Al-Nahda-EliStory
Young Elijah's Story
From John Cohn's Blog: John Cohn
1. Elijah Achiek Panchol JANUARY 2, 2024 AT 8:57 AM
Growing up in a war-torn South Sudan, we never really had opportunity to experience science in action. However, in 2006, I was fortunately to a refugee camp in Kenya (Kakuma Refugee camp). There I had an opportunity to get access to used batteries, discarded copper wires and old used torch bulbs. My friend Apiu Kuol and I would collect the used batteries and bulbs, since we had no electricity in our huts, we figured out that if we bundle up these batteries in series (Didn’t know then what connection in series was). We would then use the copper wires to connect it with the used bulb. We even figured out how to connect multiple bulbs. While every other hut was dark ours was lit. Elderly kids who were doing science in grade 8 would come to us and we would explain our little project in the most 10 years old possible. One day one of the kid came back and told us that our project helps him answer a multiple-choice question about circuit in exams. We were just 10 and no one in the neighborhood new better.
Unfortunately, in 2007 I return back to the war-torn South Sudan where I continued my education until grade 12. Although I was doing science, we really never had a chance to see science in action. We would study physics even would draw the VanDeGraaf generator, unfortunately never saw what it looks like. When I got accepted into school of engineering in Cairo University, I thought things were going to be different. Unfortunately, all was the same. Reading, cramming for exams and never really had the resources to get equipment needed for hand on learning. I then realize that something is wrong with our education system, and something had to be done to either at an individual level or the governmental level.
Fortunately, I became a teacher in one of the refugees’ schools and there came my chance to try to give opportunity I never had to kids that I saw had potential and are incline to practical learning. Sadly, the school was not receptive of my ideas and always regard them as too advance and complicated for kids to understand. Plus, the scarcity of the material to implement science projects. This made me realize that perhaps trying to change the status quo is in itself a big war.
Luckily when I met Terry King in Cairo Egypt, everything changed, and we decided to establish a learning center to serve the refugee communities in Cairo. In this center we will encourage kids to explore their skills and talent. Thanks to Terry’s yuorduino, we can now have access to arduino boards. To me that is an opportunity once in a lifetime.
Our hope is that in the future, we would be able to have a community of young refugees aspiring to become engineers and measure in STEM careers, have an opportunity to use some of the materials in John’s program.
All thanks to Terry King and Mary Alice. BY ELIJAH ACHIEK GRADUATE OF SYSTEM AND BIOMEDICAL ENGINEERING, CAIRO UNIVERSITY.
JANUARY 22, 2024 AT 10:06 PM John Cohn
Elijah.. thanks for your amazing story !!!. and congratulations for what you’ve done to share your love of STEM with others. .. I too was launched on my passion for STEM promotion by Terry.. I really appreciate your writing !