There are moments in a school’s life that feel like more than just another event. They feel like seeds being planted — seeds of courage, of ambition, of change. That’s exactly what happened at Collège et Lycée Sainte-Marie in Gabon.

In a classroom usually filled with equations and quiet curiosity, something different echoed: conviction. Thanks to the initiative of the Parents’ Association and in collaboration with FAWE Gabon, a powerful awareness session was held as part of the regional program “Sciences, Les Filles Peuvent”. It wasn’t just about science. It was about shifting the narrative — and giving girls permission to dream beyond the limits tradition often sets.
“You have the same brains as the boys. Just stay focused and committed.” One simple line, one powerful truth. That sentence, delivered by one of the guest speakers, hung in the air with quiet force — and in the attentive faces of the young girls, something sparked. Belief.

At the heart of this moment was Jessica Allogo. A woman of science. An entrepreneur. A role model who took the scientific method and turned it into a recipe for success — literally — through her artisanal confectionery brand. She didn’t just tell her story. She offered a mirror to every girl in that room: “This could be you.”
And the message landed. Loudly. Loriane Oye, vice-president of the Parents’ Association, said it best: “Thanks to you, our daughters no longer see science as a foreign field, but as a world to explore — an adventure to live, a calling to follow.”

You could feel the shift. Eyes lit up. Questions flowed. Futures were imagined.
In that room sat future engineers, researchers, professors, inventors and maybe even the next Ms Sciences laureate. But more importantly, they left knowing that science isn’t reserved for someone else. It’s for them too.
It’s in these small yet deeply intentional encounters that the tides turn. Confidence builds. Stereotypes crack and a new generation of girls begins to say, with certainty:
“Yes — me too. I want to be a scientist.”