Talking the Talk

By Edwin Nyirongo

TeN-year-old Panashe Jere， a sixth grader in Malawis capital city Lilongwe， seems no different from other boys of his age. Slight and quiet， he borders on being shy. But set him among his tools - computers， software and smartphones - and he becomes a whiz kid who can create new mobile applications.

Telekoms Network Malawi （TNM）， one of Malawis mobile network operators， recently organized a TNM Smart Challenge Information and Communication Technology （ICT） Competition to provide the studentcommunity a platform where they could showcase their innovation in mobile application.

The young Panashe heard about the competition and decided to try his luck. Because of his age， no one took him seriously but he ignored the naysayers and focused on the task at hand.

“It was not an easy decision to make because competitions， especially those that involve ICT， are normally entered by older people. But since I was determined to have a try， I joined in，” he told ChinAfrica.

Perseverance pays off

His determination paid off. Panashe won in the Smart Kid category in March with the app he had developed， called Talk To Me.

“This app converts written text into words. In other words， it speaks what a person has typed，” he explained. The voice from the text allows children to have someone they can talk to - a virtual companion.

Three university students - Malawian Daniel Mvalo and Thandie Magasa， along with Walter Moyo， a Ugandan student currently working in Malawi， developed a health service app called Martenitach to win in the Smart Student category. All three are 22.

Their app gives pregnancy and contraceptive information. It provides weekly updates， informing users the stage of pregnancy they are in. It also estimates delivery dates and answers questions women have during pregnancy.

In April， TNM flew the four winners to the worlds technology nerve center， Silicon Valley in the United States， where they spent 10 days visiting various institutions. They also had the opportunity to meet Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg at the Facebook F8 Conference in San Francisco.

Zuckerberg was full of praise for the Malawian group， especially Panashe.

“This guy started writing codes earlier than I did，” an impressed Zuckerberg wrote on his Facebook page， posting a picture of him meeting a beaming Panashe.

Magasa described the tour as an inspiration to young developers.

“My experience is educational and inspiring. This is a life changer and a lifetime achievement，” she said.“Visiting information technology hubs is something we never anticipated in our wildest imaginations.”

The team toured the headquarters of Facebook， Google and Apple as well as Stanford University and attended the Facebook conference.

Facebook used its 2016 conference as a launch pad for products developed by African coders， seeking to have them use it as a global marketing tool.

Just a boy

Despite Panashes information technology accomplishments， his father， Chimwemwe Jere， remains cautious. Jere said as much as he is impressed with his son， he thinks Panashe should first concentrate on school.

“Honestly， I was surprised with his achievement because I never thought about [something like this]. But I believe that for him to achieve whatever he wants， he needs to get an education，” Jere added.

To make sure the boys love for computers does not affect his schoolwork， the father has made a strict schedule.

The youngster is allowed only an hour on his home computer and another hour to watch television and relax.

“But after that， it is all school. I am happy that he is religiously following the routine，” Jere said.

Asked what his son wants to do in future， Jere said， “He will have to make a decision [himself] because I do not want to impose something on him. But I see a technical person who likes IT.”

Presidential salute

Malawi President Peter Mutharika， who is also a UN Population Fund Global Champion for the Youth， has congratulated the four. In a message posted on his Facebook page， Mutharika said their achievements are an inspiration to young people and urged other youngsters to be innovative.

“The First Lady and I would like to congratulate the young Malawians who recently made headlines for their innovations. The stories of Panashe， Walter， Daniel and Thandie and their achievements at the Facebook F8 Conference in Silicon Valley is [an] inspiration to other young and budding software developers and Malawi youth in general，” he said.