Four Palestinian girls are set to be in California this week to pitch their mobile app about fire prevention to Silicon Valley's tech leaders.
The high school friends won a slot in the finals of a worldwide competition among more than 19,000 teenage girls.
For the 11th graders from the occupied West Bank, the ticket of admission to the World Pitch Summit signals a particularly dramatic leap, AP reported.
"We are excited to travel in a plane for the first time in our lives, meet new people and see a new world," said team member Wasan al-Sayed, 17.
"We are excited to be in the most prestigious IT community in the world, Silicon Valley, where we can meet interesting people and see how the new world works."
According to AP, twelve teams made it to the finals of the "Technovation Challenge" in San Jose, California, presenting apps that tackle problems in their communities. The Palestinian teens compete in the senior division against teams from Egypt, the United States, Mexico, India and Spain, for scholarships of up to $15,000.
The competition is being run for the 9th year by Iridescent, a global nonprofit offering opportunities to young people, especially girls, through technology.
The Technovation Challenge has already been a life-changing experience for al-Sayed and her teammates, Zubaida al-Sadder, Masa Halawa and Tamara Awaisa, as now they are determined to pursue careers in technology.
"Before this program, we had a vague idea about the future," said al-Sayed, speaking at a computer lab at An Najah University in her native Nablus, the West Bank's second largest city.
"Now we have a clear idea. It helped us pick our path in life."
The teens first heard about the competition a few months ago from an IT teacher at their school in a middle-class neighborhood in Nablus, where IT classes are a modest affair, held twice a week, with two students to a computer, AP reported.
The girls, friends since 10th grade, each had a laptop at home though, and worked with Yamama Shakaa, a local mentor provided by the competition organizers. The teens "did everything by themselves, with very few resources," said Shakaa.
The team produced a virtual reality game, "Be a firefighter," to teach fire prevention skills.
After the competition, they will give the app to the Palestinian Education Ministry for use in schools.
"This prize has changed our lives," said al-Sayed.
