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Former Child Prostitute Inspires as Computer Programming Teacher

Ruud Elmendorp

   KAKUMA, KENYA - Marieme Jamme, once a child prostitute, has made it her
   mission to teach one million women and girls -- including refugees --
   how to program computers by 2030.

   "At 13 years old I was taken away from my country Senegal to France,"
   Jamme tells students at the Kakuma Refugee Camp in Kenya. "So, I really
   suffered as a young girl growing up in the streets of France as a young
   prostitute. At the age of 16, I was picked from the street by the
   French police ... and sent to a refugee center where I grew up and I
   ended up in the U.K. when I was 18."

   In Britain, Jamme, driven by a love for math and science, taught
   herself computer programming. She became the CEO of a business
   consultancy firm and has advised organizations such as Google, Ernst
   and Young, Microsoft, and U.N. Women, in addition to many African
   governments.

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