The 27^th February was the first Information Session in the history of GirlEng which was held at Wits University. The purpose of this session was to reach out to female high school learners who wanted to learn more about the fascinating world of engineering and to ignite an engineering flame as one of the core pillars of SAWomEng suggests.

An open-invitation was sent to girls who are or could possibly be interested in taking up a career in exciting-engineering. Pamphlets were dropped off at schools to invite girls to the session. The girls who attended were treated to a 4-hour session of expertise impartation of knowledge in a very relaxed and un-intimidating ambience.

The congregation assembled and the programme commenced by an introduction of the organisation by the GirlEng Director, Hema Vallabh. We then moved to the presentations that were prepared by the Gauteng team. This comprised of a detailed outline of the engineering and built environment disciplines. Each discipline comprised of a definition, area of specialisation, challenges, and achievements of the discipline- bearers of the past, present and projected future – and not forgetting why the respective discipline should be considered.

GirlEng Gauteng ensured that a passion for the disciplines was clearly articulated by the presenters, we achieved this by allowing discipline bearers to prepare a presentation of their discipline – here all the fields would experience justice. Modern day and historic inventions were celebrated and possible future problems were tackled. The girls were very attentive and it seemed like they had even done a little research of their own as they asked rather comprehensive questions. Answering these questions was a great team-effort from the Gauteng team, Hema and Mabohlale Mampuru (co-founder of the organisation). The girls appreciated this for it showed expertise across the floor of the organisation, from the co-founder to the mentors.

The information session certainly achieved the set-out goal of informing the girls and somewhat catalysing their thinking process to be that of an engineer. At the end of it all everybody had a more clear idea of the route they want to take and what to possibly expect in their chosen field. An informed nation is that which is set out to succeed, such initiatives are much needed and appreciated. To a job well done Gauteng Team! Now we look forward to the Kick-Off Workshop.    

                                                                                        Sherly Molapo

                                                                                     Head of Executive: Gauteng