Asira Khanal lost five family members in the April quake and sheltered many nights under a tarpaulin. At the same time, she participated in Victoria Business School’s annual, three-week Global Enterprise Experience that challenged students from all over the world to devise a business solution for an issue affecting a vulnerable subsector of society.
Asira was part of a team with members from New Zealand, the Netherlands and Finland. Her winning idea was to manufacture cheaply-made ceramic water filters for developing countries where safe drinking water is scarce.
Asira says most people in rural Nepal do not have access to safe drinking water, and water-borne diseases are largely responsible for the country’s high child mortality rate. “I received a call from one of my relatives in a village who had lost her home complaining about the lack of drinking water. So I started researching innovations in water purification systems that could be easily adopted in developing countries. [Ceramic filters] would be a great venture to pursue in Nepal because the Bhaktapur district has been famous for clay products for centuries,” she says.
This year’s competition involved 880 students from 179 universities across 53 developed and developing countries. Each team of eight was led by a New Zealand student from either Victoria or Otago universities.
Last night’s awards ceremony, co-hosted by Minister of Tertiary Education Hon Steven Joyce and MP Dr Jian Yang, recognised not only the students’ innovation and business skills, but also their ability to work in a global context across time zones, language barriers, limited internet accessibility, and social and political differences.
Seven categories of awards were presented on the night, with Victoria University’s Siobhan Bassett winning most outstanding team leader.
Victoria’s Chancellor Sir Neville Jordan congratulated the teams on their innovative approach to addressing the needs of the vulnerable in society. “New Zealand-based students led the global teams using the internet to bring teams together to create their business concept. We counted 42 technologies that leaders used to manage their teams.”
Global Enterprise Experience founder and organiser Deb Gilbertson says one of the most inspiring awards is the Commitment Award that recognises a student who has overcome extreme difficulties to participate.
“This year, an Iranian student won the Commitment Award. She is of Baha’is faith, and so is prohibited from higher education. She belongs to an underground university and her very participation in the competition, plus the fact she is communicating with foreigners, could have led to imprisonment,” Deb says.
“There are some amazing stories of students who face extremely challenging circumstances to take part. It’s very humbling, but it’s also heartening to know this competition is helping them, and all participants, gain invaluable skills to become our next global leaders.”
Over 6000 students have taken part in the programme since it began 12 years ago.