Lamu’s Dhow Physics Olympiad Draws 500 Students in Inaugural Edition

Lamu County hosted the first East Africa Dhow Physics Olympiad on July 22, 2025—where 500 students from Kenya, Tanzania, and Somalia competed in challenges: calculating sail tension, modeling hull buoyancy, and predicting tidal currents using traditional star charts. Physics isn’t in textbooks—it’s in the curve of a mast, said organizer Salim Rajab. Winners built a racing dhow, *Bahari Mpya* (New Ocean), now used in regattas. The Aga Khan Trust funded lab kits for 30 schools. UNESCO endorsed it as a model for *STEM rooted in heritage*. The Olympiad will be annual, rotating among Lamu, Zanzibar, and Pate.