2019 Hope of Guinea STEAM Camp

A STEAM (science, technology, engineering, arts, mathematics) Camp in Guinea

Guinea is a vibrant country full of determined, innovative, and curious youth looking for opportunities to learn more and expand their horizons. Hope of Guinea aims to provide one such opportunity through our annual summer STEAM Camp. Since 2016, our STEAM Camp has provided innovative ways of learning and resources to kids in Conakry, Guinea. 

This year's camp will be from July 1st - July 11th.  The camp will take place Mondays to Thursdays and will include at least 14 hands-on STEM focused experiments, 6 art oriented lessons, and two field trips or service projects. 8 schools have partnered with us and will have 40 students in total attend the camp. Because last year's camp was cut short due to city-wide protests, we'll be inviting back all of last year's participating students.

Each partner school will have a teacher volunteer participate in the STEAM camp and then lead an after-school STEAM program at his or her school. Part of the camp will include professional development for teachers to help them improve their teaching practices. 

How You Can Help and Why

We need to raise $5,000 to successfully run and expand our STEAM Camp so that it has a long-term impact that not only works to give the students the tools to empower themselves, but also tools for teachers in country to help sustain and incorporate growth mindset and practical learning within Guinea's education system.

Small changes can have a big impact and your support makes the difference in how big that impact is. We hope that the kids who participate in our STEAM Camp will go home with confidence and a new found curiosity in exploring STEAM subjects.

The funds raised will cover the following expenses:

• Materials required to teach the curriculum and for participants to design and build projects and experiments;
• Materials  and curriculum for local instructors to take back to their schools after the camp to create after-school science clubs;
• Create 5 year around after-school STEAM clubs at 5 different schools;
• Advertising and branding;
• Internet usage during the camp;
• Pre- and post-camp assessment and evaluations for all camp participants.

The Impact

Through our STEAM Camp curriculum, learning methods and artistic outlets, we hope to make a significant change in the lives of the 40 students. Studies have shown that students introduced to new, exciting experiences will go home with confidence and a new found curiosity in exploring STEAM and its correlation to the challenges that their communities face.

Additionally, we will be training 8 Guinean teachers on how to run similar camps in their own schools. Not only will they participate in our camp, but they will be provided with a written guide and materials that they would never have been able to procure otherwise, like microscopes, calculators, and test tubes. If each of our eight teachers holds a camp with 30 students per semester, our project will have been responsible for bringing scientific discovery to 480 students in one year. We are currently in the process of creating a tool to assess the camp and the impact that our eight teachers will have. We are committed to giving hope to Guinea's future STEAM leaders and hope you join us in our initiative.