... as Eswatini student makes drone from recycled scraps

Perhaps it is a great thing that the Kingdom of Eswatini has just launched Africa’s nineteenth Flying Labs franchise - and the seventh in Southern Africa, after Botswana, Mozambique, Namibia, South Africa, Zambia and Zimbabwe.

Because the reason for their existence is to take a lid off the prodigious talents of children like Thobani Gina, a high school student who has made a drone out of a collection recycled scraps.

Gina – a Form 4 pupil at Ezindwendweni High School in Lavumisa, on the southwest tip of the country in the Shiselweni region, 172km from Mbabane – made the amateur drone version is made from light recycled material (such as motors, tape, card boards and popsicle sticks) and it can fly under close supervision using a small cell phone battery.

And of course, the drone has a camera that, like all drones should do, collect video and image data.

Gina’s invention only came to light recently by leaders of the Eswatini National Association of Teachers (SNAT), who had visited the school to assess the damage caused by the school by a recent storm.

As it turned up that the storm caused havoc at the school, blowing off roofing in two classrooms, and the design and technology lab where the drone was forged was also blown off in the process, along with three teacher’s houses that remain roofless.

But the SNAT general secretary, Lot Vilakati, hasn’t stopped talking what the found in that ravaged and tattered laboratory in the far flung rural parts of Eswatini

“We bumped into a genius,” Vilakati enthused on his association’s Facebook page.

“Thobani Gina. Gina is a Form 4 Learner at Ezindwendweni High School. The whizzkid went overboard with his creativity and innovation by designing a drone under the Design and Technology Department at the school.”

Thobani Gina’s design and technology teacher, identified as Vilane, said Gina and other pupils have so much potential, talent and passion for the subject.

Gina himself is always fiddling with tech stuff creations, using anything he can retrieve from the dumps.

“I have also designed a solar using old CDs,” he said.

“However, the solar has low voltage but I am still working on finding a way of increasing the charge because I want to use the solar on a water pump.”

With Vilane laying dare the struggle of rural schools to secure resources and learning material especially for new technology subjects, the discovery of Gina’s cobbled up drone might have come at an opportune time: because last week, it was announced that Eswatini Flying Labs has been launched, under the custodianship of the National Disaster Management Agency.

“The foundation for its creation was laid during the Southern African Drones, AI, and GIS for Disaster Risk Management Conference and Workshop Series, held from 19th to 22nd November 2024 in Cape Town,” the franchise said in a statement.

“It was there that our team connected with members of the Flying Labs Network and WeRobotics, discovering a shared commitment to leveraging innovative technology to enhance disaster preparedness and response.

“Additionally, we identified the need for stronger partnerships among regional stakeholders to enhance the impact of technology-driven disaster resilience initiatives across Southern Africa.”

The new franchise’s leadership team comprises Sibusiso Ginindza, who is a geospatial operations lead at NDMA; early warning coordinator, Siboniso Mavuso; and Xolile Tsabedze, the GIS Technician & Environmental/Water Resources Specialist.

Through close collaboration and knowledge sharing with the Flying Labs Network, as well as government agencies and humanitarian organisations, Eswatini Flying Labs says its mandate will include contributing to national resilience by strengthening data-driven decision-making and supporting the coordination of disaster response efforts through data collection, hazard mapping, and risk assessments.

On a local scale, the venture added it will work directly with communities to build resilience through capacity development, training, and the application of innovative technology in disaster preparedness and response.

“By engaging municipalities, farmers, community leaders, and emergency responders, we will empower local stakeholders with the skills and tools needed to assess risks, improve decision-making, and implement proactive measures.

“This will ensure that our communities are better equipped to mitigate, respond to, and recover from disasters.”

And also help kids like Gina, who have the potential to make their own communities – however backward right now – better through the power of robotics local, as the Flying Labs mantra goes.