South African High School Student Designs Insulation For Houses In Rural Areas

Gabriella Mogale who is a student of Collegiate Girls’ High School in the Port Elizabeth Province of South Africa saw an opening where others saw doom.

Last year, the fires in Knysna raged to an extent where fire fighters were reportedly deployed in the largest numbers recorded in history. According to news 24, 985 fighters, 78 fire vehicles, six Oryx military helicopters, four Working on Fire helicopters and two fixed wing bomber aircraft were deployed to battle the Knysna blaze, which lasted several days.

In response, Gabriella decided to design a way to insulate shacks (informal settlements in the rural areas) to prevent them from fires. This is a huge victory for South Africa as it is recorded that over the last five years, there have been ten shack fires a day with someone dying in a shack fire every other day. We celebrate this young brilliant mind today.