How Giiyo Tech Built a STEM Club That Actually Works

It started with a simple question: what if we stopped asking young people to consume technology and asked them to create it instead?

That question led to the Giiyo Tech STEM Club at Olive Bilingual School in Bonaberi, Douala. What we've learned in the past two months will change how we think about tech education in Cameroon.

The Problem We Were Solving

In Douala, like most of Africa, young people have access to technology but no pathway to build with it. They use apps. They watch videos. They scroll through social media. But they do not know how these things are made. They do not believe they can make them.

Schools teach theory. They do not teach creation.

We wanted to change that. Starting in April 2026, we launched a STEM Club pilot at Olive Bilingual School. The goal was simple: introduce 51 secondary school students to eight different technology and creative disciplines over 12 weeks. Let them build. Let them fail. Let them succeed. We will end up doing it for over 15 weeks… but let’s not digress. We had no idea what we were walking into.

How We Started

Recruitment happened through the school. We put out a call for students interested in robotics, AI, 3D design, graphic design, coding, digital safety, entrepreneurship, and financial literacy. We told them there would be no grades, no tests, no pressure. Just creation.

Almost 200 students signed up, but we only could make room for 51 of them.

They ranged from Form 2 to Upper Sixth, spoke both English and French, came from different academic backgrounds, and had wildly different levels of tech experience. Some had never touched a line of code. Others were already designing websites.

We divided them into three colour-coded groups of six students each (with some overflow). Then we built a curriculum.

What We Taught

Week 1: Digital Literacy & Internet Safety

We started with the foundations. Before students touched robotics or code, they needed to understand how the internet works, how to protect themselves online, and what it means to be a responsible digital citizen.

The response surprised us. Students were hungry for this information. They asked real questions about scams, about privacy, about data collection. One girl asked if her Instagram followers could see her location. Another asked whether her bank would ever ask for a password over email.

These were not abstract questions. These were real concerns from young people navigating the digital world without a map.

We had them create digital safety handbooks in Canva.

They designed posters. They set up professional email accounts. By the end of the week, every student had a concrete takeaway a handbook they designed that explained internet safety in language their peers would understand.

Week 2 & 3: Graphic Design & Creative Media

With digital literacy as the foundation, we moved to visual communication. Students learned design fundamentals, colour theory, typography, and how to use Canva to create professional graphics.

They designed posters. They created social media graphics. They developed personal brands. One student designed a logo for a fictional youth organization. Another created a complete brand identity package for a tech startup that doesn't exist yet but might someday.

The work was good. Not student-project good. Actually good. The kind of work that could be printed and displayed without embarrassment.

By the end of Week 3, we had dozens of designs ready for the upcoming Innovation Summit. The students understood that their work was not just an exercise. It was real. It mattered.

Week 4: Coding Fundamentals

This is where the rubber met the road. Coding is abstract. It is hard to visualize. It requires patience and the ability to sit with confusion until it clicks.

We used block-based programming and beginner-friendly languages. We started with logic puzzles. Then we moved to simple games. By mid-week, students were building interactive programs that actually worked.

One moment stands out. A Form 2 student who had never coded before finished her first working game — a simple Pong clone. She tested it. She won a game against herself. She smiled in a way that said: "I did this. I built this."

That moment is why we do this work.

Week 5 & 6: Robotics & Engineering

Not all schools have robotics kits. We do. We have beginner robotics equipment, and students were fascinated.

They built mini-robots. They programmed movement. They created simple sensors to detect obstacles. They completed challenges. Some groups built robots that could navigate a maze. Others built robots that could respond to light.

The engineering thinking was evident immediately. When a robot did not move correctly, students did not give up. They debugged. They asked: what went wrong? Why? How do we fix it?

This is problem-solving in real time. This is the kind of thinking that matters in the real world.

Week 7: AI & Innovation

By this point, students understood that technology is not magic. It is built by people making deliberate choices.

We introduced AI. Not as a tool to do their homework for them, but as a technology to understand and use creatively. They explored how AI works. They used AI image generators. They wrote prompts. They created art.

The question that kept coming up was: is this cheating? Is it real?

We talked about ethics. We talked about authorship. We talked about the difference between using a tool and abdicating responsibility. By the end of the week, students understood that AI is neither magic nor cheating. It is a tool. Like any tool, it depends on how you use it.

Week 8: The Summit

The final week was not a new curriculum. It was preparation for the Kids Innovation & Tech Summit scheduled for June 16, 2026.

Students refined their projects. They prepared presentations. They designed posters showcasing their work. They practiced explaining what they had learned to an audience that would include parents, teachers, school administrators, and community members.

The nervousness was real. The pride was real too.

What We Learned

Learning Happens Through Doing

Our most important finding: students learn fastest when they are building something they care about. Theory matters. Instruction matters. But the moment when a student sees their own code running, their own design printed, their own robot moving — that moment changes everything.

Diversity of Interests Matters

We gave students eight different tracks. They did not all gravitate toward coding. Some were most excited about graphic design. Others were fascinated by robotics. One student asked if she could focus on AI and entrepreneurship instead of robotics.

We said yes. And she thrived.

The message is clear: there is no single pathway into tech. Some people build with code. Some build with design. Some build with hardware. Some build with ideas. All of it matters.

Confidence Is Everything

At the beginning, many students said things like "I'm not a tech person" or "I'm not creative enough for design." By Week 4, those same students were showing us work and asking for feedback. By Week 8, they were proud of what they had built.

Confidence is not something you teach. It is something you build through small successes, real feedback, and the experience of creating something real.

Infrastructure Is Real

We have two laptops and one projector. We have one robotics kit. We have limited 3D printing capacity. We have basic software and tools.

And we made it work.

The constraint forced us to be creative. Students worked in small groups. They took turns with equipment. They learned to collaborate because they had to. This limitation became a feature, not a bug.

Parents Care

The WhatsApp group with parents became a lifeline. Parents asked questions. They shared updates with other parents. One mother told us her daughter had not stopped talking about the robotics challenge she completed that week.

Parents are not obstacles to tech education. They are allies. They want their children to learn and grow. When you invite them into the process and show them real progress, they become advocates.

What's Next

The STEM Club pilot ends in early June. Then comes the Kids Innovation & Tech Summit on June 16 where students will showcase everything they have built.

But that is not the end. It is the beginning.

We are planning a two-month summer bootcamp starting June 29. We are expanding STEM Club offerings to other schools. We are building a curriculum and infrastructure that can scale.

Because what we learned in these eight weeks is that young Cameroonians are hungry to create. They are capable. They are innovative. They just needed permission and a path.

We gave them that path. They ran with it.

The Real Story

This is not a story about coding or robotics or artificial intelligence. It is a story about 51 young people in Douala discovering that they can build things. That they can solve problems. That they can create.

It is a story about African children becoming creators, not consumers, of technology.

It is just the beginning.

Giiyo Tech is a STEM education organization in Douala, Cameroon. We run STEM Clubs in schools, holiday bootcamps, and an annual Kids Innovation & Tech Summit. Our mission is simple: make African children creators of technology, not just consumers of it.

Learn more at giiyotech.com or contact us at hello@giiyotech.com.