THE BRILLIANT GIRL

THE MYSTERY OF RIVERBANK COMMUNITY

EPISODE 5

The big yellow school buses stopped on the edge of Riverbank Community Zone. The day of the National Young Innovators Challenge had finally arrived.. There were no fancy science labs or big auditoriums in sight.

Outside the bus windows the Riverbank Community stretched out far as the eye could see. It was a settlement built on low land, where old iron roofs caught the strong morning sun. Dirt tracks went between houses made of concrete bricks. In the distance women carried containers of water from a community well. Kids played with balls on dry grass laughing and shouting above the noise of generators.

Every part of the community showed how people worked hard to survive every day. The lack of roads and buildings was not just something to read about. It was real life for thousands of people.

Amara got off the bus. Stood still for a moment looking at the community. The smell of diesel and smoke filled the air.

Riverbank Community was a place.

Victor got off the bus after her looking around quietly.

"This is bigger than I thought " he said in a voice.

Amara nodded, feeling a mix of amazement and worry. "It is one thing to do math problems in a classroom. It is another thing to see where people actually live."

Now she understood why the competition was held in Riverbank Community. It was not about winning prizes or making models. It was about making things that could really help people.

Big tents were set up near the community center. Colorful flags with the National Innovation Board logo waved in the wind. Teachers, judges and community leaders were busy getting everything ready.

Riverbank Community was an interesting place.

A loud voice came from a speaker. "All participants please go to the tent!"

Amara and Victor walked together toward the crowd. Students from schools were whispering to each other looking nervous.

When everyone was quiet the Chief Judge stepped up to talk. "Welcome innovators " she said with a smile.

The crowd clapped politely then got quiet

"For years this competition has tested your knowledge and skills.. Real-world problems are not easy to solve. This year we want you to find a problem in Riverbank Community and make something to solve it. You will have six hours to do it."

The crowd got excited. Everyone was thinking about what they could do.

The Chief Judge said, "You will work in teams of three. You will get materials and tools to help you."

Amara held her breath feeling a bit scared.

The judges started reading out the team names. Amara waited to hear her name.

"Team Seven: Amara Johnson, Grace Okeke and Daniel Mensah."

Amara looked around. Saw a girl with braids waving at her. A boy with glasses was standing next to her holding a tablet.

Amara felt a bit surprised. She was not with Victor anymore.

Victor came over. Smiled. "I guess we are not partners today."

Amara laughed. "I will miss you checking my work."

Victor said, "You do not need me to check your work. You are very good at it."

Amara and Victor said goodbye and Amara went to join her team.

Grace said, "Hello I am Grace. I am from St. Cecilia’s Academy. I like to study how people and technology work together."

Daniel said, "I am Daniel. I am from Metropolitan Science High. I like to design and program things."

Amara said, "I am Amara. I am from St. Jude’s. I like to study physics and chemistry."

The three of them started talking about what to do.

Grace said, "We should spend some time talking to people in the community. We need to understand what they need."

Daniel said, "I have a map of the community. We can go to areas and ask questions."

Amara said, "Lets go. We have six hours to make something that can really help people."

They walked through the community talking to people and asking questions.

They met a woman named Mrs. Adebayo who was a tailor.

Mrs. Adebayo said, "Water and power are problems but we can manage them. The big problem is that our children do not have access, to education. The local school does not have resources and the library is too far away."

Amara, Grace and Daniel looked at each other. They realized that they needed to find a way to help the children of Riverbank Community get an education.

Riverbank Community was a place that needed a lot of help.

They wanted to make something that could really make a difference.

The story was the same they went. It was not the water or the electricity that was a problem for the community. The community had a problem with not having enough information. The young people in Riverbank were smart. They did not have the right tools to learn. Amara stopped near the town square. Watched a boy trying to fix a torn page from a math book on a flat stone.

Amara had an idea. "What if we do not try to fix the power grid or build a big water plant in just a few hours?" she asked Grace and Daniel. "What if we help the people in the community learn and grow?"

Grace stopped writing. Looked at Amara. "What are you thinking?" she asked.

Amara told them her idea. "We can build a learning station that is portable and uses solar power. It will not need the internet or a lot of money."

Daniels eyes lit up. "We can use a computer like a Raspberry Pi and add a special server that has a lot of educational information. People can use their phones or tablets to connect to it."

Amara added, "We can make the station self-sustaining. We can use wood to build it and add a solar panel and a special desk for studying at night."

Grace smiled. "This is an idea. It helps the community. It is good for the environment."

The team quickly got to work. They were all working together. Making good progress.

Meanwhile another team was having some problems. Victor was trying to get his teammates to work together. They were arguing about what to build.

Victor looked over at Amaras team. Saw that they were working well together. He felt proud of his friend Amara.

Back at Amaras workbench they were making progress. They had built a cabinet with a table and a solar panel. Daniel had added a lot of information to the server. Grace was making a special manual to go with the project.

Everything was going well. They were testing the system. It was working great.

Then Daniels phone buzzed. He looked at it. His face changed. He looked shocked.

Amara asked him what was wrong. Daniel did not answer away. He was looking at his phone. Then his tablet.

Finally he spoke. "Guys look at this." He showed them the screen. Another team, Team One had submitted a project that was very similar to theirs.

Amara and Grace looked at the screen. They could not believe it. The teams project was almost identical to theirs.

Grace asked, "How did they do this? Did someone tell them our idea?"

Daniel said, "It does not matter how they did it. They submitted their project before us. The judges will not like it if we submit the project."

The team was in trouble. They did not have time left.

Grace sat down. Looked sad. "We worked hard on this. If we submit it now the judges will think we copied the team."

Amara looked at the screen. She was calm. "We will not panic " she said. "We will figure something out."

Amara remembered why she started this project. It was not about winning. It was, about helping people.

She smiled. "We will make it work " she said.

Amara said, "On paper they made a box that sends out files." She leaned over the blueprint. "It is an idea but it is not strong and it does not do much."

She said, "Kola made a textbook holder."

Amara tapped her finger on their project.

"We do not give up on our work and we do not copy what they did " Amara said. Her eyes got excited. "We. We make it better right now."

Daniel looked at her. "How can we do that? What can we change in ninety minutes?"

Amara got a piece of paper and a marker.

"Kolas team made a station that only sends out information " Amara explained. "You connect to it and you can read what is on it that is all."

She drew some lines on the paper. "We can make our station better. We can make it a dynamic community utility node that people can use to talk to each other."

Amara looked at Daniel. "Daniel can you make the server work with a messaging system? Something that lets teachers and community leaders send out their messages and announcements without needing a special code?"

Daniels eyes got wide. "Yes I can do that. I can write a script in python that makes the server interactive."

Amara turned to Grace. "Grace we need to change how we set up the project. Of a big desk we can make it a backpack that people can carry around."

Grace was surprised. "That is an idea. It solves the problem of the station only being in one place."

Amara got a generator out of her tool kit. "We can also add a backup power system. If it is cloudy and the solar panel does not work we can use the generator to power the server."

Grace and Daniel looked at Amara in amazement. She had come up with an idea, in just a few minutes.

Daniel said, "That is an idea."

Grace said, "That is not an idea, that is real innovation."

Amara gave Daniel his keyboard.

"We have eighty-five minutes before we are done " Amara said. "Lets get to work."

The challenge was hard. Amara and her team were ready. They were going to show everyone that they could come up with ideas even when things were not going well.

They were going to prove that true brilliance is being able to adapt and make things work even when everything seems to be going wrong.