A group of young STEM Education enthusiasts aged between 17 and 18 will make history as the first team to ever represent not only Botswana, but Africa at the International Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths (STEM) education competition in Kansas City USA this May.
Brought together by Destination Imagination Botswana, a hub that uses project-based learning to teach students creativity, critical thinking, collaboration, and communication, Diteemane Tsa Rona are creating a prototype of a thrill ride/roller coaster named Mosquito Buzz from recycled materials. This innovative project has qualified them to compete among the best at the esteemed global STEM competition in May.
Leleti Kimangu(17), Oarabile Diboko (17), Sethunya Ntope (17), Rethabile Ramogalana (18), Wedu Mmopi (17), Ryan Mosenyegi (17) and Romeo Kowa (17) are all excited about the great honour, especially the idea of travelling to the United States.
Although still in its trial phase, they have expressed confidence that the Mosquito Buzz has what it takes to propel them to victory.
“The prototype is still stages away from being complete. The idea is to use waste materials, so we initially put it together using cardboards but quickly realized that it would not work since it breaks when we try to bend it.” The team is currently looking into metal wires as an alternative.
“We are driven by our motto which is that we are not owed our dreams. We believe and understand that it is upon us to turn our dreams into a reality.” Speaking of long term goals, the team dreams about being the first Batswana to create a rollercoaster.
Destination Imagination Botswana Director Sally Kimangu pointed out that Destination Imagination is all about identifying gifted children who are limited by resources and background, and giving them a chance to live out to their maximum potential. “You will find us going into the deepest parts of the country to identify children from marginalised communities with the intention of introducing them to new technologies such as coding, robotics and Artificial Intelligence (AI).”
She added that the aim is to teach them to own their journey, to tell their stories and to come up with solutions to problems that exist within their communities.
“This group is the first cohort that we ever trained in 2021, all from government schools.” She said proudly.
Their trainer Nikita Babish is also proud of the team and the milestones they are reaching at Destination Imagination. “In the spirit of building them up while they are young, we believe that this initiative will raise engineers, programmers and content creators of the future. “
While Destination Imagination is celebrating this occassion, they have quite a journey to travel in terms of preparing and putting together all that is needed to make their journey a reality. They have therefore appealed to the public to rescue them by making various forms of donations.
“Donations can be monetary to cover essentials such as flight tickets and hotels for their stay. Others may include food donations, material donations such as wires, paints and other DIY materials, not forgetting the self-development assistance such as training in presentation skills and self- confidence in order for our team to represent Botswana in an excellent manner.”
