Meet Nigeria’s Team Save A Soul — 2018 Junior Division Technovation Winners
Every year, the Technovation Global Challenge Program encourages teams of girls from around the world “to learn and apply the skills needed to solve real-world problems through technology.”
A group of finalists moves on to the World Pitch Day where they present their idea alongside other teams from around the world. This year, the Junior Division winners were Team Save A Soul from Nigeria. They created an app called FD-Detector (Fake Drug Detector) which “helps identify fake pharmaceutical drugs in Nigeria.”
Smart Girls checked in with the group of students after their win to hear more about how their experience at Technovation is impacting their futures.
Team Member // Nwabuaku O.
When did you first become interested in technology and what do you like about it?
I was interested the first time I heard about technology because my mentor taught us coding and enlightened us about the benefits of technology. Then, I knew I had a future in technology. I like the fact that I got to use the computer for the first time, the research, block and even pitching on the stage — which is my greatest fear.
What was the inspiration for your project and why do you think it’s important?
The inspiration started from our mentors (Mrs Uchenna and her team members Somkene and Kazeem.) She let us go outside to go and identify problems in our community. At that point, we discovered that one of our team members had lost her brother to fake drugs. That was what led us to the mobile app development of how to detect fake drugs to save lives.
How did it feel when you found out you would be attending the Technovation World Summit Pitch in San Francisco?
When I heard I will be traveling for Technovation World Pitch I was very happy. This will be my first time of traveling outside of Nigeria. I also knew that I had to prepare hard to compete with other countries that are more advanced in technology compared to me using the computer for the first time.
Team Member // Adaeze O.
When did you first become interested in technology and what do you like about it?
I first became interested in technology when our mentor, an uncompromising young woman Uchenna Onwuamaegbu-Ugwu, came to our school to offer free coding class, programming language known as HTML. I will forever be indebted to her and her team. Since then, I have been interested in technology. Most things in our lives are made from technology that makes me eager to acquire more knowledge.
How did it feel when you found out you would be attending the Technovation World Summit Pitch in San Francisco?
I felt so happy. At first, hearing that I would be competing with girls from other countries got me nervous, but my mentor calmed me down with lots of inspiration.
Team Member // Promise N.
What was the inspiration for your project and why do you think it’s important?
I was inspired to build this app because a lot of people in the world have died because of this. And the app is important because it will help to stop the high number of death in our society and the world at large.
How has your Technovation experience shaped your future plans?
By participating in Technovation, I now plan my future in such a way that everything I’m doing will be through technology because I want to be a medical doctor and surgeon. I believe that I can do an operation through the help of robot and am very interested in robotics and medicine.
Find out more about Technovation by visiting their website. Interview lightly edited for clarity and length.
