FIRST Global will bring together 160 nations for the olympics of high school robotics. This is a life-changing chance for the kids and for Mali to show the world what Malian youth are capable of and to bust sterotypes about Africa. iNERDE has spent five months preparing the team. 7 extraordinary young scientists will be coming to Washington, DC - but we can't afford to feed the team and to meet ordinary expenses for our 6 days in the US.
iNERDE will bring a team of high school students to represent Mali at the inaugural FIRST Global. This "Olympic Games" of modern education will feature 150 countries' high school students to compete in robotics in Washington, DC this summer. These youths have an enormous appetite for knowledge, and passion for science and technology. With this project, we will get teachers, parents, and the youth rallied about STEM education which can trigger an enormous interest nationwide.
Our partners are sponsoring the air fare and the lodging to a team of seven children and a mentor. iNERDE has provided intensive robotics training to prepare the children for the competition, paid for their passports and visa fees to the USA. and provided meals during training. But we need help to meet expenses while in Washington DC - Malian average income is 1/50th that of the US and we are unable to pay for even the most simple meals at US prices.
This year iNERDE will have introduced hundreds of kids and dozen of educators to a "new for Africa" system of hands-on learning for innovation. Our biggest challenge, our schools, and parents tell us, is that we can't offer more. 1000 people with a same vision of the world and the confidence to solve problems in their environment, can change the destiny of a nation. Impact Goal: more countries, more partnerships, more kids with reproducible programs. Objective: Africa, a continent of change.
