In a recent LinkedIn article, Guibert Englebienne, one of the founders of Globant, spoke about the Code Your Future program and highlighted the role of technology as a tool for social transformation. After multiple editions around the world, this program, which is among Globant’s most emblematic ones, arrived in Chocó to continue offering technology education opportunities to one of the communities with the greatest barriers. Code Your Future: Chocó Edition, in collaboration with Centro de Innovación del Pacífico, aimed to generate a training cycle to benefit people impacted by the armed conflict in Colombia, involving Globers with their knowledge, experience and desire to bring about positive change in Colombian communities.
A space for learning and growth
For 8 weeks, every Tuesday and Thursday, from 4 p.m. to 6 p.m., in the heat of the Colombian Pacific and on the banks of the Atrato River, Code Your Future participants attended the Chocó Robotics School to learn front-end development with React. Januar, Libia, Yesid and Elan, young people between the ages of 18 and 30, connected virtually with the rest of their classmates from the school hall to share classes, presentations and chats with Globant tutors.
Each brought their own story, personal challenges, experiences and goals, but they all shared a common desire: to learn and strengthen their knowledge in the world of technology. “Technology can change the life we Afro descendants have, especially in the Chocó region, where there has been a lot of violence lately,” says Januar, one of the students. “I firmly believe that, with technology, we can bridge this gap and, why not, make it disappear.”
Interest in technology was not enough to belong to this bootcamp: a genuine commitment to learning was also needed. In addition to consistency and compliance with class attendance, all participants had a solid foundation that allowed them to deepen their knowledge and get the most out of the training. In fact, several of them already had experience in various engineering areas. For example, Elan was working as a programmer in a company in Bogota, Januar was finishing his university degree and had taken part in a Río Software bootcamp, Libia was in her last year of Systems Engineering, and Yesid was working in graphic design while attending a React programming seminar.
Beyond the technical component, the training encouraged participants to broaden their perspective and become actively involved in developing new skills and opportunities for growth: “Participating in this program changed my life, it opened my expectations that I can still continue to learn, I can still innovate and also continue to grow my resume,” says Januar.
Commitment and transformation in Chocó
Participants met the challenge with enthusiasm and commitment, motivated by the possibility of transforming their lives through learning. Alejandro Zuñiga and Felipe Ospina, Globant tutors, accompanied the participants throughout their lessons and guided the training process by providing technical knowledge and continuous support. Thanks to these efforts, more than 35% of those enrolled successfully completed the program.
When they finished the program, participants received a diploma symbolizing not only their dedication, but also the path to a new beginning: one in which they’re already agents of change in their community. Yesid, for example, says that the course is helping him to develop platforms for his community and to share his knowledge with people younger than him so that they can spend their free time learning how to code.
On the other hand, Elan believes that the certification means both the completion of the course and an opportunity to demonstrate their new skills to get a job. And that’s what they’ve achieved thanks to the program: each of them is deepening and putting into practice the skills they’re so passionate about.
Elan leads a development team where he distributes activities and generates the projects’ structure and architecture with React; Januar has created his own software development and technology solutions company; and Libia works as a front-end developer in a digital company.
Impacting lives with technology and inclusion
Initiatives such as Code Your Future show that, with the right support, it’s possible to transform lives. This is just one of many stories that remind us that education is a powerful tool for social reconstruction. So, as the young people of Chocó prepare for their future, this latest edition reinforces the idea that sometimes code can change the course of a life.
The Latin American expansion of Code Your Future already has more than 8,000 beneficiaries who have been trained in technologies such as back-end, quality control, data science, and more. To learn more about this and other Be Kind to Humanity programs, click here.
