From Class to Coding: Angaza Alumnus Andrew Otieno Odongo

By: Andrew Otieno Odongo, Community Health Outreach Program 

My name is Andrew Otieno Odongo, and I am a CFK Angaza Scholarship recipient. I learned about CFK after sitting for my final primary exams when my Head Teacher told us to seek out scholarship opportunities. I had scored good marks for admission to high school, but my parents were unable to pay my fees. Still hoping to attend high school, my friends and I walked from banks to organizations that, at that time, were offering scholarship opportunities to bright but needy students. I applied for the Angaza Scholarship through CFK, was shortlisted for an interview, and was eventually selected as one of CFK’s Angaza scholars.  

After completing high school, I enrolled in CFK’s Entrepreneurship and Economic Development (EED) program, which involves information technology training, training on business development, networking and mentorship opportunities, work readiness initiatives, financial literacy training, and creating a network for talent and vocational skills development through partnerships with local businesses and employers.

Through the EED program I learned soft skills in financial management, life skills, employer ability skills and business development skills. Upon finishing the soft skills preparation training, I registered for information and communications technology (ICT) classes over three months. I later passed an evaluation concerning ICT. The ICT training gave me an opportunity to connect to the Moringa School, and I secured a scholarship to further my education and study programming. 

Coding Outside of the Classroom

I was shortlisted among those who qualified for the coding course at Moringa School, and I eventually obtained a certificate of completion. Currently, I am an alumnus at Moringa School and a Software Engineer Intern at Dokutela, which was bootstrapped after winning the MIT COVID -19 Hackathon. 

Created for the hackathon, the team is composed of a mix of industry experts and subject matter experts from the US, India, the EU, and multiple African countries. Our vision is to create an Africa-wide healthcare platform that reduces patient risk and mortality and has capabilities throughout and after the COVID-19 pandemic. The first step in achieving this vision is creating a questionnaire and ePrescription–based platform.  

Dokutela accurately and reliably triages patients with chronic illnesses using a USSD model in which patients answer a questionnaire similar to the one used by a doctor. Depending on their responses, which are relayed to our server to match with machine learning data, we notify them whether their medication is sufficient for the disease or whether a change in dosage or medicine is needed. This helps patients access healthcare facilities while maintaining social distancing norms during the COVID-19 pandemic. Dokutela intends to further extend this to other emerging global m

 

Learn more about CFK’s Entrepreneurship & Economic Development program. 

Stories of Progress
From Class to Coding: Angaza Alumnus Andrew Otieno OdongoAfter completing information and communications technology courses through CFK's entrepreneurship and economic development program, Andrew Otieno Odongo studied coding at the Moringa school and now works at a health-tech startup.by Hannah Bain Making Handwashing More Accessible for AllWith the emergence of COVID-19, CFK increased its WASH activities by making soap and installing additional handwashing facilities throughout the community and at individual household levels.   by Carolina for Kibera Expanding Impact While Staying True to the MissionBoard Treasurer, Francis Kibet, discusses how CFK furthered its mission while expanding its impact during 2020 and the COVID-19 pandemic. He believes that CFK's model and programs will only continue to grow.by Hannah BainRead more stories

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