Students compete in the 9th Golden Climate International Environmental Project Olympiad

Competing against 200 participants, six students from the Academy participated in the Golden Climate International Environmental Project Olympiad and won a place in their category. Here, DP1 student Tamara Werle and the group's supervisor, GodfreyKokeyo, share their experiences from the competition.

“The Aga Khan Academy Mombasa participated in the Golden Climate International Olympiad in Nairobi this past April. The competition welcomed over 200 participants from 20 countries worldwide, with students from all backgrounds presenting projects that offer sustainable and eco-friendly solutions to various environmental issues and concerns.

Julianna Kidde, year 10, with her project.The competition was comprised of six categories; agriculture, energy, engineering, environmental design, environment and the junior category. Representing our school were six students; Aly Jassani and Saloni Patel, competing in the engineering category, Tamara Werle, competing in the agriculture category, Alina Rattanshi and Sara Janmohamed, competing in the energy category, and Juliana Kidde, competing in the environmental design category.

Aly Jassani, year 10, with his project.The various projects represented by our students offered either new innovations addressing environmental problems facing our society or projects aimed to enhance already existing solutions for better and more sustainable results. For example, enhancing already existing farming methods for greater crop production and crop growth. On the other hand, some of the projects introduced involved the creation of new products with displays to support these ideas.

Results:

• Saloni Patel,presented “Solar Breeze”- and received the gold award and a monetary prize of $100.
• Tamara Werle presented “use of wood ash and coffee grounds as organic fertilizer to neutralize soil acidity to enhance plant growth” and received the silver award.
• Alina Rattanshi presented “Solar Powered Umbrella” and received the silver award.
• Juliana Kidde presented “Container Housing made of cost effective and Easy to find Materials” and received bronze award.
• Aly Jassani presented “Eco-friendly Fabric as an alternative to plastic” and received the bronze award.
• Sara Janmohamed presented “Use of Cow dung as an alternative Source of Biomass to reduce emission of methane into the atmosphere and to reduce cutting down of mangrove” and received bronze award.

In every category, the students were assessed by four judges who reviewed each project in terms of visual presentation, quality of the innovation, the oral presentation, quality of the research and data, and the quality of the scientific method used. With that in mind, the students performed exceptionally well bringing back three bronze medals, two silver medals and one gold medal. The six projects competed against over 20 other projects in each category, making these achievements extremely commendable. We hope the students further their projects as they continue to develop a golden climate for both our current and future populations.”

By Tamara Werle

“From 12 to 13 April 2019 our students participated in the 9th edition of Golden Climate International Environmental Project Olympiad at Light International School, Karen campus. This is the largest science competition in east and central Africa and this year it attracted young scientists from 20 countries.

Saloni Patel, year 10, with her project.The competition, dubbed ‘Raising a global generation to achieve a Golden Climate’, has continued to give our students the opportunity and platform to develop projects and test their knowledge on environmental preservation and conservation. Through the competition the students are able to share their ideas with other young scientists and professionals from different public sectors including institutions of higher learning. For the 6th year in a row our students have made us proud with their extraordinary performance in the competition.

Godfrey Kokeyo, far left, with some of the Academy students who won at the competition (Tamara Werle, DP1, second to right).The students won top medal awards including gold, silver and bronze with outstanding presentation skills characterized by an excellent command of language, accurate data analysis and careful articulation of scientific concepts. As the supervisors of these projects, in collaboration with other teachers in science department, Mr Charles Gumba and I look forward to involving more students, including younger ones from the Junior School, in the 10th edition of GCIEPO next year.”

By Godfrey Kokeyo