Quite often, smaller communities are underestimated in relation to what they have to offer and in order to break that mindset, Shahad Hussain has created the Crabwood Creek STEM Club to show the small Region Six community has the potential to shine.
STEM, which stands for Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics, is not a new concept, but it is now really taking off in Guyana, and is an absolute necessity for the technology age. With this in mind, the 22-year-old Shahad began following the work of STEMGuyana and when time came for him to start studies at the University of Guyana, his dream of being a part of the STEM league became a reality.
In January, STEMGuyana co-founder Karen Abrams was offering coaching sessions at the Public Telecommunications Ministry, and Shahad was lucky enough to be selected for that. After that session, he returned to Crabwood Creek and immediately got a team together and started the Crabwood Creek STEM Club.
“I was always interested in STEM. I am particularly biased to engineering and I completed the GuySuCo Apprenticeship Programme in mechanical and electrical engineering and that is what inspired me to go after my dream of STEM,” he said.
According to Shahad, his love for STEM and Robotics was cemented when Chief Elections Officer Keith Lowenfield spoke at his apprenticeship graduation in 2016. During Lowenfield’s speech to the graduands he encouraged them to go after the STEM field and position themselves and their communities to make their mark.
Now the Crabwood Creek STEM Club has five members, just enough to participate in STEMGuyana league competitions. Shahad says that for now the aim is to build a reputation for the Club and then expand to accommodate more members of the community.
“The aim for the future is for me to complete the challenges and get more students aware of the STEM aspect of things. I want them to say that coming from a small community does not mean that you can’t dream big. I want them to know that they can compete and be a part of anything that they want to,” he said.
With the Education Ministry pushing for the implementation of STEM in the school curriculum, Shahad says that before that is done, it is the intention of his Club to ensure that every student within the community has a foundation in STEM. He said while the immediate goal was to secure sponsorship and donations to expand the reach of the Club, the near future would see them going into schools to educate the children.
“I would like to see different facilities offering robotics and Scratch coding classes to get the youths involved. Technology is rising and we want to educate everyone. Also, the schools should be a part of the leagues and then persons from school would have some knowledge going into the STEM field,” Shahad said.
Speaking about the challenges relating to starting up a STEM Club, Shahad said time management was key as well as a stable and powerful Internet connection, in addition to the resources needed to acquire equipment for robotics as well as programming.
When asked what drives him, Shahad had this to say: “The passion that I know that I am making a difference. I want to make this place better and for the youths to transition without much issues.” (Guyana Times Sunday Magazine)
