Dr. Annette Okoth addressing the students.

The African Women in Science and Engineering (AWSE)- MMUST Chapter, yesterday, 10^th November 2022, continued with the STEM mentorship program and their mission of ensuring that female students do not miss their classes due to menstrual cycle by donating sanitary pads. This was patent during AWSE’s outreach activity to Mwiyala Secondary School - Kakamega, on 10th November 2022. The Sanitary Pads Campaign is a key program that will certainly inhibit absenteeism among female students.

As part of the greening initiative, the AWSE-MMUST Chapter conducted a tree planting exercise at the School grounds which was led by the Chief Guest Mr.  John Kibet Tirop who planted a few seedlings with the girls while the boys planted with the AWSE Chairperson Dr. Selline Ooko. Tree planting exercise is one of AWS's initiatives to ensure more trees are planted and the environment is kept green. Each student was then assigned the role to take care of the trees and make sure that they grow to improve the scenery of the school.

The AWSE team brought on board a national motivational speaker, Mr. John Tirop who made an extensive talk about the benefits of pursuing STEM subjects. Mr. Tirop advised the Form Three students to change their attitudes for better performance in the Science subjects. His remarkable presentation to the students marked the climax of the AWSE outreach.

“Start where you are, use what you have, and do what you can. The four pillars of success include self-belief, single focus, interest, and dream. Balance your commitments and stay focused,” encouraged Mr. Tirop.

From left; Mr. John Tirop, Dr. Annette Okoth and one of the Form 3 students doing a demonstration.

The team, led by Dr. Seline Ooko donated sanitary pads to the female students at the school and gave a career talk whose main focus was on science-oriented subjects.  “The girl child needs to be empowered to aim high in their studies and also put in effort in STEM-related subjects. MMUST is determined to support any efforts towards popularizing STEM subjects,” she said.

The Principal, of Mwiyala Secondary School, Ms. Jaqueline Wamwayi conveyed her appreciation to MMUST for choosing Mwiyala Secondary School for their outreach activity. “I am so exhilarated that you identified us among the many schools in Kakamega County. We are so blessed to have you. This is a timely venture that will transform our students for better performance,” she said.

AWSE team together with the students during sanitary pads donation.

Two student representatives who spoke after this crucial exercise attested to the great knowledge they had gained from the session. They expressed delight to the MMUST fraternity for being mindful of their futures. Similarly, the boys were not left out, they received branded INWES/AWSE pens from the AWSE team. 

“We are glad to have you in our school. Some of us were on the verge of giving up because we did not know what to do. We did have someone to encourage us. Indeed, this is an appropriate undertaking that will turn around our lives due to better performances that we shall have,” they said 

A section of the AWSE team.

Other notable personalities at the event included Mwiyala Secondary School Board Member, Beatrice Barasa, MMUST’s Dr. Fridah Njeru, Dr. Annette Okoth, Dr. Mary Gorretty Kariaga, Ms. Judy Dipondo, Ms. Purity Muchere and MMUST students who are STEM ambassadors.

The STEM ambassadors, who are MMUST students pursuing Science related courses, mentored the students both in the group and at individual levels. They encouraged the students to choose subjects towards STEM and mentored the learners on how to deal with academic challenges and social challenges

Such initiatives expose students to experiential and inquiry-based learning opportunities outside of the classroom to boost students' interest in STEM. Effective Science outreach of this nature is fun and rewarding, and it is what society greatly needs at this time!

by Linet Owuor

Photos by Wilberforce Shiundu

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