Three St Andrew's College boys recently visited the 2012 Academy of the African Gifted Foundation (AGF), hosted by Makerere University in Uganda.
Three St Andrew's College boys recently visited the 2012 Academy of the African Gifted Foundation (AGF), hosted by Makerere University in Uganda.
The second ever Academy ran from 6 to 13 January and hosted close to 60 pupils selected from Botswana, Kenya, Nigeria, South Africa, Uganda and Zanzibar.
The foundation targets children from a variety of backgrounds who excel at maths in school. Accompanied by the school's director of mathematics, Thomas Hagspihl, Peter Maffessanti (Grade 11), Nicholas Wilkinson and Momelezi Mdingi (both in Grade 10) represented South Africa at the event.
Hagspihl also opened the AGF with a talk on 'Beauty and Elegance in Mathematics'. He reported that the whole exercise was an incredible opportunity for them all, and suggested that South Africa could benefit from a similar programme where top pupils from around the country are hosted and can build a networks.
The AGF is led by executives in Africa and the United Kingdom, and educational experts who are determined to provide an opportunity for Africa’s gifted children to develop to their full potential. It has also partnered with world class organisations with expertise in mathematics and computing to deliver a unique educational experience.
Nicholas and Momelezi told Grocott's Mail that the AGF exposed them to many career opportunities and gave them more insight into what they wanted to study after matric. Peter even said, "I went home and asked my dad for money to buy shares instead of buying expensive PlayStation consoles for my birthday."
One of the many highlights the boys touched on was their visit to the Uganda Stock Exchange (USE), which still uses the old manual trading system that involves traders having to shout out information that is then written on boards for other traders to see.
They also had the opportunity to meet East Africa's Chess Grandmaster, Harold Wanyaman who they also got a chance to play against. They also met the first East African in space, Ashish Thakkar, who will be part of the Virgin Galactic space tourist group that has signed up for a trip to outer space.
