On October 11th, the world celebrates the International Day of the Girl. To celebrate it, we want to share a story of a 17-year old making history.

Have you ever been told you can’t achieve something because you are a girl or because of where you are from?

Well you don’t need to pay any attention to those voices - you can be whatever you want to be. Just like Sharon Okpoe, a 17- year old who became a coder and built a business.

Sharon, from Makoko a fishing community in Lagos is the 11th born of a fisherman and trader, she became an internet sensation after she created a website.

But her success didn’t happen overnight. It took discipline and hardwork.

She wanted more for herself. Although her parents have never seen the four walls of a classroom, her dream is to study software engineering at Harvard university.

And so, when Girls Coding, an initiative of Abisoye Ajayi-Akinfolarin’s Pearl Africa Foundation (www.pearlsafrica.org) decided to teach girls in her community how to code, Sharon jumped on the opportunity. The program was her ticket to a better life and a way to make her dreams come true.

Through the program, Sharon learnt how to code and build both websites and mobile apps.

It was during the training she created a website to help her family and other members of the Makoko community earn a better income.

Sharon recognized that fishermen were been underpaid and at a disadvantage with the middle-men who sell their fish.

And so, with the help of other girls she built a website named Makoko Fresh. The website was built to help connect the fishermen’s business to willing customers.

Today Sharon is a young CEO. She gets interviewed by big media houses like BBC Africa and CNN.

It took her believing in herself, and pursuing her dreams to make this happen.

You also can be like Sharon. How you may ask? Well;

• Believe in yourself
• Dream big and work towards it
• Don’t listen to the haters who say you can’t do it.
• Take part in activities in in your community or school that can help you learn new skills

Read more about Sharon here.

Want to read more inspiring stories like this one? Then head to our Springster Facebook page and connect with a community of girls just like you! - https://www.facebook.com/heyspringster