Empower Nigerian Students With STEM Skills

Advancing science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) education is an important focus for MindAfrica. As a developing country, we know firsthand the importance of raising a future workforce that would give us the technological advantage to compete in the global economy. That is the reason we are committed to providing enrichment STEM activities to underserved students, to strengthen their interest and confidence in pursuing STEM education and careers.

This report features the ingenuity of some young students in Oginigba Community Secondary School in Port Harcourt, Nigeria who are keen on generating new ideas and solving problems in their community. Their latest invention – a local soap mixer, is designed to reduce the production time in soap making by women in their community.

Manual production of liquid soap has become a gainful means of self-employment for low-income women in Oginigba community. Their products are sold at cheaper rates than the market price for industrially produced soap and the demand is quite high. However, due to a rigorous production process, production rates tend to drop over time, making them unable to meet the rising demand. These women cannot afford industrial machines and use basic implements such as a 60-litre vessel for mixing their ingredients, a spartle, weighing scales and thermometer to check temperature. The local soap production requires them to manually stir the mixture of ingredients speedily with a wooden spartle to prevent it from congealing or forming lumps. This exerts a lot of energy from the women and over time, limits the quantity of soap they are able to produce in a day.

To proffer a solution to this challenge, a team of students in the STEM enrichment program invented a prototype low-cost mixer fabricated from a plastic drum, wooden stand and a metal spartle connected to several electrical components including motor blades that are powered by electricity. Though dependent on electricity, this locally-made mixer has the capacity to produce more soap that the manual method, they say. It limits the physical rigors, is faster and more efficient. Still a prototype, the local mixer is still being tested and enhanced in the school lab.

We are extremely excited at how STEM education is preparing these students for life. We know that regardless of the profession they choose to follow, this exposure is teaching them how to think critically and how to solve problems.

MindAfrica is immensely grateful for your support and how it has helped us to impact the lives of young Nigerians. We value every gift and we hope for your continuous support. If you are glad about the difference you are making through our project, consider sharing this report with your circle of friends and family.