Introduction – Willing to Contribute

[jemmziray-tech]

Hello everyone,

My name is John Mziray, and I am based in Tanzania. I have a strong background in Python, SQL, and cloud prototyping tools such as Google Colab, with experience in data analysis and building AI-driven solutions. I am particularly interested in how machine learning and big data can be applied to public health challenges in Africa, which makes MalariaGEN’s mission very meaningful to me.

I am eager to contribute to the Vector Observatory project and other initiatives by supporting cloud‑native data workflows, improving documentation, and exploring ways to make genomic data analysis more accessible to analysts and students in malaria‑endemic regions.

Could you kindly guide me on the best way to get started, especially with beginner‑friendly tasks or areas where contributions are most needed?

Looking forward to collaborating and learning from this community.
Best regards,
John Mziray

[ZiadXI]

Hi @jemmziray-tech , welcome, A great way to get started is to look at the issues labelled good first issue or triage in the repository. For documentation contributions, look for functions in the codebase that have missing or incomplete docstrings; the maintainers really appreciate those kinds of PRs. Also, make sure to set up your development environment by following the contributing guide in the repo (contribution.md i think), and run the existing tests to make sure everything is working before you start. Good luck

[jemmziray-tech]

Thank you @ZiadXI

[DEEPIKASINGH608]

Hi MalariaGEN Team,

My name is Deepika Singh, and I am a Btech(CSE) 2nd year, passionate about the intersection of Data Science/Genomics/Coding and public health. I am writing to express my enthusiastic interest in contributing to MalariaGEN for GSoC 2026!

While I am a beginner in the open-source world, I am a fast and dedicated learner. I have already started exploring the malariagen-data-python package and the training resources on your website.

To meet the PR requirement for the application:

Are there any "Good First Issues" or small documentation gaps (e.g., in the Jupyter Notebook guides) that a beginner could tackle to learn the workflow?

Would it be helpful if I contributed a small test case or a bug fix for one of the training modules?

I am looking for a project that will push my technical boundaries while allowing me to contribute efficiently to your mission of democratizing genomic surveillance.

Thank you for your time and for the amazing work you do!

Best regards,
Deepika Singh

[khushthecoder]

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