Empowering South African Youth Through Education

Best One Yet!

This is the time of year when we get to update our GlobalGiving donors on the outcome of one of our biggest annual undertakings…our teaching and mentoring program for the Eskom Expo for Young Scientists and Engineers. Thanks to you, our science Expo resources have remained strong this year, and the outcome was better than ever. Here are some highlights:

At the Regional Competition: 16 Learners, 16 Medals

That’s right, after months of hard work in our Expo mentoring program, all sixteen of our young scientists and engineers earned medals at the regional competition held in August -- four Golds, ten Silvers, and two Bronzes, to be precise! In addition to their medals, our learners collected three Best-in-Category prizes, as well as a number of other special accolades for themselves and cash prizes for their schools. While we cannot pretend not to love these successes, it is not the medals that matter. What matters is the tremendous growth in learning and self-confidence experienced by the learners through this initiative. We can see it in their faces and in the way they stand a little taller. We can hear it in their voices, as they gain in knowledge and understanding of their individual project areas. Best of all, we can see it in the friendships that develop over the weeks of their time together as a group. They help one another with their research, cheer each other on when the going gets challenging, and end up with bonds that will last long after the competition is over. We wish each of you could be here to see all of this, too.

Then…Up, Up and Away to the International Science Fair!

Following the excitement of the regional competition, five of our learners were selected to advance to the International Science Fair (the “ISF”), held in Johannesburg in October. While that in itself was wonderful news, those selected could hardly believe it when they learned that this year -- for the first time ever -- the ISF participants would travel to Johannesburg  by plane, instead of by bus. For all five of our ISF learners, this was not only their first time on a plane, but their first time seeing the airport. What a memorable experience, and before the competition even began! Back on the ground for the ISF, our learners had a great time and earned two Gold Medals, one Bronze Medal, and two Highly-Commended certificates, in addition to special awards for Best Development Project and Best Environmental Monitoring Project in their age-group. Once again, it was wonderful to see them come home with these prizes, but the true reward is in the knowledge they gained, the new experiences they have had, and the expanded horizons that they can now envision.

To our GlobalGiving community -- thank you from the bottom of our hearts for making our work possible. We are so grateful for your ongoing support, and we look forward to bringing you news of our learners’ continued successes.

With our gratitude,

Martha Fitzpatrick Bishai