Even as a student I was already interested in helping girls enter science. At one time my plan was to provide scholarships to secondary school girls, but when I won the L'OREAL-UNESCO For Women in Science Award I began to aim much higher.

I was a curious child of educated parents who thought I was a scientist in the making. They sent me to a specialised Science High School and my interest grew stronger and here I am today.

A child who studied in these technical schools, can continue to study whatever he wants and if he does not go to university, he does not miss anything. "Rwanda is progressing and not all the work will be done by foreigners.(Umwana wize muri aya mashuri ya Tekeniki, ashobora gukomeza akiga icyo ashaka cyose ikindi iyo atagiye muri kaminuza ntabwo abura icyo akora.U Rwanda ruri gutera imbere ntabwo imirimo yose izakomeza gukorwa n’Abanyamahanga".)

It feels good. I was always first position in the class for maths and physics. It made me stand out. My father encouraged me, always made me feel like a superstar. I went to as high school specialised in science. I got to love the profession of scientist. I did industrial training (in Nigeria, students have a period of hands on industrial training) with a subsidiary of Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation and experienced hands on environmental monitoring.

Sciences are important as there are so many untapped opportunities for women. As the saying goes,'educating a girl is educating a whole nation', when girls learn, they know better and with this they are empowered

Science is the bedrock of development. The way we live is a biological process. Young girls should be interested in science. Man can crack it; woman can crack it! We have to work hard for what we believe in.

I was always a curious child and used to ask a lot of questions about everything – from why birds sing and fly, to why it gets dark at night. I always wanted to understand how things came into existence. I was particularly active in science experiments in the primary school, and that led me to choose science for my secondary education and later university education. I guess it was a natural response to my curious mind and quest to know!

my dear girls in science: be strong, inquisitive, curious, assertive, resilient, and focused. Go for gold!

I want to inspire the next generation of scientists, and especially girls, and let them know that STEM [science, technology, engineering and maths] is for them.

Because girls are raised to specialize in a certain set of human characteristics, would they not, then, bring to science a different sensibility? Does that sensibility have the right to be represented in science—or, for that matter, in business, politics, law, or medicine?

When someone comes to visit a school like this, it is to see what they are doing, see what they have and where we can collaborate with them because when you look at the large number of schools we have that teach careers and sciences in Rwanda, they are private.(Iyo umuntu aje gusura ishuri nk’iri ni ukugira ngo turebe ibyo bakora, turebe ubushobozi bafite n’aho twafatanya nabo kuko iyo urebye umubare munini w’amashuri dufite yigisha imyuga n’ubumenyingiro mu Rwanda ni ay’abikorera.)

The girls got sent to the domestic science room and the boys to the science lab. ... I protested — unsuccessfully.

Si la coustume estoit de mettre les petites filles a l'escole, et que communement on les fist apprendre les sciences comme on fait aux filz, qu'elles apprendroient aussi parfaitement et entenderoient les subtilités de toutes les arz et sciences comme ils font.

Demystifying technology and STEM early on in girl’s life/education – it’s not magic, and you don’t have to be a genius. We should encourage curiosity and not assume that because one doesn’t have an interest in STEM courses when they are younger automatically means they won’t change their minds as they grow and learn more.