The July cold front, with its below-zero temperatures and ice-cold winds, was not enough to keep 100 keen schoolgirls from getting up early every morning to embrace the day’s adventures on the 2018 STEM camp focusing on Aviation and Aerospace camp hosted by the Girls Fly Programms Africa Foundation (GFPA), now Girls Fly Africa (GFA) in partnership with Girls Invent Tomorrow and Ladies that UX.
The GFA Aviation and Aerospace camp, held from June 30th to July 5th, hosted one hundred female students between 14 and 18. All were chosen via the application process as members of the Class of 2018. Applicants are considered based on school results and motivational essays. The organization encourages girls to find their place in this diverse and forward-thinking industry by educating and empowering them with all the information and networking required to understand the industry and become successful professionals.
This year’s camp hosted an additional twenty students from Maun and Gaborone in Botswana as we partnered with the Women in Aviation Botswana chapter.
The first day of the 2018 camp was a thrill for five lucky campers. They were chosen for their exceptional academic standings and motivation to participate in a day filled with aerodynamic lectures, advanced simulator fun, and their first intro flights. Avcon Jet and Grand Central Airport hosted the Girls.
A dull moment ceased to exist throughout camp when the influx of chosen students from all over the country arrived in Gauteng on Sunday, July 1st, to embark on the ride to the campsite, Paramount Adventure & Conference Venue.
Two camp days run by Girls Invent Tomorrow and Ladies That UX immersed students in the wonders of design thinking, technology, and coding. In their separate groups (each named after an element on the periodic table), the girls presented their problem-solving prototype designs intricately constructed from simple materials before moving on to group coding. The GFA team was truly blown away by the campers’ innovation and creativity in these activities.
Inspired minds asked industry-related questions to their heart’s content on our Industry Professionals Day, which hosted a diverse panel of inspirational women to speak to the students. Aerospace-specific activities were run throughout the camp, including the pink-paper-plane challenge, a delta-dart-making afternoon, and a chance for every student to explore the controls in the NAC/WITS flight simulator kindly sponsored for GFA to use for the week. The experience would not have been complete without the exciting and in-depth career expo, consisting of companies ranging from cabin crew specialists to aircraft technicians and avionics professionals.
The exhibitors brought goodies and brochures, all proving to be an incredible source of information for the girls to utilize as they explored their opportunities for potential career paths. The camp closed with a surprise gala evening, where the girls were recognized for their strengths and qualities and participation in our cherished camp.
The GFA team aims to give our girls diverse and well-rounded experiences to assist their career choices, academic and personal growth, and social interactions. Electric energy was palpable through every moment on camp- not only because of the exciting physical activities and educational experiences- but from the power of one hundred girls growing together to become a family. A camp favorite- the cultural presentation evening- had every soul on-site dancing and singing along with the group chants and dances the girls willingly came forward with.
There is immense beauty and passion in empowering a group of girls who enthusiastically take on the challenges and opportunities we present. However, nothing compares to the truly magical energy of friendships and life-long connections blossoming around a central passion- in this case, Aerospace and STEM.
We are proud to be a part of this readily advancing industry by developing and encouraging the most innovative, driven, passionate, and charismatic group of girls to diversify the sector whilst learning to love and appreciate the power of their potential. We continue to engage with and mentor past camp participants. We are incredibly excited to see many furthering their education through prestigious universities and pursuing careers as aerospace engineers, technicians, astrophysicists, pilots, air traffic controllers, drone operators, technology designers, and more.
From the GFA Team, we must express our most significant appreciation to our wonderful sponsors- who made this experience possible for the students. Thank you to our Platinum Plus sponsor: Airports Company South Africa. Our Platinum sponsors are FlySafair, our domestic carrier; ATNS; and the South African Civil Aviation Authority. Gold sponsors- Airlink, Acvon Jet Africa, Stefanutti Stocks, and Grand Central Airport. Silver sponsors- Bombardier and Air Botswana. Bonze sponsors- Kenlet Education, Mack Air, Wilderness Air, APM (Africa People Mover), Flight Connect, and T&D (Aeroclub of South Africa). Blue sponsors: African Pilot, Aeronautical Society of South Africa, and Boeing. It has been a successful camp, and we look forward to seeing where these students find themselves. “Pink Skies” – The GFA Team
