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Across the Atlantic: bringing Kid’s Lab to Ghana
Mayeana Kamara, a Sales Representative for the Battery Storage Energy Solution group in North America, traveled in October of 2023 to Ghana and Nigeria and organized the first BASF Kids' Lab of the region at a local school in Accra, where she taught the students how to filtrate water through a fun experiment.
Mayeana and the students with BASF Kids Lab kits outside Laterbiokorshie 6 school in Accra, Ghana.
Although she initially traveled to Ghana and Nigeria to connect with her counterparts and present a battery solution offered by BASF that could be of interest to the region, there she also worked on paving the way for future collaborations with Market Area Africa (MAA).
When it comes to diversity, development, promotion, and sponsorship, Mayeana is keenly aware of the common struggles shared by both North America and the Diaspora. These are some of the challenges the newly launched BASF African American Employee Group (AAEG) Global Impact Committee is taking on.
“This journey was the ticket to build a bridge and open a door between North America, Market Area Africa, AAEG, NSBE Ghana, and BASF, while supporting our Battery Storage Energy Solution group,” Mayeana, who is also the former president of AAEG, explains.
Chemistry is the answer
While visiting Ghana, Mayeana went to a local primary school, Laterbiokorshie 6, in Accra, the capital city of Ghana, where the student-teacher ratio is 80 to 1. This is one of the schools the National Society of Black Engineers (NSBE) Ghana supports by providing school supplies and scientific equipment, such as microscopes.
With help from members of NSBE and donated science kits from BASF, Mayeana held a Kids’ Lab for middle schoolers and conducted the water filtration system experiment, which involved locally sourced raw materials and taught students how to successfully clean water in just a few minutes.
Access to clean water around the continent is limited. By teaching and conducting this experiment, she was able to spark a connection with some of the students and show them how to implement these learnings in areas polluted by mining.
By bringing BASF chemistry to students, we can transform their lives and further their education through impactful actions. These actions could very well influence the birth of the next great engineer, the next great chemist, or the future president of BASF Market Area Africa. You never know the extent of the impact one small action can have.
“Seeing these middle school students excited and engaged made my heart smile,” she recalls.
This opportunity, which at first felt impossible due to the economic climate at the time, was made possible because Mayeana saw the value and fought for it to happen. “As a chemistry-centered company, our goal is to find that ingenuity and creativity to foster the entrepreneur we all have within to make things happen. Have that mindset, don't allow distances or restrictions to stop you. Push the limits, push past your limitations and what you think cannot happen, and be passionate. You'll find a way,” she concludes.
Published on January 25, 2024, by Mariana Licio.
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