Teenager Abigail Mortey has a clear vision: to manufacture a mosquito repellent aimed to control malaria in Ghana. The Forum for African Women Educationalist (FAWE), a non-governmental organization founded to support education for girls across Africa and a 2008 recipient of the Henry R. Kravis Prize in Leadership, selected Miss Mortey as the winner of this year’s FAWE Science and Technology competition, according to VibeGhana.com.
Mortey was among 18 other contestants who invented various technologies on FAWE’s theme this year: “Enhancing the study of Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics Among Girls in Ghana.”
FAWE hopes that competitions and programs like this one will help unearth undiscovered talent within the country’s female population. Seeking to inspire girls to take a role in their education, FAWE aims to help girls assume their integral role in solving the urgent problems affecting Ghana and the rest of the African continent.
Founded in 1992, FAWE is now the leading non-governmental organization directly confronting issues of girls’ education in Africa. The threat of mosquitoes and malaria is an issue that FAWE has in common with many other organizations, especially Helen Keller International, which distributes Vitamin A capsules to children and breastfeeding mothers to boost their immunity against the risk of infection. Like FAWE, HKI is also a recipient of the Kravis Prize, which it was awarded earlier this year.
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