Sierra Leonean Teens Make Historic Debut At World’s Largest Robotics Championship

Participants for the VEX Robotics Championship that represented Sierra Leone.

Sierra Leone Enters Robotics Competition for the First Time

Six Sierra Leonean teens who competed in the VEX Robotics Championship in Texas have returned home to Freetown. They were the first from Sierra Leone to participate in the world’s largest robotics competition from May 1, 2024, to May 3, 2024.

Hawa Yokie, co-founder of the Kamara Yokie Innovation Centre (KYIC), led the effort, which is a model for partnerships between Sierra Leoneans in the diaspora, those at home, and the government.

KYIC was founded in January 2023 by Sierra Leonean-American business leader and entrepreneur Abu Kamara. He provided the seed capital to set up the centre. Kamara, who lives in the DMV, met Yokie on a trip to Freetown. Together the duo decided to create a space for teens to access and experience STEM.

Before Yokie was able to qualify for the VEX Championship, KYIC hosted a national robotics competition in December 2023. That opened the way for Sierra Leone to become VEX-eligible.

Six top students from various KYIC partner schools were selected to enter the competition. They were coached by Fourah Bay College’s STEAD Society. They learned to build, design, and code their robots.

The brilliant students that participated in the championship were; Charlse KaiKai and Munda Gbamayayi Amadu from the Sierra Leone Grammar School, Kadijatu Jalloh and Paul Lefevre from the Beacon High School, Rashid Ahmed Sullay from the Prince of Wales Secondary School and Murray Kabia from the King Fahad Junior Secondary School.

Yokie’s motivation for signing the participants for the VEX Championship is rooted in her belief in empowering children through STEM.

“This drive led me to enter the VEX World Championship, seeing it as a remarkable avenue for our students to showcase their talents and immerse themselves in the dynamic world of robotics on a global scale,” Yokie said.

KYIC Founders; Emmanuel Kamanda(L) Abu Kamara (M) and Hawa Yokie(R)

Sierra Leonean Youth Experience VEX Robotics Competition

The Sierra Leone team arrived in Texas on April 28th and spent their entire stay at an Airbnb located in Dallas, close to the auditorium where the tournament would take place.

On the day of the opening ceremony, the participants walked into the auditorium proudly holding the Sierra Leonean flag, clad in green, white, and blue country cloth.

In recounting the memorable experience, participant Rashid Ahmed Sullay, shared his first reaction when he and his team first entered the auditorium. “We were very nervous when we first entered the place because we wanted to do our best and leave a good impression.”

The competition involved 10 challenges with some of them requiring participants from different countries to work together as teams. Sierra Leone scored high on the ‘Teamwork Challenge’ where members of team Sierra Leone worked together with other members from different countries. The newly created team scored a point of 124 making it the highest score of the challenge and this was reflected in team Sierra Leone’s records.

Another round of the competition called for the participants to build and code robots. They built their robots using scratch, a programming language and educational tool that helps students code their robots.

Aside from the technicalities of the event, the participants also enjoyed meeting children from around the world who were interested in robotics as much as they were.

“We met many other kids from Ghana, Australia, America, Hawaii, and other countries and we talked about robotics, food, and other things happening in the competition,” Sullay said.

For the participants, food was a major highlight in their journey as Sullay added that there was no food that could match the deliciousness of American cheese pizza.

“The food I liked best was the American cheese pizza. I tried it and I liked it more than all those other foods,” he said.

Although they did not emerge as the overall champions of the event, their participation in the VEX Championship was a life changing experience for them and they hope to attend the event again in the future.

The participants interacting with other participants from around the world

KYIC Partners With the Directorate of Science, Technology and Innovation

The Directorate of Science, Technology, and Innovation (DSTI) was the helping-hand in the preparation process of getting the participants from Sierra Leone to America. DSTI is a government agency that promotes STEM.

They drafted sponsorship and recommendation letters for the participants, prepared the participants for their visa interviews, and secured a meeting with the President of Sierra Leone, His Excellency Dr. Julius Maada Bio.

“During the meeting, the students had the opportunity to articulate our mission and objectives directly to the President,” said Yokie.

In turn, he imparted his blessings on the students and reaffirmed his commitment to empowering young people and prioritising technology and innovation as he continues to govern the country.

Plan International, a development and humanitarian organisation for children, also supported the team with $3500 for accommodation and internal travelling, allowing the team to be fully immersed in the competition with little distraction.

Participants meeting the President Julius Bio

Kamara Yokie Innovation Center looks to the future

Following their experience in the VEX Championship, the six participants expressed their desire to be mentors to future participants and share their newfound knowledge with peers in their schools and at KYIC.

Yokie says the Kamara-Yorkie Innovation Centre will continue its mission, inspired by this year’s VEX.

“Overall, this experience has strengthened my resolve to empower the youth and pave the way for a brighter future through education and innovation,” Yokie said.