Our team comes from the smallest independent country of South America, a land of diversity where rich cultures are shared and different religions are practiced in peace and harmony.

Suriname has been taking part in the FIRST Global Challenge since it’s inauguration in 2017 and has as much as possible participated each year with new students, so that more young people are given the opportunity to be part of FGC and be inspired by STEM and robotics education.

This year our team has two of its youngest members, Gyan who is currently 14 and Aryan who is 15. In total the team consists of 6 students representing Suriname. They come from 3 different districts including the capital city Paramaribo, neighboring district Wanica and the suburbs of Saramacca.

The students have decided that they will give their best during this covid-19 pandemic and with their performance motivate others for STEM education as well.  Here’s a closer and more personal introduction to our student team members:

Eve Djojodikromo is 17 years old and Eleanor Lokhai is 18. They are classmates and are currently studying ICT. 

Eve’s hobbies are singing, drumming, reading fantasy/horror books and solving small technical problems. She likes to watch documentaries on mind games, discoveries and historical events. Her interest lies in learning about cybersecurity, safekeeping confidential data and data recovery. In the future she would like to work for the government and keep Suriname safe from cyber threats. Eve is also this year’s student team captain.

Eleanor is a writer with 3 online published books already to her name. She writes in her free time and has been doing this since she was thirteen. She likes to trigger her own creativity by watching, in her words ‘a ton of TV shows’. Technology innovations have always fascinated her. She sees herself as a data analyst in the future. Her wish is to additionally become a video game writer because of her love for writing.

Gyan and Aryan are also classmates and both are representing their district Wanica. 

Gyan loves to play video games, sports, edit videos and engage with technology. He enjoys soccer and is a black belt in taekwondo. He wants to study ICT and learn how to code, develop games and design graphics. Gyan remembers that he’s always had an interest in technology because of its application in making things easier in the world for everyone.

Aryan’s hobbies are playing the piano, playing games, video editing and building random things using LEGO. He wants to be a robotics engineer and help improve workplaces and enhance safety. According to Aryan, technology has unlimited potential and this is why it is so fascinating to him.

Keith and Youri are both 18 years of age. Both have a keen interest in software development as (part of) their future careers. 

Keith is in his third-year in school. His interest in technology lies with User Interface design and the business side of it. After high school he plans to study software engineering. Keith lives by the motto: “Persistence is very important. One should not give up.” 

Youri is our one returning team member. He participated in the 2020FGC in which the team ended on spot 18 of the ranking list. He is a second year ICT student and his hobbies include programming, gaming, solving rubik’s cubes and reading fantasy books. Besides being a book worm, he is a gamer and enjoys Minecraft for the same reasons that it allows his imagination and creativity to roam freely. Youri says that video games have helped him to develop problem-solving skills and trigger his creativity. Finding software solutions to difficult problems is what he wants to do in the future. He is from district Saramacca.

Team Suriname is mentored by a team of mentors with Shayant Sital fulfilling the role of lead mentor and Ayan Jhagroe that of Alternate Lead Mentor. Both are students that participated in the 2017 FGC. The lead mentors are supported by a team of 4 senior mentors (Seth, Joel, Lesley, Ivana), 3 peer mentors (Shyfka, Anjessa, Jeremy) and have access to an advisor mentor (Daniel Lachman), 2 mentors in Mexico (Abraham and Jesús) and a support mentor team in San Jose, California. Ashna Mahepal is the team manager/liaison and Shivani Jhagroe the 2^nd Suriname team contact to FIRST Global.

Our team is looking forward to performing well and wishes all other teams and people involved good health and success!