Above: Teacher Sunil Bridglal with the team of Marabella North Secondary – (at rear) Anjello Webb and Jesse Lee Sirju; (in front) Maahir Ramlakha and Priya Bachan,

Motivated by the consequences of recurring floods in Trinidad and Tobago, which chronically affect the lives and productivity of the country’s farmers, four students from Marabella North Secondary School invested creativity, effort, study, and ingenuity to develop a project designed to provide a socially and economically impactful solution: “Don’t Get Wet – Alerts to Stay Dry and Stay Safe.”

With this proposal, they participated in the 12th regional edition of the Solve for Tomorrow (SFT) 2025 educational programme, which was launched by Samsung Latin America earlier this year. After competing against approximately 3,000 project ideas and advancing through multiple qualifying rounds, the team — comprising students Anjello Webb, Jesse Lee Sirju, Maahir Ramlakhan, and Priya Bachan, along with their teacher Sunil Bridglal — is now among the five finalist groups.

The Trinidad and Tobago project, alongside those from Costa Rica, Ecuador, Paraguay, and Venezuela, will compete for the title of SFT 2025 Regional Champion, to be announced at a special event in Panama on November 13.

In the video available on the Solve for Tomorrow Latin American YouTube channel, the Marabella North Secondary School representatives explain that, in response to the frequent flooding in their country — caused by climate change, inadequate drainage infrastructure, and lack of urban planning — they created a proactive rather than reactive solution, which they believe is more likely to effectively address the problem.

Their proposal empowers communities through timely information, using a solar-powered early flood warning system with autonomous, low-cost monitoring stations. These stations, equipped with water-level sensors and GSM modules, can send alerts to a central server that distributes SMS messages to registered users in affected areas. This system would benefit farmers, business owners, and residents, enabling them to take preventive measures. The solution is accessible even to users with basic mobile phones and can be widely deployed in vulnerable areas.

Progress and Consolidation
SFT is a Samsung Electronics programme rooted in its Corporate Citizenship philosophy. It takes place on four continents. Regionally, the programme is now in its 12th edition with the participation of public schools from Belize, Costa Rica, Ecuador, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua, Panama, Paraguay, the Dominican Republic, Trinidad & Tobago, Uruguay, and Venezuela.

The results so far are very encouraging. María Fernanda Hernández, Samsung’s Corporate Citizenship Manager for the region, explained the outcomes highlight a significant achievement: following the programme’s call for participation in May of this year, SFT received over 3,000 project ideas from the 13 mentioned countries, involving a total of 11,000 participants (students and guiding teachers), who collectively received more than 11,000 hours of training.

SFT promotes STEM education (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics) and critical thinking, encouraging young people to design innovative solutions that address real challenges in their communities. Year after year, the programme reinforces its commitment to developing innovative leaders and change-makers who contribute to a more sustainable and inclusive future.