Blog by Christina Aikins
My name is Christina Aikins. I am the CEO of a start-up (Enaq innovation) which is into plastic recycling. I live in Kumasi in the Ashanti region of Ghana.
The COVID 19 pandemic has affected the way we work. Where we had the freedom of movement, now we have to observe lockdowns and stay in our homes to stay safe. While this has brought loneliness and other psychological issues, I feel some tech skills I have gained have helped me fight some of these challenges. With the help of some digital tools, I can work, communicate with people, and see what is going on around the world. Now I can also learn new and fun things that otherwise I may not have been able to learn.
Working at home can be both challenging and beneficial. Beneficial in the sense that now you do not have to walk or travel long distances or stay in traffic just to get to your place of work to work. You can stay in the comfort of your homes and also you can now leverage the digital tools to reach your work as people are now really dependent on these tools. Working from home can also be challenging because some work requires you to be in the field, work and interact with people physically which now is not possible.
In times of crisis like we are now facing, technology can be used to help solve these crises in different ways. Take for example now that we have to observe social distancing which is essential to prevent the spread of coronavirus, businesses and organizations across the country have been going remote. Modern broadband connections allow workers to work at home instead of their offices greatly reducing the risk of transmission. 3D printing has also made it possible to print face masks to help prevent the disease.
I think this is the time to break from the daily struggles, spend some time with our families and loved ones, re-plan our lives and find technological solutions to this crisis as well as how we can further use technology to solve problems in our daily lives with or without crises.
Kumasi Hive where Women In Tech 2018 cohort gain new skills from three Miss.Africa Digital Sponsored courses. This is a multi-space innovation place for rapid prototyping of ideas, budding local innovations, impact start-up support and promoting youth entrepreneurship as a way of addressing critical social economic and developmental challenges. Kumasi Hive, Ghana was the grand price winner in the 2018 Miss.Africa Seed Fund.
About Miss.Africa Voices Series
Miss.Africa Voices is a regular online journal that presents women in tech experiences, opinions and observations. These stories come from DotConnectAfrica Internship Alumni and other Women who are leading the tech-preneurship fronts in their own ecosystems. The Miss.Africa Voices also serves to encourage more girls & women to get involved in STEM careers through our Miss.Africa Digital Program.