 A team from Queen Aversary College in Onitsha, Anambra State defeated thousands of other teams from around the world earlier this month to win the Global Prize Award at the just-concluded Diamond Challenge Global Summit. The team of seven students won with their project called Queen's Forest Labs. It's a virtual learning app that lets students conduct science experiments and two of the students, Sandra Mbafuli and Stephanie Annozia joining us this morning. Also their principal reverend sister Maria Onwanko. Good morning, Sandra and Stephanie. Thanks for joining us. Thank you very much, Matt. Good morning. Congratulations, congratulations. You've done Nigeria proud. Well done. And I'm going to start with your project. Tell us how did you think of the idea to pitch Queen Forest Labs and what exactly does the app do? You know, thank you very much for that very nice question. Sometimes last year there was an outbreak of the pan-COVID-19 which was about shutdown of the education sector. Schools were shut down and the learning process were turned online via Zoom, WhatsApp and Telegram. But there was a problem. These platforms couldn't offer practical session, especially to the science students because for science students to understand science concepts, more better. They need the practical aspect. So our team led by Master John Onibu, we conceived this idea and this is how the Queen's Forest Lab came into existence. Was it difficult to put this together? And how much work and time and effort did it take to create this? It wasn't that difficult because we've been working for months. Our masters are usually competitions, entrepreneurial skills and coding skills. So it's always more difficult and we have been working for it for months. So you went to the competition and you won the cash prize of 105,000 US dollars. What do you guys intend to do with this money? We intend to create the app more, to add more things that it's kind of missing in the app so that it's going to be more fun and more engaging for students. And how did you find the competition? You competed alongside teams from other countries. How did you see it, the whole experience for you? Yeah, at first we were a bit nervous, you know, competing with the teams from China, USA. And then we were like, how are we going to emerge the first out of this thing? But as God have it, we became the top team. Okay, and we had very great food. Yeah, okay. So once again, congratulations. I know there's a lot of work that still needs to be done. What more do you, you know, want to, you know, achieve, you know, as this is your foundation now? Do you think that there's other apps that you would like to also get to work on? Okay, we're going to, you're still going to work in the physics lab and the biology lab because the, the Queen's Forest Lab, it contains tree laboratory. That's the physics lab, the chemistry lab, and the biology lab. So the physics lab and the biology lab is still under construction now. The chemistry lab is already... All right, congratulations. I want to know what your, your, how old you are and, you know, does this, you know, the success that you've achieved here, does this mean that you very likely would go into information technology, creation of more apps in the future? What do you want to be when you grow up? Okay, so I'm 17 years old and Sandra here is also 17 years old. We did this, we are going to this competition to our first student to develop digital skills for the digital destruction. It is going to help us because as you can see the world, everything is going technology. Everything is all about technology. The world is going global now and it's going technological. So we just want to allow students to acquire this digital skills for the digital eruption that's going to take place very soon. And also to show the female gender that we are not meant to hide in the shadow of men. We are supposed to voice out our opinion. That is, we are natural solution providers made by God. Fantastic. I really love that. I really love that. So I, I, I want also to hear from your, your colleague, Ms. Amma. I know Ms. Amma is there. Ms. Amma, good morning. Good morning. All right, fantastic. So talking about the app, we apologize. Yes, fantastic. Ms. Amma is in view now. So let's talk about the app. I've searched, you know, you know, the iOS and, and the Android platforms. I'm yet to find the Queen Forest Labs. So let us know how soon is this launching on, you know, platforms like, you know, you know, these platforms where people can download them. Or is that not the plan? Or do you intend to just, you know, give this to schools, for schools and students, a loan to access? What's the plan, you know, launching this mainstream? Okay. So our better test has already been completed and we plan to launch the app very, very soon as students can start to use it. Okay. So Ms. Amma, yes, let's, let's get your thoughts, you know, about this and how you feel really about your success. That challenge is like a dream come true for me. I didn't know I'll be able to get here because I've always dreamed of being a software producer since, since I can remember. And I joined this team, Queen Forest Labs at the age of 14 and I'm still 14 right now. And this makes me feel so happy for myself, my colleagues. Winning this is, it's just amazing. And I'm happy that I can serve as a room model for that girls out there. All right. Let's also get you to, you know, speak to other young girls in the southeast and across Nigeria. There's also those who are struggling with not being able to go to school in certain parts of Nigeria. You know, is there words of encouragement that you would like to give them as it stands? I think I'll leave that to Stephanie to speak on. Okay, so to the girls out there that are still struggling with getting back to school, we just know that we have to persevere to the end because there is always a way. And you should also know that being a girl doesn't mean that you should always hide under the shadow of May because just as my colleague said, you are natural social solution providers. So we should always know that even though we are girls, you should not always be, should I say, we should not always be too down or we should not let our spirit down. But we should also know that we are also people that are going to be good, going to bring our society to be good and to be better. Okay, so let's talk about your school, Queen of the Rosary College in Onitsha. About the support that you're getting from the school management, your principal. We're talking about Reverend Sister Maria Wangkwo. The support you're getting from your school management, your teachers, you know, and every other person that has mentored you, you know, leading up to the preparation for this competition that you won. I'm Sandra. Okay, first of all, Queen of the Rosary College is a all, is a all girls boarding Catholic school. And also it is a conducive, it's a sit at the, it's a serene atmosphere conducive for molding young girls to attain high moral and academic excellence. For the support we are getting from our school, first from the proprietor, that is the art workshop. He's really doing good in supporting us like he's, he's really encouraging us. Every time during the pastoral visits in our school, he encourages students by giving them scholarship award. And also that serves as inspiration to other students in the school who are not doing well because it enables them to, to start up some, as in to be, it enables them to, to work harder basically. To work harder in their education so as to meet up and get the scholarship award. And also for our principal, Sister Mariah Chidro Kiwanko, she's a very, she has been a very good mother to us. Her voice of advice and encouragement every morning at the assembly ground has kept us moving and it has really helped us in our education life. All right. As you can see, the school has been doing in competition, both essay competition and, and science competitions too. Well, you know, 1,500 an hour cash prizes, you know, some money. I hope that you guys will get some of it to buy a shower or something. 1,500 dollars. Dollars, I beg your pardon. At least that you buy some goodies for you. Well, this is what I was asking earlier. Are you going to continue to be art developers or does any of you want to be a doctor, a lawyer, you know, engineer? What's your future looking like? Okay. Our future for me, I want to be a medical doctor in the future. So I believe, as she said earlier, that this competition is for girls out there to prepare themselves for this technological disruption that will be happening soon. You know, the world is going digital. So we joined this competition to enable them also work and not only based on the education aspect. Okay. I hope our own and also on the technological aspect. Okay. And let's also hear from the other two, you know, we have a medical doctor in the waiting. What do the other two of you, what does Mesa want to be? Software developer. And Sandra, I believe, what do you want to be when you grow up? Stephanie. Stephanie, sorry. What does Stephanie want to be when she grows up? Oh, that's Mesa. I was hoping I can hear from Stephanie and Sandra. But thank you very much to the three of you. Congratulations once again. And congratulations also to your school and the whole state, you know, for bringing this home. Yes. Fantastic work right there. Fantastic work. I'm happy to see this, you know, young Nigerian girls and boys doing great things, you know, going out of the country, representing us and making us proud. And this is where we call it a wrap of the show today. Many thanks for being with us here on the breakfast and plus TV Africa. I am Annetta Phoenix. Remember to catch up on any of the parts of this that you may have missed. Check us out on our social media platforms at plus TV Africa, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, same with our YouTube channel. I am Osao Gie, Au Bon Juan.