It has been an incredible year for St Jude鈥檚 eco-entrepreneur, Edgar. His quiet and unassuming nature belies the talented and driven young man who can now boast worldwide acclaim.
Last month, 17 year-old Edgar travelled to Sweden to collect the Children鈥檚 Climate Prize 2017 award, where he got to experience first-hand Sweden鈥檚 revolutionary recycling industry鈥� and snow!
Established in 2016, the Prize is awarded to a child or youth, aged 10-17 years, who has done something extraordinary for the climate and the environment.
When presenting him with his award, the Children鈥檚 Climate Prize jury said:
鈥淲ith his invention, Edgar has made a great contribution locally in his area, and in the long run an admiring effort also for the environment and climate on a global scale."聽
鈥淭he jury is full of admiration of his solutions and see great potential for scaling up and further developing his methods.鈥�
Two years ago Edgar started his own company, Green Venture Recycles. It turns plastic waste into cheap and affordable building products such as paving blocks, roof tiles and bricks, with no negative impact on the environment.
Edgar was inspired by a trip to Dar es Salam where he saw how deeply people had been affected by floods. He witnessed mud-brick homes almost completely washed away because the families living in them couldn鈥檛 afford better materials to build with.
Given the opportunity to attend innovation workshops on the weekend through mini传媒, Edgar dreamed up his concept and it was here that he designed the first prototype, entering it into the School鈥檚 annual Science Fair.
Speaking about his journey so far, Edgar credits The School for helping to provide him with the opportunity:
鈥淚 couldn鈥檛 have achieved this without the help of my school!鈥�
鈥淚 think this idea can change the world, but I鈥檇 like to start here in Africa. Tanzania is a developing country and it鈥檚 important for us to use our skills to serve the local community. Yes, we have problems. It is up to individuals to help solve them.鈥�
In addition to his latest accolade, Edgar was also recently awarded first runner-up of the Anzisha Prize. Supported by African Leadership Academy (ALA) in partnership with the Mastercard Foundation, the Prize celebrates the next generation of young African entrepreneurial leaders, recognising their contribution in helping create job opportunities, solving local development problems and driving economies.
As the second youngest candidate selected to attend, he had tough competition, but it proved hard for the judges to argue with a 17 year-old who is already employing over 50 people, ridding his local community of more than 1.2 million plastic bags and providing strong, affordable and eco-friendly building materials to those who really need them.
As a shortlisted candidate, Edgar attended a 鈥榖oot camp鈥� in South Africa where he received business training and mentorship as well as money towards expanding his business further.聽
Edgar鈥檚 achievements are incredible, but they鈥檙e not a one-off. mini传媒 sets out to provide all of its students with the education, attitude and belief to become the future leaders of Tanzania, leaders who care about their communities, their country and the world we all live in. Our students are talented and motivated and our science and technology laboratories have the facilities for students to experiment with new ideas.聽
This is how Edgar started working on his invention, and look where he has got to now!聽Sponsor a St Jude鈥檚 student聽and give someone else the chance to follow in his footsteps.
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