Great strides in technology

The Walvis Bay STEM Fair was created to encourage girls from grades 1 to 12 to become interested in science, technology, engineering and mathematics, which were believed to be male-dominated fields in the past.
Yanna Smith
Leandrea Louw

Two learners - Raina Samuel and Selma Kalimbo -had the opportunity to represent the Walvis Bay Science Technology Engineering and Maths (STEM) Fair for girls at the information ministry’s ICT Summit in Windhoek.

Samuel, a grade 11 learner at De Duine Secondary School, won first place in the formal education youth exhibitor category for her project ‘Virtual doctor’.

She explained her project is a cellphone application that assists in diagnosing ailments. “The application aims at diagnosing illnesses, recommends medicine and/or if you need to see a doctor. I wanted to make a project that will have an impact on the Namibian people,” she said.

Samuel said she requires about N$50 000 to complete the application.

“The biometrics of the app, as well as the recordkeeping system needs to be completed. Hopefully, if I receive financial support I can complete the app by December. I want to make it accessible to everyone with an iOS or Android phone.”

She is currently working with Joachim Shilongo, one of three local entrepreneurs who created a free emergency application that consists of all the emergency numbers in Walvis Bay.

The application, which can be found at the Google Play store, contains the numbers of the fire brigade, E-Med Rescue, St Gabriel Ambulance, G4S, Sea Rescue, Namport Fire and Port Control, Nampol, the Municipal Traffic, Tourism Info Centre, Walvis Bay municipality services, Erongo RED services, police services, Community Against Crime and the Kuisebmond, Narraville and Meersig neighbourhood watches.

Kalimbo, a grade 9 learner at Flamingo Secondary School, created a website called ‘We heart Maths’. The website aims at helping grade 8 and 9 learners with mathematics.

“I created the project to help learners understand and find mathematics easier, especially with the new curriculum. The website, upon completion, will have simplified mathematics explanations, as well as exercises and activities. ”

Kalimbo is in need of about N$25 000 to have the website up and running.

“I still require a domain host, and will make it more learner friendly by adding GIFs and animations. I would really like to launch the website by the end of November. ”

She is also planning to create a website for physical science in the future.

Kalimbo was also selected to travel Mexico and will participate in the Mouvement International pour le Loisir Scientifique et Technique (MILSET) International Science Fair that will take place from 29 November to 4 December.

Samuel will also participate in the South African Youth Engineering and Science Symposium, hosted by the University of Pretoria, from 5 to 9 December.

Both learners require financial assistance to travel and showcase their projects at the various science fairs.

Anastacia de Klerk, founder of the Walvis BAY STEM Fair for girls, said the fair was created to encourage girls from grades 1 to 12 to become interested in science, technology, engineering and mathematics, which were believed to be male-dominated fields in the past.

“I am extremely proud and happy to see that these projects can be developed into something bigger for these learners. This is what the Walvis Bay STEM Fair is all about.”

In addition, Laura Damster and Ashley Rheeder will travel to Abu Dhabi in 2019. They will participate in the bi-annual Expo Science International competition scheduled to take place from 22 to 28 September. Fenny Shilongo was selected to participate in the Genius Olympiad next year. The Olympiad will take place in Oswego, New York in June 2019.