By Marissa Foster

REIGNING Miss World Guyana, Joylyn Conway, in her efforts to raise awareness of women and girls in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM), has facilitated a workshop for young girls at the Canje Secondary School, Berbice.

The STEM Girls Glow project is an initiative started by Conway since her reign as Miss World Guyana Second Princess. The aim of this project is to educate girls and women in rural Guyana on the importance of their roles in STEM.

Conway facilitated a camp similar to this in Kwakwani on August 12-14, prior to the Berbice edition. The Berbice edition is Conway’s second project executed as Miss World Guyana and it surely would not be the last as she has much more in store for the ancient county.

On the first day of the project, the girls received an introduction to STEM and the Stem Girls Glow camp. As the days progressed, there were many interactive sessions among the girls and various facilitators. They also built a torch light out of recycled materials, learned about parts of a computer, conducted scientific experiments, as well as learn about Microsoft and coding.

On the last day, it was an opportunity for the girls to share their experiences and what they have learned. They also got the chance to showcase dramatical pieces such as skits and which portrayed messages of girls in STEM.

Some of the girls also expressed gratitude to Miss World Guyana 2019 and her team for their wonderful experience and for enlightening them on the various topics discussed at the camp.

Joylyn explained her reasons for executing a project of this nature.
“I did this for you – for young women. It’s what I love doing, I do it in my classroom every single day,” she said, adding: “Being here, I truly forgot this was my beauty with a purpose project. I just saw it as an opportunity to give back.”

The success of this project would not have been possible without the contributions of Metro Guyana, Gordon’s Stationery, Banks DIH, Demerara Distillers Limited and Conway’s Consultancy and Evaluation Services. Conway invites and appreciates any support from the general public. She wishes to execute as many projects as she can to aid in decreasing stereotypes attached to women and girls in STEM, while empowering women and girls across the length and breadth of Guyana.

As such, Joylyn asks for interested donors/sponsors to contact her on any of her social media outlets. She will be having the closing press conference soon and all funds raised will be used to contribute towards the educational resources of a school soon to be identified. Conway is expected to represent Guyana later this year at the Miss World competition in London.