25 ms·

Becoming a better Programmer: From Nairobi to NYC

150 points by francesca 14y ago

danso 14y ago
How exciting...Venturing not just into the hacker field, but to New York City (I'm assuming for the first time). I wonder what it'd be like to try to learn programming while traveling...my first thought was, this city is way too damn distracting and tempting to be studious...on the other hand, the ease of transportation and the diversity of activity has its upside for foreign students
- jdotjdot 14y ago
  I spent a lot of time learning programming while traveling (though not under the same circumstances as this girl)--I did contract programming work while traveling indefinitely, often learning as I go. You manage to find ways to balance, especially since (in my case) if I didn't work, I wouldn't have any money to eat or sleep. The nice thing about it is that if you end up somewhere boring for a time, it's almost a blessing, since you can focus more on programming and save the exploration time for a better location.
- kenshiro_o 14y ago
  When I started working in the IT department of a famous American investment bank, my along with fellow graduates were sent to New-York for a very intensive 6 weeks training programme. Despite the workload and pressure (we had to succeed score high marks in all our tests to stay on), I managed to find some time to visit this great city. I am sure Martha will be able to focus on her learning, while also finding the opportunity to discover a bit more about New-York and the US. By the way I just saw that she has reached her fundraising goal. Congrats again to her!
dysoco 14y ago
Interesting, I didn't know that Hacker School was completly free, but given that it has small room for new students... it can be complicated to get into. Anyways I live 8600km away from New York, would be difficult :P
- blaabjerg 14y ago
  Difficult, maybe, but seeing as you're commenting on an article about someone who lives almost 12000 km away and is going, it's clearly not impossible :) Unless you already live in NYC, your current location shouldn't be very relevant.
michaell2 14y ago
I can name quite a few low score threads in the "New" section that are more interesting and relevant to the hackers amongst us than this. IMHO there is something rotten about the outcomes of the HN frontpage promotion mechanism nowadays.
- aheilbut 14y ago
  There's something inspiring about seeing someone hustle to create an opportunity to improve themselves, and about how the internet is empowering individuals to do that on a global scale.
- codygman 14y ago
  Are you kidding me? This is what being a hacker is all about... Getting access to a computer for the first time, immediately trying to figure everything out. Add on the fact that she's in a country that strongly encourages going into other fields and the fact that there probably isn't much support to go into this field and you've got a very inspiring story. Then getting the "obsession" to figure everything out, trying out linux (or other open source OS's), and going from there to become proficient with programming. I think this is very relevant to me as well as other hackers.
- ryanmolden 14y ago
  The last sentence hints at some kind of conspiracy or upvoting-ring, but of all stories this one seems least likely to be due to something like that. It may just be the case that your interests and what you find relevant are not actually generalizable to the HN community at large. I actually like stories like this. Stories of people being driven to better themselves and their lives and using the internet to open doors that never would have been possible even 10 years ago. If HN just became story after story like this then, yes, it would be tiresome, but I don't think we are in any near-term danger of that happening. Having a broad range of stories, even some that are not strictly about tech in some way that would personally benefit you, is good for a community, unless we want to develop some sort of echo-chamber where all we ever read/think/talk about is <insert pet technology topic here>. I have met people who are like that, I choose not to associate with them for a reason.
psycr 14y ago
Sounds like an exciting an opportunity. I'd love the chance to work with someone like this some day, so chipping in is a no brainer. It also emphasizes the most positive approach to engineer education. Good luck!
GuiA 14y ago
It's a cool campaign! What's funny though, is that I want to contribute, but I'd rather contribute in a more tangible way: i.e. buying her the laptop or plane ticket rather than just putting money in the communal pot. For some reason, it'd make my contribution feel more meaningful, more tangible. Like if she ends up building a kickass startup 10 years from now, I'd get to say "Oh yeah, I gave her her first laptop!" rather than "Oh yeah, I gave her 50$ via indiegogo". Maybe there's room for such a model: a kickstarter style website where individuals who need specific hardware/goods can get them purchased by third parties. Just musing around here.
- itstriz 14y ago
  I think the model you are talking about, or at least a similar one, is used by Donors Choose for teachers who need supplies for their students.
- mmwanga 14y ago
  There's a starup based out of Atlanta that allows you to to exactly that http://www.gift-give.com/ http://www.gift-give.com/
- milkshakes 14y ago
  i donated $10 on indiegogo and left a comment with my donation telling her to reach out if she wanted me to introduce her to my corner of the nyc tech scene. she responded pretty quickly. her github account[1] has her contact information listed, i'd imagine if you reached out to her she would be receptive to more tangible contributions [1]: https://github.com/NjeriChelimo https://github.com/NjeriChelimo
- MarthaChumo 14y ago
  Hey GuiA! I like you're thoughts! Especially on the laptop! The Acer Aspire One netbook I bout with my savings when I started learning is making me go bananas ;). I'd totally appreciate that contribution! Feel free to contact me -> @NjeriChelimo on twitter. :) About that kickass startup, it coming in much less than 10 years! #WatchThisGeekSpace ;) Thanks for your support!
joonix 14y ago
I hope she can get her tourist visa. It's by no means guaranteed, coming from Kenya. I also hope there are mechanisms in place to return the funds to the donors if she can't make it due to rejected visa.
- desireco42 14y ago
  I really don't think I would want my money back. Good luck to her.
just2n 14y ago
This is cool, but to be a little OT: every time I see "Hacker School" I get a little more confused. Being a hacker isn't something you can teach someone. It's a mindset. You either have it or you don't. I think most people can understand this, so then "Hacker School" would imply that it's a school for hackers. This is somewhat confirmed by their about page: > You should genuinely enjoy programming. That's most important. We spend our time talking about technical problems and writing code, not working on startups and products. If you care more about startups than coding, you won't enjoy Hacker School. We look for curiosity, passion, raw intelligence and a desire to build things. The best way to show us this is to have a track record of writing code and learning new things. If you're a smart, curious person who loves coding, it will come out naturally. Don't try to trick us. It probably won't work and it won't get you what you want anyway. Sounds like a description of a hacker to me. But then I get confused about why "Hacker School" was chosen. You go to "Law School" to learn about law, to become a lawyer, not because you already are one and just want to improve. You go to (a good) "Game School" to learn to build video games, not because you already build video games. So I guess in summary: "Hacker School" seems inappropriately named. Perhaps "Hacker Bootcamp" would be more fitting, given the goals of the school, or even "School for Hackers"? I guess both sound less likely to drum up sensationalist media headlines, though.
- adamors 14y ago
  > You go to (a good) "Game School" to learn to build video games, not because you already build video games. The law school thing may be valid, but I doubt that anyone goes to a "Game School" (whatever that may be) without having written a game before. Similarly, a lot of people who attend a CS university already know how to program (to a degree anyway).
  - Ogre 14y ago
    > "Game School" (whatever that may be) https://www.digipen.edu/ https://www.digipen.edu/ http://www.fullsail.edu/game-school http://www.fullsail.edu/game-school (right in the URL on this one)
- heelhook 14y ago
rastasheep 14y ago
After all there is justice in this world, i'am really happy about Martha. Everyone should have a chance to learn, if they really want to do that.
pyvek 14y ago
I feel so genuinely happy for her seeing that the community is helping her out. I also wanted to apply for Hacker School but it was way expensive so I dropped the idea altogether. But now I think I am going to put in effort into saving/earning the money to get there and apply for the next batch.
ashraful 14y ago
A crowd-sourced scholarship fund would be a great addition to programs like Hacker School. If Hacker School themselves handle giving out funds to participants who have a financial need, a lot more people would benefit, even those who don't have a social media presence or can't get to the HN front page.
kahawe 14y ago
I am sorry, I HAVE to ask out of personal curiosity and to play devil's advocate... What tells me "Martha" even exists and that she was admitted to hackerschool and will actually go to NYC with the money she just begged for? Even the twitter and github accounts could be part of an elaborate scam. Plus she asked for around $4000, by now has raised quite a bit more. Will that surplus be donated to further her "cause" (if there even is one) and support other girls to join her? Or is that just going to be nice pocket change? To further satisfy my own curiosity, why is donating to her more "ok" and others asking for money are just "beggars"? Or would you donate to some random e.g. white guy who would ask for a couple of thousands for a nice trip like that? Would you consider donating to a person who is in a stable living condition but simply could not afford a trip to NYC or Berkeley? Or do you have to be third world and implied broke to apply for that? Which I don't think she is, by the way. Also, why is "women in IT" a cause that even needs supporting? How would the world be better off with more women in IT - when actually nothing is really keeping most girls from getting into IT, unless there are local equal-rights shortcomings to keep girls out of ALL education; in my own experience, for whatever reason, most of the women I have met do not want to and actually say they hate all that technical stuff. The ones that did want to start programming, they worked hard at it and picked the right university; unfortunately many of those who did simply failed the programming exams or other technical courses. The remaining rest who wanted to be in IT and made the cut, they are doing just fine... it's just a small percentage and I do not think this is the case because anyone is actively keeping girls "out" - and I doubt things are going to somehow be "better" if only there were more girls in IT. And aren't there local institutions to help people like her to further her education? I am quite sure there have got to be, even in Africa. Even for nice trips like that. So, at the end of the day all I see so far is, you are supporting a romantic story and at first glance, that is tugging too many heart strings so it naturally sets off my "scam" alert. Please do prove me wrong! I am honestly curious. Finally, most importantly, even if all she said is true: There are people simply dying not too far away, I think 5000 or the surplus 1000 could buy a good amount of actually very cheap but vital medicine to keep locals from dying under horrible conditions, to give them back their eye sight and keep their babies from starving. So all the doubts aside, let's cut to the chase: WHY should I or anyone finance a nice NYC trip for Martha while that is going on and she can very well pick up ALL the necessary skills right where she is, over the internet, for free? Just like pretty much all "hackers" did. Why does she ask for money instead of asking the community to support her with knowledge and skills?

150 points by francesca 14y ago

danso 14y ago

How exciting...Venturing not just into the hacker field, but to New York City (I'm assuming for the first time). I wonder what it'd be like to try to learn programming while traveling...my first thought was, this city is way too damn distracting and tempting to be studious...on the other hand, the ease of transportation and the diversity of activity has its upside for foreign students

jdotjdot 14y ago
I spent a lot of time learning programming while traveling (though not under the same circumstances as this girl)--I did contract programming work while traveling indefinitely, often learning as I go. You manage to find ways to balance, especially since (in my case) if I didn't work, I wouldn't have any money to eat or sleep. The nice thing about it is that if you end up somewhere boring for a time, it's almost a blessing, since you can focus more on programming and save the exploration time for a better location.
kenshiro_o 14y ago
When I started working in the IT department of a famous American investment bank, my along with fellow graduates were sent to New-York for a very intensive 6 weeks training programme. Despite the workload and pressure (we had to succeed score high marks in all our tests to stay on), I managed to find some time to visit this great city. I am sure Martha will be able to focus on her learning, while also finding the opportunity to discover a bit more about New-York and the US. By the way I just saw that she has reached her fundraising goal. Congrats again to her!

dysoco 14y ago

Interesting, I didn't know that Hacker School was completly free, but given that it has small room for new students... it can be complicated to get into. Anyways I live 8600km away from New York, would be difficult :P

blaabjerg 14y ago
Difficult, maybe, but seeing as you're commenting on an article about someone who lives almost 12000 km away and is going, it's clearly not impossible :) Unless you already live in NYC, your current location shouldn't be very relevant.

michaell2 14y ago

I can name quite a few low score threads in the "New" section that are more interesting and relevant to the hackers amongst us than this. IMHO there is something rotten about the outcomes of the HN frontpage promotion mechanism nowadays.

aheilbut 14y ago
There's something inspiring about seeing someone hustle to create an opportunity to improve themselves, and about how the internet is empowering individuals to do that on a global scale.
codygman 14y ago
Are you kidding me? This is what being a hacker is all about... Getting access to a computer for the first time, immediately trying to figure everything out. Add on the fact that she's in a country that strongly encourages going into other fields and the fact that there probably isn't much support to go into this field and you've got a very inspiring story. Then getting the "obsession" to figure everything out, trying out linux (or other open source OS's), and going from there to become proficient with programming. I think this is very relevant to me as well as other hackers.
ryanmolden 14y ago
The last sentence hints at some kind of conspiracy or upvoting-ring, but of all stories this one seems least likely to be due to something like that. It may just be the case that your interests and what you find relevant are not actually generalizable to the HN community at large. I actually like stories like this. Stories of people being driven to better themselves and their lives and using the internet to open doors that never would have been possible even 10 years ago. If HN just became story after story like this then, yes, it would be tiresome, but I don't think we are in any near-term danger of that happening. Having a broad range of stories, even some that are not strictly about tech in some way that would personally benefit you, is good for a community, unless we want to develop some sort of echo-chamber where all we ever read/think/talk about is <insert pet technology topic here>. I have met people who are like that, I choose not to associate with them for a reason.

psycr 14y ago

Sounds like an exciting an opportunity. I'd love the chance to work with someone like this some day, so chipping in is a no brainer. It also emphasizes the most positive approach to engineer education. Good luck!

GuiA 14y ago

It's a cool campaign! What's funny though, is that I want to contribute, but I'd rather contribute in a more tangible way: i.e. buying her the laptop or plane ticket rather than just putting money in the communal pot. For some reason, it'd make my contribution feel more meaningful, more tangible. Like if she ends up building a kickass startup 10 years from now, I'd get to say "Oh yeah, I gave her her first laptop!" rather than "Oh yeah, I gave her 50$ via indiegogo". Maybe there's room for such a model: a kickstarter style website where individuals who need specific hardware/goods can get them purchased by third parties. Just musing around here.

itstriz 14y ago
I think the model you are talking about, or at least a similar one, is used by Donors Choose for teachers who need supplies for their students.
mmwanga 14y ago
There's a starup based out of Atlanta that allows you to to exactly that http://www.gift-give.com/ http://www.gift-give.com/
milkshakes 14y ago
i donated $10 on indiegogo and left a comment with my donation telling her to reach out if she wanted me to introduce her to my corner of the nyc tech scene. she responded pretty quickly. her github account[1] has her contact information listed, i'd imagine if you reached out to her she would be receptive to more tangible contributions [1]: https://github.com/NjeriChelimo https://github.com/NjeriChelimo
MarthaChumo 14y ago
Hey GuiA! I like you're thoughts! Especially on the laptop! The Acer Aspire One netbook I bout with my savings when I started learning is making me go bananas ;). I'd totally appreciate that contribution! Feel free to contact me -> @NjeriChelimo on twitter. :) About that kickass startup, it coming in much less than 10 years! #WatchThisGeekSpace ;) Thanks for your support!

joonix 14y ago

I hope she can get her tourist visa. It's by no means guaranteed, coming from Kenya. I also hope there are mechanisms in place to return the funds to the donors if she can't make it due to rejected visa.

desireco42 14y ago
I really don't think I would want my money back. Good luck to her.

just2n 14y ago

This is cool, but to be a little OT: every time I see "Hacker School" I get a little more confused. Being a hacker isn't something you can teach someone. It's a mindset. You either have it or you don't. I think most people can understand this, so then "Hacker School" would imply that it's a school for hackers. This is somewhat confirmed by their about page: > You should genuinely enjoy programming. That's most important. We spend our time talking about technical problems and writing code, not working on startups and products. If you care more about startups than coding, you won't enjoy Hacker School. We look for curiosity, passion, raw intelligence and a desire to build things. The best way to show us this is to have a track record of writing code and learning new things. If you're a smart, curious person who loves coding, it will come out naturally. Don't try to trick us. It probably won't work and it won't get you what you want anyway. Sounds like a description of a hacker to me. But then I get confused about why "Hacker School" was chosen. You go to "Law School" to learn about law, to become a lawyer, not because you already are one and just want to improve. You go to (a good) "Game School" to learn to build video games, not because you already build video games. So I guess in summary: "Hacker School" seems inappropriately named. Perhaps "Hacker Bootcamp" would be more fitting, given the goals of the school, or even "School for Hackers"? I guess both sound less likely to drum up sensationalist media headlines, though.

adamors 14y ago
> You go to (a good) "Game School" to learn to build video games, not because you already build video games. The law school thing may be valid, but I doubt that anyone goes to a "Game School" (whatever that may be) without having written a game before. Similarly, a lot of people who attend a CS university already know how to program (to a degree anyway).
- Ogre 14y ago
  > "Game School" (whatever that may be) https://www.digipen.edu/ https://www.digipen.edu/ http://www.fullsail.edu/game-school http://www.fullsail.edu/game-school (right in the URL on this one)
heelhook 14y ago

rastasheep 14y ago

After all there is justice in this world, i'am really happy about Martha. Everyone should have a chance to learn, if they really want to do that.

pyvek 14y ago

I feel so genuinely happy for her seeing that the community is helping her out. I also wanted to apply for Hacker School but it was way expensive so I dropped the idea altogether. But now I think I am going to put in effort into saving/earning the money to get there and apply for the next batch.

ashraful 14y ago

A crowd-sourced scholarship fund would be a great addition to programs like Hacker School. If Hacker School themselves handle giving out funds to participants who have a financial need, a lot more people would benefit, even those who don't have a social media presence or can't get to the HN front page.

kahawe 14y ago

I am sorry, I HAVE to ask out of personal curiosity and to play devil's advocate... What tells me "Martha" even exists and that she was admitted to hackerschool and will actually go to NYC with the money she just begged for? Even the twitter and github accounts could be part of an elaborate scam. Plus she asked for around $4000, by now has raised quite a bit more. Will that surplus be donated to further her "cause" (if there even is one) and support other girls to join her? Or is that just going to be nice pocket change? To further satisfy my own curiosity, why is donating to her more "ok" and others asking for money are just "beggars"? Or would you donate to some random e.g. white guy who would ask for a couple of thousands for a nice trip like that? Would you consider donating to a person who is in a stable living condition but simply could not afford a trip to NYC or Berkeley? Or do you have to be third world and implied broke to apply for that? Which I don't think she is, by the way. Also, why is "women in IT" a cause that even needs supporting? How would the world be better off with more women in IT - when actually nothing is really keeping most girls from getting into IT, unless there are local equal-rights shortcomings to keep girls out of ALL education; in my own experience, for whatever reason, most of the women I have met do not want to and actually say they hate all that technical stuff. The ones that did want to start programming, they worked hard at it and picked the right university; unfortunately many of those who did simply failed the programming exams or other technical courses. The remaining rest who wanted to be in IT and made the cut, they are doing just fine... it's just a small percentage and I do not think this is the case because anyone is actively keeping girls "out" - and I doubt things are going to somehow be "better" if only there were more girls in IT. And aren't there local institutions to help people like her to further her education? I am quite sure there have got to be, even in Africa. Even for nice trips like that. So, at the end of the day all I see so far is, you are supporting a romantic story and at first glance, that is tugging too many heart strings so it naturally sets off my "scam" alert. Please do prove me wrong! I am honestly curious. Finally, most importantly, even if all she said is true: There are people simply dying not too far away, I think 5000 or the surplus 1000 could buy a good amount of actually very cheap but vital medicine to keep locals from dying under horrible conditions, to give them back their eye sight and keep their babies from starving. So all the doubts aside, let's cut to the chase: WHY should I or anyone finance a nice NYC trip for Martha while that is going on and she can very well pick up ALL the necessary skills right where she is, over the internet, for free? Just like pretty much all "hackers" did. Why does she ask for money instead of asking the community to support her with knowledge and skills?