TAIK MONTHLY NEWSLETTER

Dive into the latest from TAIK with our monthly Newsletter, delivering the freshest insights directly from our platforms. ?For those new to TAIK, we're a nonprofit organization on a mission to reshape narratives about African history, knowledge, and innovation.

What's more, our unwavering commitment extends to creating avenues for young Africans in the exciting #STEM field. Stay connected, stay informed!

African Voices in STEM: Audrey Chanakira on AI, App Development, and Advocacy

This month we had an enlightening conversation with Audrey Chanakira, an iOS developer, Google Women Techmakers Ambassador, and Founder of the Zim Developers community. From sparking her interest in computers while playing FIFA on her uncle's computer as a child to crafting remarkable apps during the pandemic and captivating audiences as a TEDx speaker on AI development, Audrey Chanakira is a formidable force and a STEM advocate worth following.

Quote of the month

Nous pleurons la disparition de l'écrivaine guadeloupéenne Maryse Condé. Pionnière de la fiction historique décoloniale et afrocentrique, elle a donné une voix forte et sincère à la douleur et à la nostalgie de la patrie que les descendants africains ne connaissent que trop bien. Elle est décédée le 2 avril 2024, mais son héritage est toujours vivant. -Maryse Condé, French novelist, critic, and playwright

LATEST Publication

The Remarkable Journey of Professor Tebello Nyokong

Prof. Tebello Nyokong is a Distinguished Professor of Chemistry at Rhodes University , and she also serves as the Director of the DST/Mintek Nanotechnology Innovation Centre. Professor Nyokong's work in photodynamic therapy, particularly its potential in cancer treatment, has been widely recognized for its promise in offering an alternative to traditional chemotherapy. Her research utilizes dyes that can be activated by laser light to target and destroy cancerous tissues, all while minimizing harm to healthy cells. Her educational path took her from Lesotho to Canada and the United States, where she earned her master's and doctoral degrees in chemistry, setting the stage for groundbreaking research and innovative contributions to the fields of photodynamic therapy and nanotechnology. Professor Nyokong's outstanding contributions have earned her recognition on the global stage.

Notably, she was appointed by the Pope to serve as a member of the Vatican Pontifical Academy of Sciences and has also been recognized as a Fellow of the Royal Society, a rare and distinguished honor. Her accolades extend to the L’Oréal-UNESCO award for 'Women in Science' as a Laureate, the Gold Medal of the South African Chemical Institute, and the Order of Mapungubwe, South Africa's highest honor.

TAIK Educates

Lumumba's Political Awakening and Maturity - Part 2 of 4

On one weekend day, Lumumba crossed the Congo River to see what life was like in Brazzaville, then the capital of French Equatorial Africa.

After walking around downtown Brazzaville on a hot afternoon, Lumumba saw a café and went to it with the hope of finding a black waiter who could bring him a glass of water to drink.

TAIK Informs

Building cost-efficient, rapid COVID-19 testing systems: stories from across the continent

Although efficient and quite reliable, one COVID-19 antigen testing kit currently?costs $30-50?in the United States. Facing the challenge of mitigating the virus spread under financial constraints, African researchers have worked on developing protocols for testing as many people as possible, in a cost-efficient and rapid manner.

Several African innovations against coronavirus have proliferated, from touch-free handwashing tools or generating lung X-ray scans from sounds in Kenya, home-made ventilators prototyped in Somalia, using drones to drop off testing kits in hard-to-reach places in Ghana, or deploying robots in treatment centers in Rwanda.

In this article, we focus on two innovations: a new method for pooled testing in Kenya, and a ￡1-diagnostic kit in Senegal.

TAIK Inspires

Mireille Kamariza: An award-winning scientist who is changing the equation in the global Tuberculosis crisis

Mireille Kamariza is currently a Junior Fellow at Harvard University and a postdoctoral researcher at the Broad Institute in Boston. Her research considers the development of new technologies that can be used to diagnose infectious diseases quickly and without the need for expensive machines.

Empowering Minds

Nkosana Butholenkosi Masuku Wins 2023 Global Citizen Prize for Transformative STEM Education in Africa

Nkosana Butholenkosi Masuku, a 28-year-old visionary dedicated to making STEM education accessible for rural, low-income-communities, in his native Zimbabwe and across the African continent emerged as the recipient of the prestigious 2023 Global Citizen Prize: Cisco YouthLeadership Award for his commendable work with Science Learning.

Selected among eight outstanding individuals, Masuku is the founder and chief executive officer of PhenomenonTechnologies, a multi-award-winning start-up that provides applied science learning to students through mixed reality technologies. This innovative approach enhances the educational experience, making it engaging and effective.

The annual award recognizes and celebrates the achievements of unsung activists who positively impact their communities, going above and beyond to address the world’s most important goals outlined by the United Nations’ Global Goals.

As a STEM educator, Masuku witnessed firsthand the educational disparities caused by a lack of resources, observing students in Zimbabwe and across the continent falling behind their global counterparts in STEM education. Motivated by this experience, Masuku launched Sciency Learning, a platform offering practical and applied STEM education to students in Zimbabwe at a low cost. The goal is to reduce increasing dropout rates and promote STEM development in low-income communities.

Masuku explained, “Sciency was started because, while teaching in rural areas, I realized learners struggled to comprehend practical science subjects due to a lack of study materials. Teaching practicals in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM)helps students retain knowledge, thereby reducing dropout rates.” Masuku shared as he accepted the award in New York.

As part of the 2023 Cisco Youth LeadershipAward, Masuku, will receive a year-long program of support from Global Citizen, a $250,000 grant from the U.S. African Development Foundation (USADF) and the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) to enable the continued growth of his organization.

To date, Masuku and his team have impacted over 65,000 learners and have ambitious plans to reach an additional one million across the continent in the next five years.

“We need young people who can be critical innovators,” Masuku continued. “My hope for the kids I am teaching is that they become the next generation of innovators, developing solutions to community problems.”

2024???The Africa I Know?? All rights reserved.