SA editor hopes to help empower youth
The South African editor of The New Girl Code, actress and writer Buhle Ngaba, has “so many” hopes for the book, with the first being that as many teenagers as possible lay their hands on it.
She is part of the team who have taken The New Girl Code by Niki Smit – sub-titled “the launch of a fashion app” – and translated it from the original Dutch.
Ngaba, 28, who studied drama at Rhodes University and was a member of Ubom! in Makhanda (Grahamstown), bubbles over with excitement at the thought that the book may influence future careers.
“At the moment I just want for it to get in the hands of as many young girls as possible, because at that age I didn’t understand how creative coding can be,” Ngaba said.
“For example, if you know code, you can build your own website, which can empower you as a business. It’s like learning a language.”
Part of her job as editor was to take the Dutch text, originally called Project Prep and rework it for a different country and culture.
“I tried very hard to make sure the characters in the book were truly reflective of people in South Africa now.
“I also was very aware that it must be the voice of a South African teenager, not just with references to someone from the US or UK,” she said.
Project Prep was launched with the support of Queen Máxima of the Netherlands, and as well as being a best-seller it also has become a movement.
The publishers now hope it will do the same in other countries to inspire and empower girls to work in science, technology, engineering and mathematics.
Ngaba – a regular on National Arts Festival stages in Makhanda – founded the NPO KaMatla and wrote The Girl Without A Sound, using her writing, acting and work at KaMatla to inspire black youth, particularly women.
The New Girl Code project is an initiative of non-profit organisation Inspiring Fifty.
The book is the joint effort between the Dutch team of Smit, tech entrepreneur Janneke Niessen and illustrator Josselin Bijl, together with SA editors Andrea Stanley and Ngaba.