ISLA 2018 WINNER
Mathematician Dr Seema Nanda together with the Physicist and educator Dr Stefan Schramm, are starting a pilot study of “Maths Waali” a validated mobile phone app in December 2018 for elementary school students of a low income school in Chinnappa Garden Slums, Bangalore. This pilot will be conducted under the aegis of Leora Trust, (www.leoratrust.com) a non-profit founded in 2012 by Dr Nanda.
This integrated maths learning experience provides incentive to students to do math everyday and provides instant feedback, customised to each child, using analysis based on Artificial Intelligence. In addition, there is a dynamic modification of the lessons using a neural network algorithm. Maths Waali is specifically geared to the urban slum children leaving school innumerate. There are more than 20 million such children in India.
HWDI believes that the business model behind this initiative, the building of relationships with schools, the scalability, the innovative use of tech and the way in which the app provides a “daily nudge” creating both a reduction of fear and an interest in maths through a supportive and shared community fulfils its mission to improve science literacy in underserved communities.
RUNNERS UP (in no particular order)
This year we received many excellent projects, some barely started, others with several years of effort behind them. HWDI wanted to recognise some of these unsung enterprises with small runner up grants.
In no particular order, here are the three runners up which will receive grants of £400 each.
This small local charity based in western Kenya is bringing relief from the scourge of Jiggers (tungiasis) - infestation, mostly of the feet, by the parasitic chigoe flea. During the last year more than 2300 badly affected children and adults have been treated, reducing the stigma and loss of schooling associated with this debilitating condition. What HWDI finds so meaningful about the way the founder, Oscar Galavu, has approached this problem is his use of locally manufactured and successful remedies as well as widening the remit to include provide information and assistance in vegetable and poultry farming and the improvement of hygiene through building pit latrines. This holistic response to providing and sustaining a significant improvement in the knowledge base of the community deserves further analysis and HWDI is proud to be associated with this work. angelsofhopecharity.org
A concerning statistic for you - in Cameroon there are only 0.05 psychiatrists and 0.35 clinical psychologists for every 100,000 people! In addition, the country’s Institute for Statistics reported that in 2011, 42% of mothers are between 12 and 19 years old. UNI-PSY et Bien-etre (http:// www.mhinnovation.net/organisations/unipsy-et-bien-etre) been active for several years, developing a mental health evaluation and management guide for adolescent mothers and implementing a training programme involving caregivers from doctors and psychologists to counsellors and social workers. They use validated therapeutic approaches and are seeking extra funding to study the effectiveness of prenatal mental health care and a new tool for the diagnosis and prevention of perinatal health care. UNI-PSY work in conjunction with its Geneva-based partners ASP (Public Health Action) and ISG (Global Health Institute - https://www.unige.ch/medecine/isg/). HWDI is looking forward to helping in these worthwhile endeavours in an effort to examine the portability of these measures.
This woman-centred organisation (https://gwedg.wordpress.com) was born out of the civil wars that ravaged Uganda, especially Gulu, a northern province. It is committed to promoting the rights of women and vulnerable communities. For the last three years it has been the local partner of ARCH (Advocates for Rural Community Health, https://www.facebook.com/ARCHRuralHealth) , a Nevada-based non profit, providing post-conflict experience for American medical students. they have created a programme to facilitate education about menstruation, personal hygiene and the production of reusable sanitary pads and soap from local materials. What HWDI especially applauds is that the “Stitch Cycle” programme is structured to include boys, help remove the ignorance and stigma associated with menstruation and will be sustainable through GWED-G’s many co-ordinated teams.
