Five months ago Jessica Osita had almost zero knowledge about a computer, never sent an email or even browsed the internet, but after losing her brother to the fake drug epidemic in Nigeria, Jessica Osita pulled herself together and was determined to ensure no one suffer such fate again. She joined hands with four other girls seeking ways to tackle the menace of fake drugs in the country.
And now she is part of a team of five teenagers who have just won a major tech award in California.
Despite their limited tech knowledge, the Nigerian teens learned how to build a mobile app from scratch by using opensource software from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
The app, called FD-Detector, helps users identify fake medicines using a drug’s barcode to verify its authenticity and expiration date.
“I feel very excited and relieved. I’m extremely proud of myself,” Osita, 15, told CNN from San Francisco, in the group’s first interview since they won the 2018 Technovation Challenge on 9 August.
The Nigerian group, named Team Save-A-Soul, comprise Promise Nnalue, Jessica Osita, Nwabuaku Ossai, Adaeze Onuigbo and Vivian Okoye. The group spent five months researching and building the app and hope it can be a solution to the widespread sale of counterfeit drugs in Nigeria.
For Osita, there was a more personal, poignant reason for creating the app — her brother died after fake drugs were administered to him following an accident.
“My brother died from fake drugs. I’m very motivated by the death of my brother to solve this problem,” she said.
“With this app, we will relieve the burden. I feel very excited,” said Osita, who has ambitions to become a pharmacist. “I want to produce genuine drugs,” she says.
In their remarkable accomplishment, Osita and her four other teammates beat teams from the US, Spain, Turkey, Uzbekistan and China in the finals to secure the top spot in the junior category at the competition.
“Some people told me ‘you’re a girl, why are you going into tech?'” said Osita. “At first my parents didn’t understand what I was doing, but it’s only recently that they see what I’m doing. They are very, very proud.”
According to Promise Nnalue, 14, from the Nigerian winning team: “People are calling us celebrities and taking pictures with us. I’m very happy. We could not have done this without our mentor. She really believed in us and encouraged us,” said Nnalue, who aspires to become a doctor.
The historic feat would not have been possible had it not be for the charitable work of Uchenna Ugwu.
Ugwu was the one who introduced them to computers and coding through her Edufun Technik organization, which teaches STEM to underprivileged children in Anambra State, southeastern Nigeria.
According to Ugwu, Edufun Technik has taught approximately 4,800 school children since 2014, over 60% of whom have been young girls, as a means of closing the widening gender gap in STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) education.
“I’m overwhelmed. It was a beautiful experience for them. They have experienced so many firsts. They were entering a flight for the first time. The girls were scared and overwhelmed. They asked me ‘How can we compete with these countries who have been using tech for a very long time?’
“I told them ‘it’s not how long ago you started, but how well you do.’ I’m so proud of them because they were so determined to learn,” she said. “They were not the most talented in the coding class but they were the most determined. They stuck with the classes when a lot of their peers dropped out,” she added.
Ugwu, a mother-of three, said they practiced their pitch endlessly, and it was their effort and passion that helped them win.
“The girls really impressed a lot of people,” she said. “To be honest, every progress we made was a win to me.
“They have come very far qualifying out of more than 2,000 apps submitted. They are winners in every way,” she said.
“Five months ago, they didn’t have access to the internet or how to write an email. They could not believe that they had the opportunity to touch the almighty computer. It’s amazing.”
Winners of 2018 Silicon Valley contest, pose with their mentor Uchenna Ugwu.
