Throughout the summer of the previous years, ALA hosted Avi-STEM Camps and expected to expose thousands of learners, especially girls from the Sub-Saharan African countries to Aviation and STEM: Kenya, Rwanda, Zimbabwe, Zambia and South Africa.
According to UNESCO, Sub-Saharan Africa accounts for about 28% of women in STEM careers.
Having the highest portion of female graduates in Sub-Saharan Africa at 32%, and even more female ICT graduates, at 38%, according to a recent report. The economic and social prosperity of Sub-Saharan African (SSA) countries depends on the state of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM). Yet, women and girls continue to be underrepresented in the STEM field.
Globally, in 2020, a mere 5% of pilots were women, and a tiny 1.42% of all captains were female, according to statistics from the International Society of Women Airline Pilots.
That is exactly where ALA comes in; we are a pool of professionals in diverse Aviation & STEM sectors who want to support Sub-Saharan’s vulnerable females, so we turn the statistics of Africa’s involvement in Aviation & STEM-related innovations and work. Through our programs, we address the issues our communities have; lack of basic access to information on the Aviation & STEM field and quality education.
Planned activities
Daily Program from 09h00 to 15h00
Sessions:
Manned Aviation Workshops – Campers will also have the opportunity to fly simulators
Introduction to Drone Technology – Campers will also have the opportunity to fly a drone
Coding & Robotics Sessions
Leadership & STEM Workshops Entrepreneurship Sessions – Campers will learn how to build an app and make soap.
By hosting Aviation & STEM Camps, ALA wants to;
- Expose and encourage young people to take up aviation & STEM Careers as well as prepare for their futures in the best way they can.
- Address the stigma of aviation and STEM-related subjects being difficult or impossible to achieve and improve confidence.
- Make aviation and STEM attractive by influencing the learners into aviation & STEM career fields, which are the future of the world’s solutions in various sectors such as health, agriculture, and finance.
- Have a positive long-term impact in Sub-Saharan aviation & STEM education and professional fields.
- Foster Sub-Saharan youth who can one day produce aviation global solutions.
- Link Sub-Saharan youth and scholarship opportunities that are available in the aviation field. This will help reduce the fees for pilot training etc., and make aviation more accessible to previously disadvantaged groups of people.”