A project aimed at removing lead pollution from water and soil in Zambia has been named winner of the 2026 Irish Aid \/ Self Help Africa ‘Science for Development Award’ at the Stripe Young Scientist & Technology Exhibition.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The project \u2013 \u2018Solutions to Combat Lead Pollution in Soil and Water in Kabwe, Zambia\u2019 – was developed by Matthew Johnson and Yung Hei Tsang, students at King\u2019s Hospital in Dublin, under the supervision of their teacher, Ciaran O\u2019Connor. It developed a cheap and eco-friendly lead removal water filter to reduce the problem caused by lead pollution.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The award by presented by Minister of State for International Development and Diaspora, Neale Richmond.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Minister Richmond said: ‘The Science for Development Award encourages young people to use science to help create a better and more sustainable world. Science and technology has a huge role to play in addressing some of the big challenges facing the world today.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\nI would like to sincerely congratulate Matthew Johnson and Yung Hei Tsang from King\u2019s Hospital, along with their teacher Ciaran O\u2019Connor. The standard of entry was incredibly high. It is encouraging to see so many young people in Ireland determined to use their scientific skills and curiosity to help the lives of people around the globe and make it a better world for all of us.”<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n
The award will enable students and teacher to travel to Africa as part of a Self Help Africa schools visit to give them an opportunity to reflect upon and possibly further develop the project.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
This is the twenty-first year that Irish Aid has funded the travel bursary awarded to the winning project.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The award is adjudicated entirely independently by the judges at the annual Stripe Young Scientist and Technology Exhibition. The judges look for evidence that the students have made the link to the global, setting out how many modern challenges are global challenges, which require global solutions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Last year\u2019s Science for Development Award was won by Anaus Syed Muhammad of Bruce College (Cork) with his project called HemoSense, a non-invasive method for blood screening of hemoglobin using smartphone cameras. The 2024 winners were Rachel Hamm and Ella Ryan from Moate Community College in Westmeath with their project \u2018Banana Bandages – A sustainable approach to Wound care\u2019 which aims to develop biodegradable bandages sustainably from plant waste for use in developing countries.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
A project aimed at removing lead pollution from water and soil in Zambia has been named winner of the 2026 Irish Aid \/ Self Help Africa ‘Science for Development Award’ at the Stripe Young Scientist & Technology Exhibition.<\/p>\n Read More<\/a>","protected":false},"author":25,"featured_media":37726,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[661,684,637,930],"tags":[68,76,70,1139,65,1050,209,1282,926,230],"class_list":["post-37723","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-cooperatives","category-development-education","category-news","category-technology","tag-agriculture","tag-enterprise","tag-farming","tag-nigeria","tag-self-help-africa","tag-solar","tag-technology","tag-tomatoes","tag-vegetables","tag-women"],"yoast_head":"\nLead Pollution Response Wins Science for Development Prize<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"A project to remove lead pollution from water and soil in Zambia was named 2026 winner of the Irish Aid sponsored Science for Development Award\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/selfhelpafrica.org\/ie\/lead-pollution\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_GB\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Project That Removes Lead Pollution in Zambia Wins Student Science Award.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"A project to remove lead pollution from water and soil in Zambia was named 2026 winner of the Irish Aid sponsored Science for Development Award\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/selfhelpafrica.org\/ie\/lead-pollution\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Self Help Africa\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/SelfHelpAfrica\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-02-03T13:59:55+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2026-03-03T14:00:22+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/selfhelpafrica.org\/ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2026\/03\/ScienceforDevelopment.2026.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1200\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"672\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Self Help Africa\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@selfhelpafrica\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@selfhelpafrica\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Self Help Africa\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Estimated reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/selfhelpafrica.org\/ie\/lead-pollution\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/selfhelpafrica.org\/ie\/lead-pollution\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Self Help Africa\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/selfhelpafrica.org\/ie\/#\/schema\/person\/780759ad3874c6665f471704b7267df2\"},\"headline\":\"Project That Removes Lead Pollution in Zambia Wins Student Science Award.\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-02-03T13:59:55+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-03-03T14:00:22+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/selfhelpafrica.org\/ie\/lead-pollution\/\"},\"wordCount\":403,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/selfhelpafrica.org\/ie\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/selfhelpafrica.org\/ie\/lead-pollution\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/selfhelpafrica.org\/ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2026\/03\/ScienceforDevelopment.2026.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"Agriculture\",\"enterprise\",\"Farming\",\"Nigeria\",\"Self Help Africa\",\"solar\",\"technology\",\"Tomatoes\",\"vegetables\",\"women\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Cooperatives\",\"Development Education\",\"News\",\"Technology\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-GB\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/selfhelpafrica.org\/ie\/lead-pollution\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/selfhelpafrica.org\/ie\/lead-pollution\/\",\"name\":\"Lead Pollution Response Wins Science for Development Prize\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/selfhelpafrica.org\/ie\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/selfhelpafrica.org\/ie\/lead-pollution\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/selfhelpafrica.org\/ie\/lead-pollution\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/selfhelpafrica.org\/ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2026\/03\/ScienceforDevelopment.2026.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-02-03T13:59:55+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-03-03T14:00:22+00:00\",\"description\":\"A project to remove lead pollution from water and soil in Zambia was named 2026 winner of the Irish Aid sponsored Science for Development Award\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/selfhelpafrica.org\/ie\/lead-pollution\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-GB\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/selfhelpafrica.org\/ie\/lead-pollution\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-GB\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/selfhelpafrica.org\/ie\/lead-pollution\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/selfhelpafrica.org\/ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2026\/03\/ScienceforDevelopment.2026.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/selfhelpafrica.org\/ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2026\/03\/ScienceforDevelopment.2026.jpg\",\"width\":1200,\"height\":672},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/selfhelpafrica.org\/ie\/lead-pollution\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/selfhelpafrica.org\/ie\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Project That Removes Lead Pollution in Zambia Wins Student Science Award.\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/selfhelpafrica.org\/ie\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/selfhelpafrica.org\/ie\/\",\"name\":\"Self Help Africa\",\"description\":\"Farming for Africa's Future\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/selfhelpafrica.org\/ie\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/selfhelpafrica.org\/ie\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-GB\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/selfhelpafrica.org\/ie\/#organization\",\"name\":\"Self Help Africa\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/selfhelpafrica.org\/ie\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-GB\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/selfhelpafrica.org\/ie\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/selfhelpafrica.org\/ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2023\/12\/Untitled-design-1.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/selfhelpafrica.org\/ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2023\/12\/Untitled-design-1.png\",\"width\":1400,\"height\":900,\"caption\":\"Self Help Africa\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/selfhelpafrica.org\/ie\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/SelfHelpAfrica\/\",\"https:\/\/x.com\/selfhelpafrica\",\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/selfhelpafrica\/\",\"https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/company\/selfhelpafrica\/\",\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/user\/SelfHelpAfricaTV\"]},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/selfhelpafrica.org\/ie\/#\/schema\/person\/780759ad3874c6665f471704b7267df2\",\"name\":\"Self Help Africa\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-GB\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/selfhelpafrica.org\/ie\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/3f8f6c88eac0b94a34dcf3a36afba3f25eee22df5eb671ead0e560f17c76c6e8?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/3f8f6c88eac0b94a34dcf3a36afba3f25eee22df5eb671ead0e560f17c76c6e8?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Self Help Africa\"}}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO Premium plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Lead Pollution Response Wins Science for Development Prize","description":"A project to remove lead pollution from water and soil in Zambia was named 2026 winner of the Irish Aid sponsored Science for Development Award","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/selfhelpafrica.org\/ie\/lead-pollution\/","og_locale":"en_GB","og_type":"article","og_title":"Project That Removes Lead Pollution in Zambia Wins Student Science Award.","og_description":"A project to remove lead pollution from water and soil in Zambia was named 2026 winner of the Irish Aid sponsored Science for Development Award","og_url":"https:\/\/selfhelpafrica.org\/ie\/lead-pollution\/","og_site_name":"Self Help Africa","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/SelfHelpAfrica\/","article_published_time":"2026-02-03T13:59:55+00:00","article_modified_time":"2026-03-03T14:00:22+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1200,"height":672,"url":"https:\/\/selfhelpafrica.org\/ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2026\/03\/ScienceforDevelopment.2026.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Self Help Africa","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@selfhelpafrica","twitter_site":"@selfhelpafrica","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Self Help Africa","Estimated reading time":"2 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/selfhelpafrica.org\/ie\/lead-pollution\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/selfhelpafrica.org\/ie\/lead-pollution\/"},"author":{"name":"Self Help Africa","@id":"https:\/\/selfhelpafrica.org\/ie\/#\/schema\/person\/780759ad3874c6665f471704b7267df2"},"headline":"Project That Removes Lead Pollution in Zambia Wins Student Science Award.","datePublished":"2026-02-03T13:59:55+00:00","dateModified":"2026-03-03T14:00:22+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/selfhelpafrica.org\/ie\/lead-pollution\/"},"wordCount":403,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/selfhelpafrica.org\/ie\/#organization"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/selfhelpafrica.org\/ie\/lead-pollution\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/selfhelpafrica.org\/ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2026\/03\/ScienceforDevelopment.2026.jpg","keywords":["Agriculture","enterprise","Farming","Nigeria","Self Help Africa","solar","technology","Tomatoes","vegetables","women"],"articleSection":["Cooperatives","Development Education","News","Technology"],"inLanguage":"en-GB"},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/selfhelpafrica.org\/ie\/lead-pollution\/","url":"https:\/\/selfhelpafrica.org\/ie\/lead-pollution\/","name":"Lead Pollution Response Wins Science for Development Prize","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/selfhelpafrica.org\/ie\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/selfhelpafrica.org\/ie\/lead-pollution\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/selfhelpafrica.org\/ie\/lead-pollution\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/selfhelpafrica.org\/ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2026\/03\/ScienceforDevelopment.2026.jpg","datePublished":"2026-02-03T13:59:55+00:00","dateModified":"2026-03-03T14:00:22+00:00","description":"A project to remove lead pollution from water and soil in Zambia was named 2026 winner of the Irish Aid sponsored Science for Development Award","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/selfhelpafrica.org\/ie\/lead-pollution\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-GB","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/selfhelpafrica.org\/ie\/lead-pollution\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-GB","@id":"https:\/\/selfhelpafrica.org\/ie\/lead-pollution\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/selfhelpafrica.org\/ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2026\/03\/ScienceforDevelopment.2026.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/selfhelpafrica.org\/ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2026\/03\/ScienceforDevelopment.2026.jpg","width":1200,"height":672},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/selfhelpafrica.org\/ie\/lead-pollution\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/selfhelpafrica.org\/ie\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Project That Removes Lead Pollution in Zambia Wins Student Science Award."}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/selfhelpafrica.org\/ie\/#website","url":"https:\/\/selfhelpafrica.org\/ie\/","name":"Self Help Africa","description":"Farming for Africa's Future","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/selfhelpafrica.org\/ie\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/selfhelpafrica.org\/ie\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-GB"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/selfhelpafrica.org\/ie\/#organization","name":"Self Help Africa","url":"https:\/\/selfhelpafrica.org\/ie\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-GB","@id":"https:\/\/selfhelpafrica.org\/ie\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/selfhelpafrica.org\/ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2023\/12\/Untitled-design-1.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/selfhelpafrica.org\/ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2023\/12\/Untitled-design-1.png","width":1400,"height":900,"caption":"Self Help Africa"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/selfhelpafrica.org\/ie\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/SelfHelpAfrica\/","https:\/\/x.com\/selfhelpafrica","https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/selfhelpafrica\/","https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/company\/selfhelpafrica\/","https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/user\/SelfHelpAfricaTV"]},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/selfhelpafrica.org\/ie\/#\/schema\/person\/780759ad3874c6665f471704b7267df2","name":"Self Help Africa","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-GB","@id":"https:\/\/selfhelpafrica.org\/ie\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/3f8f6c88eac0b94a34dcf3a36afba3f25eee22df5eb671ead0e560f17c76c6e8?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/3f8f6c88eac0b94a34dcf3a36afba3f25eee22df5eb671ead0e560f17c76c6e8?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Self Help Africa"}}]}},"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-03-10 16:40:30","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/selfhelpafrica.org\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/37723","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/selfhelpafrica.org\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/selfhelpafrica.org\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/selfhelpafrica.org\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/25"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/selfhelpafrica.org\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=37723"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/selfhelpafrica.org\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/37723\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":37725,"href":"https:\/\/selfhelpafrica.org\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/37723\/revisions\/37725"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/selfhelpafrica.org\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/37726"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/selfhelpafrica.org\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=37723"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/selfhelpafrica.org\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=37723"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/selfhelpafrica.org\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=37723"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}