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1Billion Africa launches STEM for Africa Project
1Billion Africa (1BA) recently launched the Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) for Africa (S4A) project in Hwidiem in the Asutifi South District of the Ahafo Region of Ghana.
The S4A project, which contributes Sustainable Development Goals 4, 5, 10 & 17 – Quality Education, Gender Equality, Reduced Inequalities, and Partnerships for Development, respectively, is a bold initiative
to raise young scientists and innovators from rural communities in Africa.
1Billion Africa, a non-profit civil society organisation in Africa, inspires and empowers Africa’s youth to be change-agents in their communities by finding problems and turning them into projects.
The S4A project in Hwidiem is funded under the Engineering X programme founded in partnership with Royal Academy of Engineering and Lloyd’s Register Foundation.
The Queen Mother, Nana Attaa Adwoa Agyeiwaa Kodie II, shared her commitment and vision of bringing quality education to Hwidiem, and why she believed the S4A project was helping to facilitate the initiative.
She applauded those funding the project and partners, and urged all stakeholders to commit to playing their roles diligently. She also urged parents to be involved, and student beneficiaries to take advantage of this golden opportunity to invest in their future.
“We are piloting this initiative in Hwidiem because of the immense support demonstrated by stakeholders during previous projects by 1BA in the district,” Mr Prince Adu-Appiah, Chief Executive Officer (CEO) and Founder of 1Billion Africa, said.
1Billion Africa and its partners appealed to the government, institutions, companies and individuals, to help scale the project to other communities in Ghana.
For the next two years, the S4A project will capacitate 1,000 student beneficiaries in 10 schools in Hwidiem to go through a total of 52,000 hours of practical STEM tuition using the innovative Science Set toolkit
developed by Dext Technologies Limited.
The project targets school children between the ages of 10 -15 years, who are in upper primary and junior high school in Hwidiem.
A total of 15 STEM clubs would also be set up to further engage the students in other innovative STEM activities, as well as have further practical sessions with the toolkit, which can be used to perform over 30 experiments.
The experiments include; building mini-robots, circuit systems, security alarm systems, and solar panel models.
Creativity, innovation, problem-solving and critical thinking skills to solve community problems is at the heart-beat of S4A, thus two Innovation Challenge competitions will be organised within the
project period.
In addition, 50 girls selected from within the 1,000 beneficiaries will receive mentoring from STEM Champions in liaison with Synergies Institute – Sankofa Mentorship Hub.
1BA has implemented and inspired over 25 projects in three countries – Ghana, Namibia and South Africa – impacting over 12,000 people, the majority being youth, women and children.
Key project partners include; Dext Technology, Synergies Institute – Sankofa Mentorship Hub, Nana Attaa Agyeiwaa II Foundation, D S Dayta Solution, Hwidiem Traditional Council, the Asutifi South District Education, the District and Local Government Assemblies, and Community Leaders.
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Swedru All Blacks back to winning ways, Roshan humble King Faisal
Sekondi Rospak FC made it eight wins in eight successive home games after three second-half goals from John Amoah, Joseph Ntow and Stephen Anthony Kofi. John Amoah opened the scoring in the 55th minute after a barren first half. Joseph Ntow added to the tally in the 56th minute before Stephen Anthony Kofi rounded things up in the 74th minute to give Rospak a 3-0 win over former Premier League side King Faisal.
Elsewhere at Swedru – leaders Swedru All Blacks humbled PAC Academy in an emphatic 2-0 win. Zayat Bubakari scored first for Swedru All Blacks in the 27th minute before Rudolf Junior Nana Kwasi Mensah made it 2-0 in the 34th minute. Swedru All Blacks are top of the table with 36 points – 4 points ahead of second placed Rospak FC.
Meanwhile, Former Premier League side Cape Coast Mysterious Dwarfs recorded their fourth successive home victory after beaten New Edubiase United 2-1 at the Robert Mensah Park. Enoch Odoom struck first for Cape Coast Mysterious Dwarfs in the 19th minute but Steven Asante equalized for New Edubiase United before halftime. After the interval, Godfred Eshun scored from distance in the 65th minute to help Cape Coast Mysterious Dwarfs secure all the points.
Here are the results in Zone Two
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Cervical Cancer alert: Avoid sex at early age
The Programmes Manager of Non-Communicable Diseases (NCDs) of the Ghana Health Service (GHS), Dr Mary Efua Commeh, has advised young girls to avoid sex at an early age.
This, she explained, will give the cervix the opportunity to mature before they become sexually active.
“You need to delay what we call the first sexual intercourse as much as possible to give the cervix the opportunity to mature before the person becomes sexually active,” she said.
Dr Commeh stated this in an interview with The Spectator in Accra on Tuesday as a part of the Cervical Cancer awareness month.
According to her, cervical cancer was the second leading female cancer in Ghana with a total of about 3,072 cases annually, and out of that, 1,815 deaths are recorded, representing more than 50 per cent.
She indicated that “If young girls are going to be sexually active, then you need to talk to your parents about being vaccinated.”
She explained that vaccinating young girls against human papillomavirus (HPV) has been found to be a very effective way of preventing cervical cancer.
“There are countries that started HPV vaccination years ago and they are not seeing any cervical cancers now because they would have eliminated most of the high-risk HPVs in their women. So if the high-risk HPV is not there, then obviously the results on cervical cancers are going to go down,” she added.
Dr Commmey said the HPV vaccination is recommended for young girls aged nine to 14 years, adding that it had been found to be highly effective, not just for cervical cancers but for other HPV-related cancers, such as anal cancers, cancers of the vagina, genital warts, amongst others.
She further elaborated that the idea is to put up a barrier before the HPV comes in and that once a young female encounters it, she is already protected.
She also mentioned that for cervical cancers, the main cause is called HPV infection, saying generally, all sexually active women acquire HPV at some point in their lives.
However, the Programmes Manager of NCDs at the GHS mentioned that the body has a way of clearing the HPV, explaining that it is a natural mechanism that goes on, unfortunately, there are a few women whose HPV persists.
Moreover, she noted that the numbers for Cervical Cancer tend to be much higher because at times, clients would wait, and try all sorts of medications before they finally report to the health facility saying “we actually lose some women before they get to the hospitals with over 75 per cent of the cases coming in its third and fourth stages.”
Dr Commey, therefore, called for public awareness while ensuring the availability of information for prevention and control.
By Jemima Esinam Kuatsinu
