Margaret and Raina use ‘STEM’ to Redefine their Futures, Kenya
Asante Africa Youth Livelihood Program (YLP) student club leaders (first-year high school students) Margaret and Raina from Wamba Girls Secondary School in Kenya were concerned about dirty water waste in their community. After completing Asante Africa Foundation’s YLP program, the girls sought innovative ways to clean their community water.
Through hard work, patience, trial and error, and testing scenarios, the girls invented a water purifier that also desalinates water. In 2022 these young innovators presented their water purifier to Kenya’s NTV TV station (watch the girls demonstration the water purifier on NTV here).
The Young Scientist Kenya is a competition where students present their innovative projects to win funding to continue with their project work. Margaret and Raina won the Young Scientist Kenya Award 2022 for their water purifier invention and the girl’s innovation was recognized on Earth Day 2023 by Michelle Obama!
This #EarthDay, I’m celebrating young people who are taking action to protect our planet—like Margaret and Raina, two high school students from the Girls Opportunity Alliance in Kenya who were concerned about the lack of clean water in their village. With support from the Asante Africa Foundation, they created a water purifier that desalinates water. Their project was so successful that they were awarded the Young Scientists Kenya Award to keep producing water purifiers for their community! I’m so proud of them. Keep up the good work!
The Young Scientist Award has given the girls the seed capital to start their own business to scale up water purifier production for their communities! These young Asante Africa Foundation innovators are at the forefront of using their environment and local tools to address a pressing natural resource problem that will make them and their communities more climate resilient! Listen to the girls talk about their experience here.
“ When we went for Asante classes, we were taught about leadership, the skills of good leaders, courage, and innovation. We could speak in front of a TV station because of the courage we learned from school. And also, the project needed us to be patient. So we were patient until we triumphed at last. It is important for girls to pursue science because many people in the country believe that science is only for boys. Girls will see how we went to Nairobi and see that girls can win the science award. Every girl can participate in science, and they can make it.”