VOA常速英语:柬埔寨女孩推动女性站在科技前沿

“Who doesn’t love discount?” That’s the pitch made by these Cambodian girls at the Technovation Competition in Silicon Valley.

“Let’s fight poverty by using our app, don’t find customer for your products, find products for your customer.”They are eleven and twelve years old, traveling across the Pacific to present their app, which allows artists to sell their crafts online.

“We want to increase employment for Cambodian,so there will be a reduction of Cambodian migrants to work at other countries,reducing poverty through making incomes and providing charity to local Cambodian.”

To participate in Technovation, girls from around the world had to build a mobile app that addressed a U.N. development goal. The Cambodian girls picked poverty.

“So the first thing you’re gonna see is our logo.”

Globalization has boosted Cambodia’s economic growth, especially the tourism industry.Globalization has also created greater economic inequality and competition, the girls think their app can help.

“Good evening! Ladies and gentlemen.”

At their young age, no one expects these girls to solve such a pressing issue as poverty.But their participation highlights another issue: Relatively few women work in technology. Whether it’s because a lack of access to education, information or female role models,competitions like Technovation aim to reverse that trend.

“For the first time in history, technology can really help girls have a strong voice and help us have a society that has equality.”

Most of the Cambodian team come from underprivileged backgrounds but had support from teachers, mentors and family.Now they are becoming role models themselves.

Cambodian American Pauline Seng is program manager at Google, she was 23 years old when she got into technology.

Look at them. They’re here in Silicon Valley.And there’s gonna be so many people who will aspire to reach the stage and also inspire other people to get involved in technology.”

After watching the male CEO of Google, Sundar Pichai, speaking at the closing ceremony,do the girls believe that the tech giant would one day have a female leader?Yeah!

Whether that will come true or not, they have themselves already become the youngest role models to inspire others, one girl at a time.

Sophat Soeung, VOA News, Silicon Valley, California.