POLOKWANE – Dipuo Nthane, Tebogo Mamabolo and Nthabiseng Motona from Taxila Secondary School recently returned from Sweden, where they represented South Africa at the 2014 Stockholm Junior Water Prize award ceremony.
The Stockholm Junior Water Prize is a competition where learners from around the world aged between 15 and 20 showcase their unique solutions to water related challenges.
Nthane and Motona, who are currently in gr. 11 and Mamabolo, currently in gr. 10, were part of 62 learners from 29 countries chosen to take part in the competition.
The trio built a nano-enabled rainmaker humidification system (RHS) designed to purify and remove microbial and chemical contamination from roof harvested rain water to make it suitable for drinking.
The RHS is said to have the capability to improve the quality of life in rural and urban South Africa, as well as globally.
Although the grand prize of R150 000 went to Hayley Todesco from Canada, the three learners said they learned a lot from the experience.
“It was an awesome experience. We went on a tour through the city and learned so much about its history. The buildings are very old. When renovated, the originality was kept. I had two roommates, one from Chile and another from Hungary. I learned about their cultures, music and traditional wear. It was very interesting. During the competition, I learned that there are a lot of young scientists in the world with young innovative ideas,” Dipuo said.
According to Motona, it was very difficult to adapt to the environment and food in Stockholm.
“By 20:00, the sun was still high in the sky, whereas in South Africa, it is dark at that time The people there are very health conscious and substitute meat with fish and potatoes is the main starch. In South Africa we eat pap and meat. But apart from that, it was an amazing experience, and I have learned that learning is not only in school, but every opportunity and situation one faces in life,” Motona said.
The most exciting experience for Mamabolo was the means of transport and transport system in Stockholm.
“They have a variety of transport to use like, trains, boats, busses, cable cars, cabs and bicycles. The most preferred transport is bicycles,” Tebogo said.
The trio said the funniest experience they had was the cost of a hamburger.
“A pencil and hamburger cost the same price, whereas in South Africa 10 pencils buy you one burger,” Motona said with a smile.
Taxila life science teacher, Matome Mabitsela, who accompanied the learners to Sweden said: “I have observed that Stockholm is one of the cleanest cities with little crime.
“The people are very passionate about their environment and use bicycles rather than cars to lower carbon emission in the atmosphere. They also believe in healthy living”.
