Speak Louder! The Colonial Lesson We Must Stop Teaching Our Girls

Sep 06, 2026 Features / Columnists, News

(Kaieteur News) – Last week, an executive from a foreign technology company visited the Team Guyana Robotics 2026 team as the young people prepare for the FIRST Global Challenge in South Korea this October. It was a wonderful interaction. He challenged them to think differently about the design and build process, asked probing questions, tested their mental Mathematics and pushed them to explain the reasoning behind their decisions. He was also quite impressed with their work, their talent and their reasoning.

But one thing stayed with me. At least ten times during the discussion, he stopped a young person and said, “Speak louder.” I smiled because it is probably the instruction, I have repeated more than any other throughout my years working with young people at STEMGuyana. Speak louder. Lift your head. Project your voice. Let people hear what you are saying.