Albanian Teens Win Technovation

レアジョブ英会話 Daily News Article Podcast

A team of girls from Albania won first prize at the Technovation World Pitch competition in California, United States. Three 16-year-old girls skilled in coding and app creation make up the winning team known as D3c0ders [dee-KOH-derz]. They received first place in the Senior Division for developing an app called GjejZâ [jey-zah], which translates to “find your voice” in Albanian. GjejZâ is designed to help women who suffered and survived personal relationship problems. The app connects users to emergency hotlines and psychological, medical, and legal consultations. The competition is run by Technovation, a global nonprofit that creates programs that empower young girls through technology. Every year, Technovation challenges girls aged 10 to 18 to create an app that will help address real-world issues in their community. This year, the competition asked participants to make an app that deals with social problems, so the girls decided to zero in on women experiencing violence in their relationships. Teams joining the competition are encouraged to work together with their local communities and government officials and to solve problems using existing resources. To create the app, the girls sought help and partnered with different professionals, including experts in women’s issues, psychologists, and local government officials. The Technovation founder shared how the judges were awed by the girls’ bravery in addressing the difficult issue and by how well-thought-out the project was. The executive believes that the competition is an effective platform that enables young girls to positively affect their communities. Likewise, Albanians were very proud of the team’s victory. News about the girls’ achievement spread throughout the country, and the team received compliments from government officials.