U.S. First lady Michelle Obama launched the "Let Girls Build" Track just this week. The 52 year-old Chicago-born lawyer and writer created the project together with AOL, the company formerly known as America Online. Obama strongly called the public into an awareness about the 62-million uneducated girls around the globe and what can be done to alleviate the issue.
Addressing The Need in Different Levels
The whole program called Built By Girls is a competition where girls aged 15 to 18 are challenged to unlock new technology in order to create innovative products that can grant girls more access to education. Teams of four were formed and would have to come up with a good and original start-up idea. The program is aimed to put the girls' technical and problem solving skills into good use.
Among the common barriers of a wide access to education, President Barrack Obama's wife cites examples saying, "For many girls, the barriers involve resources. Sometimes families can't afford school fees, or the nearest school is miles away and they have no safe transportation to get there." She adds, "Sometimes, there is a school nearby, but does not have adequate bathrooms for girls, so they have to stay home when they have their periods, and sometimes wind up falling behind and having to drop out."
Tech Crunch shares that finalists have displayed their compassion and creativity as they have contributed bright ideas which they have built. A build-your-own bracelet kit was one of the ideas they came up with. Its purpose is to make the girls feel safe on their way to school or home. Another project was a text service to give a safe feeling to Cambodia in-migrant girls. Also notable was the project of developing global female STEM leaders. These leaders are motivated by the use of educational content, particularly hands-on ones.
And The Winners Are..
Kathy Kong and Lillian Yuan, 17 year-old girls won the "Let Girls Build" Track with their project named TARA. The $10,000 they have received will be used for the advancement of their aim to safeguard the in-migrant girls in Cambodia. TARA will give free access to different health, safety and educational guidance.
Obama, in her determination to inspire the audience, let alone the contestants said that what was even more important was to take action to help fellow women without access to education and that the girls who joined the competition showed the perfect example on how to make a difference in the community.
