow a lot in London.
25:06 Only once every few years but like every
25:09 time I remember I've been to Sweden twice.
25:11 Both of them are in the winter.
25:13 It's very cold and slippery like you have to buy
25:18 those special things to put on your boots so you
25:21 don't sleep and yeah, yeah, I haven't, I.
25:25 Haven't taken care of the boots thing
25:27 but I hope to get to it.
25:28 Yeah but people there will teach you.
25:31 And yeah, yeah, even started
25:34 regretting living Zimbabwe age.
25:36 But yeah, in terms of the weather, I
25:38 just been home so far not as cold.
25:40 So yeah, we'll see how the window goes.
25:43 Right.
25:44 What do you think is the role
25:46 of younger girls for the community?
25:52 Okay, so I think Django Girls is in
25:55 an important role in the community to close
26:00 the gender gap for within the tech industry.
26:05 We have so many men compared to women and what
26:08 we are doing is we are providing free resources for
26:11 women to organize workshops that introduce women to programming.
26:15 With Python and Django we have done two surveys software
26:19 one in 2017, 2018 and another one recently which we
26:25 haven't published the results for and but what we have
26:29 found is some of our attendees quite a good percentage
26:33 I can remember I think about was it 21% last
26:36 time it actually transitioned from their careers to working to
26:41 take in different roles.
26:43 Obviously after attending our workshop is still it won't be
26:47 enough for someone but mostly go on to learn.
26:50 You know about 7, 75% they continue learning
26:52 with learning Python, learning programming until they actually
26:56 transition to working to take in different roles.
26:59 So while it takes time for us to have
27:01 results, I think we as a community doing an
27:05 important role in introducing women to programming and having
27:09 more people women involved in tech.
27:12 So how I'm curious, how can the community
27:16 support, you know, the Django Girls Foundation?
27:20 I know your fundraising like is there active fundraising
27:24 that people can support right now or what other
27:28 ways can we support the Django Girls community?
27:32 Okay, so we are always
27:33 fundraising all throughout the year.
27:37 We welcome donations anytime.
27:39 People can reach out to me via LinkedIn or using
27:42 the Django Girls website and I can give them details
27:47 on how they can donate to Django Girls.
27:50 Also we always look for companies that can have their
27:55 employees donate their time to work on our resources.
27:57 That's something that we welcome as
27:59 well and we're always looking for.
28:02 We are hoping to have new content
28:04 and we have some projects underway.
28:05 New projects underway.
28:07 And that would be helpful if we
28:08 had partners to work with us.
28:11 We went to do a crowdfunding campaign but I
28:14 was a bit away because of the relocation and
28:17 our OSM Ambassadors was also on holiday.
28:19 We're not sure if, I'm not sure if we'll
28:21 continue with that this year or it might be
28:23 for next year but we always welcome donations anytime.
28:27 Yeah, we do have a Patreon page
28:29 that they can contribute to also.
28:31 They can sign up for monthly
28:33 donations through our Patreon page.
28:35 I can share the link as well?
28:36 Yes, please. Yeah.
28:38 If they want to be ongoing
28:40 supporters, contribute monthly with that.
28:42 We are also on GitHub sponsors, companies and individuals alike
28:46 can also sign up to support us through the.
28:48 And then we have PayPal and Stripe.
28:50 People want to donate through that.
28:52 We have set up various channels for people to donate.
28:54 I think Django Girl is a very good like initiative.
28:59 I think companies like, you know, they are maybe sponsoring
29:02 events and stuff but I think, you know, if you
29:04 want to target, you know, certain group of people in
29:08 a community, I think maybe consider Django Girls. Yeah.
29:12 Yes.
29:13 I hope we have more companies come to support us.
29:16 We've had some companies that supported us for
29:18 quite a number of years but I think
29:20 Covid sort of like upset everything and it
29:23 also did affect our sponsorship as well.
29:25 So we are hoping to get new sponsors
29:27 to continue to support our week as well.
29:30 Yeah.
29:30 So yeah, you have talked about a lot of things.
29:34 So any plans except you know, you're
29:36 setting up the crowd funding and stuff
29:38 but like anything for Django Girls.
29:40 Anything for yourself. Yeah.
29:43 Okay.
29:44 For myself I want to complete my Masters so I
29:50 hope to do that as do do that very well.
29:55 We have a three week roll call to see how you're doing.
29:58 So I hope by then I'll be doing
30:01 fine so that I, I keep my scholarship.
30:04 I think by now I know I want to work in
30:08 open source after I graduate and there's a role that I'm
30:13 aiming for that I keep checking whether they've hired, hired, hired.
30:18 So that's something that I'm targeting to get after
30:21 I complete my studies in the next two years.
30:24 And then for Django Girls we, we have a plan to
30:28 start a boot camp but it isn't quite rolled out yet.
30:32 It will start in the UK so I'm hoping that we
30:36 will be able to introduce that maybe 25, 2025 or 2026.
30:42 Instead of just giving women a one day workshop, we provide
30:46 resources for them to learn for a number of weeks and
30:50 also we are aiming for it to be flexible to cater
30:53 for women who have child care issues, you know. Yeah.
30:58 So that they can be able to participate in
31:00 their own pace and hopefully that will lead also
31:02 to mentorship and for them to get new roles.
31:06 So that's the one thing that
31:08 we have been hinting about.
31:10 Plans are just not set yet.
31:13 But yeah, that's something that we hope
31:15 to work towards in the coming years.
31:18 Yeah, that sounds interesting.
31:20 Yeah, I think that will be useful to have, like
31:24 you said, more than just, you know, one day workshop
31:26 and have a series of, you know, ongoing training.
31:30 I think that's very exciting.
31:31 I'm looking forward to learn more
31:32 about and hopefully we can help. We can help.
31:35 Especially I'm in the uk, I'm having help.
31:37 Yeah, that's really good and it's very good to
31:42 hear and thank you for sharing so many stories
31:45 with us and yeah, I think it's a very
31:49 enjoyable chat with you and know about.
31:52 Know more about Django Girls is, you
31:54 know, I always heard about the name.
31:55 I try to help out once in a while.
31:58 Not a lot, but then like now
31:59 I understand like more like, you know
32:01 about Django Girls and also interesting story.
32:04 Moving so far, far away to somewhere so cold
32:07 and you have to build your own furniture.
32:11 Yeah.
32:12 So thank you so much and thank you, Anna.
32:15 Thank you, thank you for having me.

We interviewed Anna Makarudze from Zimbabwe to hear about her inspiring journey.

Since discovering Python and Django in 2015, Anna has been actively involved in the Django community. She helped organize PyCon Zimbabwe, and she has coached at Django Girls in Harare and Windhoek.

She served on the Board of Directors at Django Software Foundation for five years, and she is currently a Django Girls Foundation Trustee & Fundraising Coordinator.

During her journey in tech, Anna became aware of the lack of representation of women in tech industry, something that became more evident as she attended Django Under the Hood in 2016 where most of the attendees were white men, and only a few are women. That’s when she realized the importance of communities like Django Girls in supporting more women in the Django Community.

In this chat, Anna shared ways on how you can contribute and help support Django Girls+ Foundation.

She is currently studying her master’s degree in Blekinge Institute of Technology in Karlskrona, Sweden.

Be sure to listen to the episode to learn all about Anna’s inspiring story!

Topic discussed

  • Introductions
  • Her role in Django Girls+ Foundation
  • Moving from Zimbabwe to Sweden, and adjusting to her new life
  • Django Girls tutorials and website
  • How to contribute to Django Girls website
  • Discovering Python, Flask, and Django in 2015
  • Attending Django Under the Hood in 2016
  • Representation of women in tech
  • The role of Django Girls+ in tech
  • How to help and support Django Girls+
  • What to expect from Django Girls+ in 2025 onwards

Get to know Anna Makarudze

Anna Makarudze

Anna Makarudze

Anna Makarudze is a Software Engineer based in Harare. She has been working as the Django Girls Foundation Fundraising Coordinator since June 2017. She has also taken up the role of lead maintainer of the Django Girls website and resources since August 2020, when she became one of the members of the Board of Trustees for Django Girls Foundation. Anna is a former Django Software Foundation board member, having served on the DSF board for 5 years from 2018 to 2022 in the roles of Director, Vice President and President. She has organised PyCon Zimbabwe 2016/2017, DjangoCon Europe 2018, DjangoCon Africa 2023 and several Django Girls events in Harare, Masvingo, Heidelberg and Zanzibar. She has also spoken at many Python conferences and DjangoCons around the world.

Stay in touch and support the Python Community

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