‘HYDROPADS’ PROJECT FROM JARAMOGI OGINGA ODINGA UNIVERSITY WINS BIC EDUCATION CHALLENGE
Nairobi, Kenya 7th February 2020: A project dubbed Hydropads which involves the use of water hyacinth stalks and waste papers to manufacture affordable hydro pads for girls has won the BIC education challenge. The team of Jaramogi Oginga Odinga University students, who are the brains behind the project, took home a grant of USD 1,000 which will be used to support their project. Adopt a Pen by Egerton University and Every Hand Every Book project by Moi University emerged first and second runners up taking home USD 600 and USD 400 respectively.
Egerton University wins 2nd place
The Adopt a Pen project aims to make children more environmentally conscious, creative and to develop entrepreneurial skills through the repurposing of pens while Every Hand Every Book(EHEB) focuses on ensuring children of the less fortunate in society have access to quality reading and teaching materials.
Moi University Wins 3rd place
BIC East Africa Deputy General Manager Michael Sinclair said, “We introduced BIC Educational Challenge because we believe we want to promote education, innovation and social entrepreneurship. We are giving these students a platform to showcase their ideas at a national level through our BIC Educational Challenge and at an international level through our partnership with Enactus Kenya. It is our greatest hope to see these projects come to life with our guidance.”
“This partnership with BIC adds concrete value to Enactus Kenya’s objectives to expose students to corporate mentorship and preparation for current job market needs through experiential learning through impactful community projects,” said James Shikwati, Enactus Kenya country director.
The other participating teams for the challenge included; Agrenactus team from Moi West University who aim to implement a cheap-self-sustaining feeding program for the pupils, provide learning materials and uniforms through Vertical Agriculture. Tunza team from Multimedia University project which is an initiative that aims at reducing school dropouts by monitoring the behavior of students and promoting girl child education
The winning team will also receive mentorship from the BIC East Africa team as they prepare them for the 18th Enactus National Competition taking place in June 2020. The National competition winners will then represent Kenya at the 2020 Enactus World Cup later in the year, competing against 37 Enactus affiliate countries. This year, the Enactus World Cup will take place in Utrecht, The Netherlands.
The competition which will be held annually by BIC East Africa in collaboration with experiential and learning platform Enactus Kenya, will invite university students to develop projects addressing the challenges in education in Kenya. The participating teams will be evaluated on the projects’ eligibility, market, and user needs, and concept.
About Enactus Kenya
Enactus Kenya (Then SIFE Kenya) was launched in 2002 following an M.O.U between Enactus International (Then SIFE International) and Inter Region Economic Network Ltd (IREN). The organization operates in 34 colleges and universities, with more than 2500 students participating.
Enactus is an international organization that brings together students, academic and business leaders who are committed to using the power of entrepreneurial action to shape a better, more sustainable world. Guided by faculty advisors and business experts, participating students form teams on their campuses to create and implement community projects that empower people in need.
The experience not only transforms lives, it helps students develop the skills and perspective necessary to become effective, values-driven leaders. Founded in 1975, today Enactus has more than 66,500 student participants on campuses in 37 countries globally.
Website: enactus.org/country/kenya/
About Enactus
At Enactus, we believe investing in students who take entrepreneurial action for others creates a better world for us all. Enactus develops college students into leaders who use business to solve community challenges, creating sustainable improvements in the lives of the people their projects serve, and in turn, the lives of the students themselves. Enactus is the world’s largest experiential learning platform dedicated to creating a better world while developing the next generation of entrepreneurial leaders to use innovation and business principles to do so. Enactus has more than 72,000 student participants on over 1,700 campuses in 37 countries. For more information,www.enactus.org.
For more information contact: Ivy Vuguza, IREN Communications and Digital Content Manager, Tel: +254 20-2731497 | Cell: 071508505 Email: ivy@irenkenya.com
