Holy Faith Convent, Penal tops Trinidad and Tobago leg of Samsung contest

Samsung's Solve for Tomorrow (SFT) programme is nearing the finale, but Trinidad and Tobago's Holy Faith Convent, Penal, is the local competition winner.

The 11th edition of Samsung’s regional Solve for Tomorrow included participants from 11 countries in Central America and the Caribbean. The teams submitted projects that reflected a social focus and a connection with the realities of their communities to create impactful solutions, a media release said.

From each country, one champion was selected. In TT, Holy Faith Convent's team, comprising Aneesa Ali, Kareena Sohun, Kajal Sankar, and Shana Lochan, and their teacher Reshma Persad, presented the project called My Neighbour’s Keeper.

My Neighbour's Keeper suggests an app that helps reduce crime through community alerts. Using a specific code for each community, residents can register and update the location of their homes and send immediate alerts about incidents like burglaries, fires or strangers in the area, promoting mutual protection and quick communication with authorities, the release said.

Corporate citizenship manager at Samsung María Fernanda Hernández said in the release, "We are extremely pleased that this year students, supported by their teachers, presented ideas and prototypes focused on solving problems increasingly inherent to the needs of their communities, with a clear motivation for collective well-being."

In addition to the country winners, three finalists from Belize, Costa Rica and Panama were selected to compete for the grand prize.

Students from these three countries competed against 12,800 students registered in Samsung's annual programme. With talent, effort, teamwork and lots of study, combined with the training provided by Samsung Electronics and its partners, these three teams have stood out and are now part of the decisive stage of this successful educational programme, the release said.

Hernández said the initial support provided to schools in these 11 countries –Belize, Costa Rica, Ecuador, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua, Panama, the Dominican Republic, TT and Venezuela– was crucial in motivating and helping them formulate their projects for participation, through design thinking workshops, in which Samsung employee volunteers participated as part of the mentoring group.

"The initial result was very gratifying: 12,821 students and teachers registered; a 45 per cent increase compared to the 2023 edition of the programme. Then the semifinalist teams received training based on STEM sciences (science, technology, engineering and mathematics), which included problem-solving strategies, team management, critical and creative thinking, as well as the Lean canvas and pitch tools,” she said.

Regional and online winner

The finalists from Belize, Costa Rica, and Panama were selected for their outstanding projects, while judges also recognised the high value of the ideas developed by the other eight teams. The winner will be announced at an event in Guatemala, where the three teams will be present.

SFT 2024 will also award the title of Virtual Community Champion to be decided by votes from online users who visit the Solve for Tomorrow Latin platform on YouTube. There, the 11 videos from the country teams are available – and the participants explain and promote the strengths of their projects.

To vote for a team: Go to the SFT Latin account, https://www.youtube.com/@solvefortomorrowlatin, access the Semifinalists Solve for Tomorrow 2024 section, click on a videos to watch it, then click Like to cast a vote, and even share it with others to help that team gather more votes.

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