Seipati Poopedi, a master’s student at the North-West University (NWU), recently participated in the Wetskills Water Challenge in Cape Town and her team walked away with the spoils.
Her team members were Tariro Marekwa, an MSc student from the University of Cape Town, Dr Fulya Kandamir from Antalya Metropolitan Municipality Climate Change in Turkey, Zanele Lulane of the Joint River Basin Authorities Project Board in Eswatini, and Nomandla Nxusa from Rand Water South Africa.
Seipati says she saw the Water Research Commission’s (WRC’s) post on LinkedIn about a scholarship to attend The Wetskills event in Cape Town. “I read up on the programme online and I was very interested.
“I’m passionate about water-related issues, especially in Africa, and therefore applied and expressed my interest to the WRC. Not long after, I received an email informing me that I was one of the two students that were successfully selected across South Africa,” she says.
During the two weeks, and together with her teammates, she worked on a case provided by the WRC with the title: “Strengthening cooperation and capacity development in Southern African Development Community (SADC) through the water-energy-food (WEF) nexus”.
Seipati says participating in the programme was a great experience, but also very challenging. “We had to provide a novel solution in the form of a poster, a two-minute pitch, and a scientific paper in a very short space of time.”
Their model uses systems thinking to consolidate the current efforts in the WEF nexus in the SADC region.
Fortunately, their hard work paid off and Seipati’s team walked away with trophies and gifts. She says that this competition restored faith in herself and her capabilities.
“I’m grateful for the opportunity. The entire experience has strengthened my credence that I really do work well under pressure and that stressful and pressure-filled situations are sometimes necessary to release your full potential.”
Seipati is currently pursuing an MSc in environmental science, and her research focuses on wastewater treatment challenges in the North West province.
She says that she’s trying to optimise the performance of wastewater treatment plants through microscopic and metabarcoding methods.
About The Wetskills Water Challenge
The Wetskills Water Challenge is a two-week pressure-cooker programme for students and young professionals with a passion for water.
Coming from all over the world, they work in transdisciplinary and transcultural teams on challenging water cases. Their main challenge is to find innovative and out-of-the-box solutions for water challenges in a changing world.
The study cases are provided and formulated by case owners – companies and organisations with a dedicated challenge in a local situation.
These cases are presented in an ice-breaking and energising session, where the cooperation between the Dutch water sector and the partner country is shown and positioned. It provides a base to integrate different generations, water challenges, disciplines, and cultures.
Champions of sustainability: The winning team of the Wetskills Water Challenge shines a spotlight on innovative water solutions. From left are Seipati Poopedi, Tariro Marekwa, Dr Fulya Kandamir, Nomandla Nxusa and Zanele Lulane.
