Support science clubs for 600 girls in Ghana

Dear friends,

I hope this update finds you well. Thanks to your generosity, we have had a wonderful end to the school year. In particular, I want to share 2 stories and some stats in this email that is cause for celebration, and illustrates how our programs shifts students' thinking about themselves and their role in it - and allows them to act on those ideas.

1. Inventors squared.

The first photo was taken during the German Chancellor Angela Merkel's visit to Ghana as part of her west African tour at the end of August. At ImpactHub Accra, she met entrepreneurs and innovators across Ghana, including our own inventor, Princess.

Princess and her team won The Exploratory's #SolveforGhana design challenge last year, and she has since improved upon the design, which she uses with her neighbors, in her unfinished house, as seen in the photo behind them. Don't you love seeing the satisfaction and confidence exuding from this young girl, as the world's most prominent world leader, who is also a PhD scientist, exhibited genuine interest in the lightbox? Sends shivers down my spine. Read more here. 

We are proud of our partner Charles Ofori and thrilled to have been an early adopter of the science setand. His feature in the BBC, including a description of Princess' design, is fabulous. You can also see the video here, showing our kids and teacher from Berekuso.

2. Giving back by design. Bringing it all together.

The second photo was taken in July, at the Tieku School in Nsawam. The students proudly presented three benches that they designed and built for the shop owners, seated, who run the canteen at the school.

For their final term, Explorers were asked to come up with a project to benefit their community. The students at this school used design thinking skills to identify their own problem - there is no seating when students purchase snacks during recess.

As they brainstormed, some remembered the Accra: Waste Art exhibit at the Museum of Science Technology where this year's design challenge final was held back in April. The exhibit included wall hangings, furniture, clothing, bags etc that were made from discarded bottles, water satchet bags, barrels etc.

As a low-cost solution, the students took discarded gerry cans (yellow) and collected money to purchase wood and bolts. They designed, measured, built and rebuilt three benches to give to their community.

I was surprised and inspired that they have absorbed what they could from their environment - the museum exhibit in this case, which they voluntarily visited while waiting for their bus - and combined it with the skills they have learned. This is what happens when we expose children to new places and ideas. We will be amazed at what can happen. Now everyone benefits. 

3. Graduation time!

Our Explorers in the final year of Junior High School leave school in mid-June after they have taken their final exams. We invited them back for a brief graduation ceremony and present them with certificates of participation and to wish them a fruitful journey forward - and to come back and visit.

The wonderful news is that again, over 60% of The Exploratory's participants have chosen science as their area of study in senior high school, with some schools approaching 80%. In fact, one teacher told us that some of his students, when given the chance to resubmit their priorities, selected science as their first choice - after the positive experience from the design challenge. We are getting information about their final acceptance and decisions and will keep you posted.

Thanks to you for making all this possible.

Sincerely,

Connie

P.S. GlobalGiving will match your first donation as a NEW recurring donor. So, if you're not one already, please consider switching your project support to a recurring donation on this or an upcoming project of ours. Stay tuned! Thank you!

Links:

• BBC interviews Science Set inventor Charles Ofori, and Princess
• BBC Video. Charles and the kids at Berekuso School