Our students Mariana Riascos and Maria José Medina from 10th grade have been selected as winners of the Dr. Siva Kumari MYP Student Innovator Scholarships for innovative MYP students, (Middle Years Programme - MYP). We would also like to highlight the participation of María José Hincapié, currently in grade 11, in this programme.
These scholarships are aimed at young people in the fourth and fifth years of the MYP who have the necessary motivation to start or continue an initiative that brings benefits to society. The IB is convinced that young people are capable of making an impact and generating positive changes in the world.
The awards consist of a scholarship and, in addition to the financial prize, the MYP provides constant support to ensure that this capital is used to the best possible advantage for the benefit of the project.
The process began in March of this year, when the participants received the invitation from the MYP. The deadline for the submission of documentation was May. In June, the 50 semi-finalists were announced, and in July the finalists were announced. On August 20 we found out that Mariana and Maria José were chosen and awarded the scholarship, together with other students from around the world.
Eleanor Cosh, Coordinator of the MYP, assisted in all the work of presenting these projects, revisions and corrections that were made throughout the 5 months of the selection process. Eleanor was very excited because she says that it is a competition with very high demands.
"Mariana, Maria José Medina and Maria José Hincapié are students who can inspire other students to work towards realising the initiatives they have to help and positively impact their environment. They are girls who have proven to be role models, as they project the spirit of leadership and agency that is required in service and live up to the IB profile and the mission and vision of the CCB," Eleanor told us.
The projects that will be funded by the grant awarded to Mariana will be two, Sembrando Esperanza and Cocinando Esperanza, which come together for the realization of a larger project, El Restaurante/Boutique, which will aim at the self-sustainability of the Dar Esperanza Foundation, a foundation that Mariana has been working with for some years.
Cocinando Esperanza: this is a cooking project where the children will make packets of biscuits for sale. Sembrando Esperanza: aromatic plants will be sown in the foundation's vegetable garden and the whole process will be carried out to obtain infusions for sale. The income from these two projects will be invested in a house owned by the foundation. In this house will operate the Restaurant/Boutique where the parents of the children of the foundation will work.
"I feel proud and it was a big surprise for me. I feel a great responsibility, because I have the foundation trusting me and I have to show results, because we can't afford to lose money or that the project doesn't work out well. I feel that this pressure will give me a lot of experience", Mariana told us.
Maria José, for her part, won the scholarship with her project Compost kits: packages containing bottles with bacteria and fungi colonies that help to accelerate the composting process. In addition, the kit contains an instruction sheet.
The aim of the idea is to enable the user to manage their own organic waste in a simple, fast and environmentally friendly way. Part of these kits will be sold and with the profits obtained, other packages will be donated to low-income families and communities and distributed with the support of a foundation. The grant will cover the development, production, distribution and sale of the kits.
"Socially, I am concerned about the welfare of my city. I want the streets to be free of rubbish and the rivers not to be excessively polluted. I know that's too big a scale for me, but starting with something simple like compost, I think I can make a difference," said María José.
It is worth noting that this is the first time our students have participated in this competition, which welcomes entries from all IB schools around the world that offer the MYP, approximately 1,400 of them.
We are very proud of the achievement of Maria José Medina and Mariana Riascos, as well as the participation of María José Hincapié. We are happy to know that we have students with the initiative to develop their own projects, with the awareness and willingness to work on social issues of such magnitude and effort. Thank you for being CCB agents of change!
