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A team of students from 4 different schools have been chosen as the outright winners of the Americas edition of the Virtual CAS Conference Charity Hackathon.

The impact-driven online event, which took place over the weekend of 14th – 15th of November 2020, featured 178 students from 25 different nationalities.

After an opening day of keynote speeches and facilitator-lead discussion workshops, students broke off into teams of 4 or 5 on day 2 with the challenge of creating a proposal and action plan to provide a solution to a charity’s urgent need.

Charity Hackathon partner, The Andean Alliance for Sustainable Development (AASD), announced that team 24 Alpha’s proposal as the winner earlier today. 

The team features students Maria, Mateo, Madeline and Mary from Colegio Anglo Colombiano, The Awty International School, Trinity High School and Beaumont School, respectively.

Their proposal took into account the needs of the charity and the isolated communities they support in Peru’s Sacred Valley and outlines the creations of an agricultural handbook, which provides Campesinos – rural people in Latin America – with the necessary knowledge to grow economically via technology and sustainability in the years to come whilst also educating them about the effects of climate change. 

“It’s amazing to know that an idea, which we quickly developed into an actual project with an action plan and a definite goal, is going to benefit the people who need it most right now, especially given the effects of Covid-19.” a statement from the winning team read.

The students will now begin a month-long process of collaboration with charity representatives as they work hand in hand with AASD to bring their project to life, aided by a USD$1000 donation by CAS Trips.

“We sometimes forget how much the younger generation has to offer, and it was a wonderful reminder to myself and my team that there are smart minds at work, that will only get wiser and more refined with time! Opportunities like this, to really be pushed to think critically at a younger age, particularly in terms of international development, is so important”, said Anna Galbraith from AASD. 

The next Virtual CAS Conference will be taking place in the Asia-Pacific region on the 5th – 6th of December 2020.

Please visit https://www.castrips.org/vcc-asia/ for more information. 

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Press Contact | Natascha Rupp | marketing@castrips.org