Larry Labe Beatrice, a Senior 6 Student at St. Paul International School won big on Wednesday, February 9th at the Wavumbuzi Awards Ceremony. Surrounded by her School Officials, Parents, and fellow Students, Larry was awarded a laptop, a modem, and an innovation tour as the top winner of the Wavumbuzi Entrepreneurship Challenge for its second edition. In this last edition, the gamified online Entrepreneurship Challenge attracted 6613 high School Students from more than 537 Schools across all districts, as well as 1439 Teachers who registered to support those Students.
"The work of the Allan & Gill Gray Philanthropies in Africa is informed by a common vision for the continent, an empowered, prosperous and productively engaged African citizenry, thriving in ethical communities with dignity and hope,” said CEO Anthony Farr during his opening remarks. In her welcome remarks, Aline Kabanda, Rwanda Country Director of the Allan & Gill Gray Philanthropie who reminded that the freely accessible and annual challenge seeks to nurture and develop entrepreneurial competencies and mindsets among secondary school students. She reminded that it is important to do so much earlier on to inspire the young generation to see themselves as future entrepreneurs, innovators and changemakers.
Sandrine Ikirezi Gasugi and Elie Ntakirutima from GSOB were both awarded at the top students in the Banking and Water Quests, respectively.
The Wavumbuzi Awards Ceremony was attended by Government Officials, Ecosystem Leaders, Allan & Gill Grap Philanthropies staff members, and most importantly Students and Teachers across the country. Speaking on behalf of fellow headteachers, Geoffrey Mutabazi, Superintendent of the Kigali Christian Schools, commended Wavumbuzi for being a great complement to the existing national Entrepreneurship curriculum. "When students are at school, they need to get a portable repertoire of skills that they’re able to take with them after school. Wavumbuzi provides those skills,” said Geoffrey.
The second edition of the Entrepreneurship Challenge focused on four industry topics, also known as Quests in the Wavumbuzi language, and they were Smart Farming, Water, Banking, and Healthcare with a focus on Hospitals. Reflecting on their six week experience which started on October 25th, 2021, students spoke highly of the challenge. "Farming was not something I think about on a daily basis, but Wavumbuzi helped him to do that, and this award is an encouragement to learn more about Smart Farming,” testified Julien Mugisha, student at E. Sc. Gisenyi and winner of the top student award in the Smarting Farming Quest. His sentiments were equally shared by Larry Labe Beatrice, the overall challenge winner, who also shared her wishes for Wavumbuzi to be known internationally so that more students could benefit from the Challenge.
The winner categories included Top Student, Top School, Top Teacher, and Top Student per quest awards. As Larry Labe won the top student award, the top school award went to GS Musango in Karongi District, while GS Rambura Filles’ teacher Thomas Ngizwenimana scooped up the top teacher award. There is also Julien Mugisha from E.Sc. Gisenyi, Prince Shema from Gahogo Adventist School, Elie Ntakirutimana and Sandrine Gasugi both from GSOB who won the top student per quest rewards in Smart Farming, Healthcare, Water, and Baking Quests respectively. The awards included laptops and tablets from students and teachers, smart TVs and cash prizes for schools.
Spotlighting High School Innovations
The virtual ceremony spotlighted students from GS St. Pierre Nkombo in Rusizi district. After seeing that fossil fuels are some of the biggest air pollutants, the group composed of four students came up with a system that powers different types of engines with hydrogen gas as a replacement for fuel, and they have successfully been able to power different motorcycles including a motorbike from their own school. Additionally the group has also invented an ATM machine which uses SIM cards to withdraw money unlike those that use Debit cards. Speaking on behalf of the team, Elie Gisubizo informed that their invention aims at responding to the lack of ATM machines and limited availability of MTN and Airtel agents in rural areas.
Larry Labe Beatrice, student at St. Paul International School and the overall winner of the 2nd edition of the Wavumbuzi Entrepreneurship Challenge.
Sharing her keynote address, Hon, Paula Ingabire, Minister of ICT who was the Guest of Honor, expressed her appreciation of the partnership that the Ministry has established with Allan & Gill Gray Philanthropy to motivate and inspire young entrepreneurs in the school communities. She acknowledged the awards ceremony as both a recognition to the top performers and an encouragement to all students who participated in the challenge. "We hope that Wavumbuzi can be a program through which our students are exposed to different challenges we are trying to fix within our society,” she shared.
What to expect in 2022
The Wavumbuzi Entrepreneurship Challenge aims to take place every year. Sharing on what to expect in the upcoming third edition of the challenge in October this year, Aline Akabanda promised an exclusive mentorship program for the 2nd edition Student Winners, more quests to be offered that will expose students to many other industries, and inviting partners to be part of that process, and an improved user experience on the Wavumbuzi platform.