• Nigerian students take second place in the World Affairs Challenge.

• The challenge is designed for middle and high school students to develop and implement their own SMART.

• The students made a 100 percent plantable biodegradable bag.

Some students from Queen of the Rosary College, Onitsha, Anambra State came second place in the just-concluded World Affairs Challenge.

This challenge is an international program and competition designed for middle and high school students to develop and implement their own S.M.A.R.T. solutions for the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals.

The team carried out innovation in Queens’ Lyfe bags – a 100 percent plantable biodegradable bag made from rice straws, banana fibers, and corn husks and infused with tomato, pepper, and watermelon seeds so that the bags can grow into plants when disposed of.

This innovation took them to second place in this challenge. A team from the USA won first place and a bilateral team of students from the USA and Iraq won third place.

The students led by their teacher and mentor, Mr John Onuigbo, competed against over 760 participants during the various preliminary rounds, which narrowed down to 28 teams in the Global Championship, where the girls were named the Global second-place winning team in the high school division.

About nine countries were represented in WAC global finals this year: Nigeria, Ghana, the USA, France, Iraq, Turkey, Uganda, Zimbabwe, and Morocco.

Reacting to the development, the school principal, Rev. Sister Maria Nwankwo, expressed joy and gratitude to God for the win.