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Beating teen boredom with innovative science project
by Nalini Naidoo, Natal Witness newspaper, Pietermaritzburg, KwaZulu/Natal,
South Africa
For four girls, joining a local museum club became the turning point of their lives
In 1993, four schoolgirls from Kwezi Higher Primary School joined the Natal
Museum's children's club, Sabalala Nolwazi, after a visit to their school by
museum staff members.
Charity Ndlanzi, Samke Mkatshwa, Portia Mbense and Qinisile Mkhize
participated in the club, whose name means "broadening horizons through
knowledge", because there was little to do in their township during the
holidays and after school.
Today, the eloquence and confidence with which they tell the story of how
this has changed their lives is striking. They remained members of the club
over the years and in 1999, when they were about 14 years old, felt brave
enough to enter a national competition run by Eskom based on the theme, "Fuel and Energy Conservation". First, they had to find a project that would fit
the theme, so they spent a weekend at the museum with project leader Mabongi
Mtshali, learning how to use the Internet and trawling the web for ideas on what they were going to do.
Eventually they came up with the idea of building a cookbox out of recycled
material, one that people living in informal settlements could easily assemble and use. They drew up plans, researched the properties of recycled
material that could be used and also learnt to sew, as part of the box
included cushions to help insulate the heat.
The girls said all that was the easy part. Next, they had to carry out
research within a sample community. They drew up questionnaires to find out how people who lived in informal settlements without electricity managed,
what part of their income was spent on fuel, and what people understood about conserving energy. They found that people struggled. Living near urban
settlements, there was a shortage of trees and the few trees that did stand were in danger of being chopped down. Many households used primus stoves but
complained about the cost of paraffin.
The girls then launched their education campaign, organising meetings at
their homes to demonstrate how the cookbox could help save energy, showing people how easy the box was to construct and the types of materials that
could be used. They said their parents did not mind the groups of people traipsing in and out of their houses.
"They were happy that we were kept busy and off the streets," said Mkatshwa. "As for the rest of the community, they initially attended out of curiosity
to see what we were up to."
The time was drawing near to finalise their entry, so they spent a weekend at Mtshali's house, writing up their report, drawing their posters and
practising their presentation. They went up to Johannesburg, spoke about
their work in front of a national audience and walked off with the first
prize of R5 000.
This was not the end. They invested their money back into their project,
using some of it to subsidise bus fares, buy a camera and run workshops. They modified their cookbox, making it more portable and experimenting with
different materials, while continuing their education campaign. In 2000, they
entered the Eskom competition for the second year and again won a prize of R5 000. Once more they reinvested their money into their project but this time
they donated R1 000 to outreach projects within the community.
"We wanted to show that the prize money did not only belong to us but to the community as well," said Ndlanzi.
Their only indulgence was to buy themselves T-shirts that boldly displayed
the name of their club.
At the end of 2000, they heard about a competition run by Colgate Palmolive
in which youth groups could submit a report about their involvement in uplifting their communities. Sabalala Nolwazi put their writing skills to the
test once more and wrote about their project. They were chosen as one of four runners-up. The prize was a further R5 000.
At the beginning of this month, they opened a bank account and the first
cheque for the sum of R500 was donated to the Edendale branch of Msunduzi Hospice, an organisation the girls worked with when conducting their
education campaign. For a few moments last week, the quiet foyer of the Natal Museum was transformed into a centre of celebration, laughter and rejoicing
as older Edendale hospice volunteers met with a younger generation of community workers to receive the cheque.
"With young people like this, there is so much hope for our country," said
hospice volunteer Tobekile Moloi, as she hugged me enthusiastically, sharing
the sheer joy of the moment.
As for the tenacious prize-winners, they are working on the next phase of
their project - developing their entrepreneurial skills. They will be using
part of their prize money to buy a sewing machine and are working on drawing up a business plan. They will be making and selling their cookboxes and
already have an order from Bloemfontein, given to them after their last Eskom presentation. In between all of this, they act as mentors to younger members
of Sabalala Nolwazi.
The girls don't take any of the credit for themselves, saying Mtshali was
their inspiration; she believed in them and gave them the space and
confidence to grow. Mtshali in turn said many people had been involved in the project, particularly Dr Gita Suparsad and Sally Johnson, with their
donations of material.
As I leave, Mkatshwa instructs me to challenge other youth groups to follow
their example and get involved in uplifting their communities.
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