Sending STEM Ambassadors into Tanzania’s Schools

Alumni, College/University Partners, Education & Research, Technology, Interview/Profile

Eli Swai, wearing a gray polo with a breast-pocket patch featuring a red and yellow light bulb, smiles for a headshot in front of a green and lush outdoor garden.

With a Projects for Peace grant in the summer after her sophomore year at Worcester Polytechnic Institute, Elitumaini “Eli” Swai ’23 (Tanzania, UWC South East Asia) launched a project in her home country that she named Sayansi Ambassadors. She drew inspiration from WPI’s Engineering Ambassadors program, which sends undergraduates into middle and high schools to be STEM role models.

The first Sayansi Ambassadors did hands-on teaching activities in primary schools, focused on electrical circuits. When a science teacher at one school mentioned how difficult it was to teach computer-related topics without computers, in 2022 Eli used funding from the WPI Women’s Impact Network to purchase iPad computers and train a group of program assistants who trained teachers and students at primary schools in using the computers for learning. They also conducted sessions with female students on menstrual hygiene, and provided sanitary kits.

Eli’s program has expanded. “We have a total of 30 iPads,” she reports, “and the team of PAs at the moment is eight. However, about four of them are graduating from universities this year, so I am hoping to secure funding for next year to recruit more.”

Eli works as a research and development engineer at AM Batteries, a lithium-ion battery electrode manufacturing startup founded by a WPI professor. “I still do Sayansi Ambassadors work in all my spare time,” she writes, “as it’s a passion for me, giving back to my community. Above all, the impact is such a great motivation to think of ways to keep the organization going.”

This profile is part of the “Graduates in Action” series from the 2024 Annual Report.

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