The Data Exploratory: Awani Alele Sprint

The fully-funded Awani Alele Sprint (part of the beginner’s track) is a rigorous 6-week program designed for learners from non-technical backgrounds who are curious about how they can use data skills to accelerate impact in their respective communities. The sprint targets university students, recent graduates and young professionals looking to pivot or build their skills in Data Science. The Awani Alele Sprint welcomes applications all over Africa, with no programming experience required. Applications are ongoing till the 5th of February 2023. Applicants will undertake an aptitude test and then interviews with the NawiriTech team. All applicants should hear back by February 19th 2023. There will be a welcoming ceremony on 23rd February 2023. The Awani Alele Sprint will officially commence on 27th February 2023 and end on 7th April 2023.

Topics to be learnt in this sprint include: fundamental ideas in statistics, data types, measures of central tendency, data distributions, identifying trends and relationships in data, and visualizations. Learners are eased and introduced to basic core Data Science concepts in a practical format alongside project deliverables. Learners are accorded a foundational understanding through multiple case studies in the African context to better understand the problems faced by our continent and the interventions undertaken by other social impact organizations. The case studies give perspective to our learners as they build the foundational skills required to accelerate impact. Learners may be required to watch pre-recorded videos before the live discussion sessions to cement their understanding of the foundational data skills required to accelerate impact in their communities. Our sessions are live, online, discussion-based and conducted in small cohorts. 

This sprint was designed for those who want to break or pivot to Data Science but have not built relevant foundational skills to do so. There will be office hours with the NawiriTech facilitators to clear doubts, coffee chats for career conversations and provide any relevant feedback. Facilitators will also be available to provide more resources and materials in form of videos or readings to cement understanding of the core concepts. The sessions will be discussion based led by the facilitators with assignments and break-out rooms. The sprint will demand 15-20 hours a week of work outside the live sessions. This sprint promises to cater for the non-techies who’ve always wanted to use data to accelerate impact and improve lives but do not know where to start. Applications are welcome from all over Africa with no discrimination against gender, persons with disability, religion, nationality or any other form. Go to the Programs page for more details or click the ‘Apply Now’ button.