Empowering South African Youth Through Education

As of our last report, 16 of our Umkhumbane Schools Project scholars were working long days and into the night in preparation for the Eskom Expo for Young Scientists & Engineers regional competition in August.   I am thrilled to report that all 16 of our entrants received recognition, earning one Gold medal (and Best-in-Category), five Silver medals, eight Bronze medals, and two Highly Commended certificates among the whole group  And even more exciting was the news we received just one week later: six of our learners had been selected to compete in the International Science Fair (ISF) on October 4-8, in Boksburg.

With only a few weeks to get ready for the international competition, there was lots of work to be done.  For Avumile, this meant interviewing additional shack dwellers and a municipality official about the link between illegal electricity and fires in informal settlements.  For Sanelisiwe, who was investigating the impact of menstruation on school attendance in the Umkhumbane schools, this meant reading a stack of published articles on this issue, not an easy undertaking for a learner whose first language is not English.  For Bongumusa, this meant another dive into the surf to collect water samples at three of Durban's beaches, with his best friend Sphamandla (also an ISF participant!) assisting.  For all six of our young scientists and engineers, these were exciting, demanding times.

During the last ten days leading up to the ISF, we met as a group at Wiggins Secondary School after hours and on weekends.   Working well past dark on several nights, we huddled in a classroom upstairs at the school, bracing against the wind coming in through broken windows and warming ouselves with cups of tea from a worn, reliable kettle.  With a small, dedicated team of volunteers who brought in laptops and a portable internet connection, our learners worked tirelessly to revise their reports, design their posters, and practice speaking to judges.  We were a team, in the very best sense of the word, working hard to make sure that this small band of learners from the Cato Manor township schools could hold their own in the international competition. Just before dawn on October 4, we delivered our tired but excited group to the bus and watched as they drove off on the eight-hour trip to Boksburg.

To sum up their success by pointing to the five medals that our proud, prepared, and determined group earned at the ISF would miss a large part of the point I would like to make to all of you, our wonderful GlobalGiving donors.  Yes, our learners returned from Boksburg with a total of five medals  --  one Silver and four Bronze  --  but the impact of this experience on their lives goes far beyond these awards.  Thanks to your generosity, each of these learners was able to design a project and receive the mentoring they needed to see it through to completion.  They were able to purchase supplies, gain access to laptops and the internet, be transported to research sites, have meals during mentoring sessions, and receive guidance and encouragement from supportive volunteers.   Each was, in the end, able to compete against young people from the best and richest schools in the region, and to go well beyond merely holding their own.  Through all of this, they have gained immeasurably in self-confidence, knowledge, and skills, and in all the intangibles that arise when dreams become real.   

Soon we will have our reunion and wrap-up party with everyone in attendance.  The whole group of 16, along with their volunteer mentors, will gather once again to reminisce and celebrate our Expo success.  It will be yet another reminder of why this work is so worthwhile and important.  It will be another reason to thank you, our GlobalGiving team!

Sincerely,

Martha Bishai