This summer, The Working to Advance STEM Education for African Women (WAAW) foundation is hosting 40 Secondary school girls for a Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM) camp designed to inspire African girls to explore careers in STEM fields
Wylie, TX -- (SBWIRE) -- 06/02/2015 -- WAAW foundation STEM camps are weeklong learning experiences in STEM that introduces African girls between the ages of 13 and 17 years who are currently enrolled in Senior Secondary School SS1 - SS3 to the fun of STEM through innovative hands-on learning challenges. "Our camps target girls from Public/Government school or low income families who would otherwise not have the opportunity to learn about or be exposed to possible STEM careers and learning in a fun, interactive and hands-on way. The idea is to introduce girls to STEM in general and to see that it is fun and interesting," says program director, Tolulope Owajoba
Supported by grant from EIF, Engineering Information Foundation, weeklong sessions will be conducted in Nairobi, Kenya in July and Lagos, Nigeria in August. Camp participants will have the opportunity to learn to build exciting robots on the NXT platform, build renewable energy systems such as solar and Wind Mill systems, learn basic computer science concepts and be introduced to programming using Arduino and raspberry pi platforms, playing with blockly program, participate in team building exercises etc. Dr. Unoma Ndili Okorafor, the president and Chief Executive officer of WAAW said that "With the right encouragement and exposure to STEM careers through these camp activities, girls can become our future Engineers, Scientists, creators, critical thinkers, designers, inventors and IT skilled users who will go on to provide solution to Power and Energy issues, cure diseases, discover new sources of clean energy, halt global warming etc"
Registration for the STEM camp is open till June 30, 2015. Scholarships are available for girls in Government or public schools only. Scholarships cover registration fee, training materials, feeding, boarding, and excursion fee.
For more information visit our website at: http://waawfoundation.org/stem-camp/
About WAAW STEM Camp Program
WAAW Foundation launched a Summer STEM camp program in 2013 as a means of providing extra-curricular activities to grab the interests of young African girls at an early age when career decisions are formed and to support their increased participation in STEM focused activities. The goal of the camp is to expose young African girls to STEM education, stimulating a sense of engagement, exploration and empowerment while learning and having fun at the same. The aim of the camp is to challenge traditional African societal beliefs that female education is wasted resources, and demonstrate that STEM innovation helps solve real problems in the communities in which our participants live.