Halima Twabi, co-founder of Girls in Science, Technology Engineering, Arts and Mathematics
* The organisation holds science camps exposing girls to practical and lab-based activities
“Currently, too much emphasis of science is about memorizing and regurgitating”
By Duncan Mlanjira
Malawian biostatistician Halima Twabi, the first Malawian researcher to win the L’Oreal—the UNESCO for Science award in Sub-Sahara Africa, is urging teachers and those that set science curriculum to be more imaginative to make science subjects to be more attractive for girls.
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In a recent article published in newafricanmagazine.com, Twabi said there is too much emphasis of science is about memorizing and regurgitating but “there are many ways to make sciences hands-on and enjoyable”.
It is for that reason that she co-founded an organisation — Girls in Science, Technology Engineering, Arts and Mathematics — that encourages girls to study sciences and exposes girls in schools and colleges to be female role models in science.
During school and college visits, the organisation strives to make sciences more exciting through practicals of every day life, including health.
Twabi, the second person to do a PhD in biostatistician at the University of Malawi, says through her organisation she would like to see more networking among women mathematicians.
The article on newafricanmagazine.com says Twabi uses data to better understand the impact of therapeutics and other interventions given to mothers with HIV on the development of a pregnancy.
At first, Twabi wanted to be a doctor but she couldn’t get the necessary grades to go straight to medical college and then enrolled for Bachelor of Science degree in order to re-apply for medical school after two years.
As she studied the BSc she developed the passion for maths and statistics, thanks to the inspiration from medical doctor Yasmin and Dr. Esnart Chirwa, who made her love sciences and statistics respectively.
As she progressed in her studies, she discovered fewer and fewer girls continued their science studies that by the end of her BSc, there were only five girls out of a class of 40 studying mathematics.
The report says she is also involved in the Sub-Saharan Africa Advanced Consortium for Biostatistics (SSACAB) training programme — which is a collaboration of 16 southern and four northern African countries.
The report on newafricanmagazine.com
This organisation is led by the University of Witwatersrand in South Africa that connects mathematicians and statisticians.
In an interview with malawimuslims.com in December last year after winning the L’Oreal-UNESCO in Science in Sub-Sahara Africa award, Twabi — a lecturer in statistics at Chancellor College — said she did her primary education at Jamia Islamia Primary School before joining Assalam Girls Secondary School.
“After obtaining my Bachelors in 2012, I was given a position as an associate lecturer at Chancellor College under the department of Mathematical Sciences.
“I then did my Masters in Biostatistics and became a full lecturer in 2016,” said Twabi.
She said since the creation of For Women in Science Sub-Saharan Africa regional program in 2010, L’Oréal and UNESCO have highlighted 159 outstanding women scientists — that includes including 11 Laureates of the For Women in Science International Awards and 134 Young Talents at the doctoral and post-doctoral levels.
“Since 2019, South Africa also has a specific program supporting seven young women researchers (five PhD students and two post-doctorates) each year.
She had quoted Alexandra Palt, executive vice-president of the Foundation L’Oréal, as saying: “The need for research by Africans for Africa has never been greater to address the challenges facing the continent. To overcome the current crisis, Africa’s research sector must accelerate its transformation by becoming even more digitally connected and empowering young women who wish to pursue scientific careers.”
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She disclosed that it is estimated that over 875 million students worldwide have been affected by the COVID-19-related school closures, with the majority in Sub-Saharan Africa.
“Only 2.4% of the world’s researchers are African scientists, 31% of whom are women too. The 2020 Young Talents come from 16 countries and embody all of the potential of African science through their backgrounds and research subjects.
“For the first time this year, young women scientists from Congo and Malawi have been rewarded. The jury of the 2020 Sub-Saharan Africa Young Talents Awards, chaired by Professor Nelson Torto, executive director of the African Academy of Sciences, selected these 20 Young Talents from nearly 330 applications.
“They all have in common the excellence of their projects and the desire to contribute to fuelling innovation in Africa. They are joining the community of 3,400 women researchers around the world who have been supported by the For Women in Science program since its creation in 1998.
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As a researcher, she is involved in developing and applying statistical methodology to explore and understand various attributes of social and health problems faced in Sub-Saharan Africa, particularly Malawi and to provide concrete evidence on the effectiveness of interventions on improving such problems.
“The research purpose provides reliable and accurate evidence to policy makers to address problems that we face within our country and globally.”
Twabi further said her passion to share her research work and the determination to complete an application with the help of her supervisor is what earned her the award.
“My research work that I put forward for the application was related to maternal and child health. The work involved assessing the impact of interventions in curbing adverse multiple child health outcomes such as child under-nutrition which includes stunting, underweight and wasting.
“It also involved investigating the impact maternal HIV infection on multiple adverse pregnancy outcomes in a prevention of mother to child HIV transmission (PMTCT) context, using advanced statistical methods.”
She advised young researchers to be eager to share their work as it encourages fellow researchers, particularly women scientists to do more and be known.
“There are a good number of women doing scientific research in Malawi but there work is rarely exposed and appreciated. So let us ensure that we find platforms to showcase our research work and drive policy in the country,” she said.
