Noeline
“I come from a small and remote village in the region of Ambatondrazaka where people grow rice, mangos, sweet potatoes and avocados. Only a few hundred people live there. I had a happy carefree childhood. I used to live with grandmother who gave me a lot of freedom. I liked playing in the fields.
My parents are farmers. When I was at primary school, my parents moved to Soalazaina where they have land. My father also buys and sells beans and my mother works in a Chinese mushroom plantation.
When I was at primary school my teacher noticed my potential. He went to my parents and offered to give me extra lessons at home, he did that voluntarily. After primary school, my parents had trouble paying for my education. Then a teacher offered to educate me for free so I was able to continue going to school. My best subjects were maths and science. After middle school I couldn’t continue to high school straight away. My parents needed time to save money for it. But then I got selected by Onja! I am very happy to be here. I think I will really enjoy being a coder and I am looking forward to learning more.”