STEM DRC Invited to Speak at UN
On the lnternational Day of Women and Girls in Science, Dr. Sandrine Mubenga represented STEM DRC in a speech at the UN about STEM Education in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. There was an emphasis on STEM education and the involvement of Girls in STEM professions. In the past, girls and women have been victimized by war in the DRC. But STEM DRC is helping them rise above this history by providing STEM Scholarships and promoting STEM Professions. Partnerships with other organizations and the World Bank help make this work possible. Please watch the video and then support the work. Donations can be made at STEMDRC.com to further this cause. Advancement of economic conditions in the DRC can result from making STEM Education possible.
In the presentation, the following points were made:
First, STEM DRC Initiative (www.stemdrc.com), founded by Dr. Sandrine Mubenga, has the mission to promote Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math (STEM) education, research, and entrepreneurship in the D.R.C, its diaspora, and the USA. “I launched STEM DRC Initiative because the STEM fields hold the answers to day-to-day people problems, and as such if people are adequately equipped with the knowledge of STEM, they can find solutions to their own problems.”
Since 2018, the impacts of STEM DRC Initiave have been significant: construction of the first STEM’s center in Walungu/DRC, 185 scholarships were granted, more than +6,000 attendees to workshops/conferences, over 4981 followers, creation of the Excellence in STEM award to highlight the success of young professional Congolese professional, entrepreneurs or researchers in the STEM fields. This award aims to inspire the youths by providing them with positive role models in STEM. STEM DRC also donated goods to 122 disabled children who were victim of war, and sponsored a STEM program for the blind in partnership with the association NGO ‘’Voir Avec le Coeur’’. Covid-19 pandemic has highlighted the need to invest in the STEM fields to spur innovation.
In the DRC, there were not enough ventilators. So, STEM DRC Initiative called to action engineers and people of good will to collaborate on a project to manufacture a ventilator in the DRC. We built two ventilator prototypes made in DRC. Then, still in response to Covid-19 and the lack of oxygen supply, STEM DRC initiated and implemented a project to locally produce oxygen in partnership with the World Bank and the University of Loyola. As a result, 8 oxygen plants were installed in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, producing 22,000 liters of oxygen per day till this day.
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