This excavator can work but for now, I have not connected the hose,” Idorenyin said as he showed off how the machine works. I started this excavator one year ago and it is the biggest. I have also built a roller and made a popcorn machine. “I have made a helicopter that can fly with a wireless remote, and a drone. Though he would later be admitted into a technical school, Idorenyin’s talent and abilities are all self-taught. I have built a grader but I am yet to complete it because I don’t have the materials to complete it.” I have so far built a speed boat and when I tested it on water, it worked but it was stolen. “My mum told me that I started constructing things from when I was very little. “This is about 5 years now since I started constructing these things,” he said. Idorenyin said he started constructing his little machines from when he was in primary five and has improved on his works over the years. His grandfather, Mr Peter James Udofia attests that Idorenyin is now sought after because of his talent, especially after being featured by the BBC. All of these from scratch, without assistance or supervision of anyone. He has made tippers, excavators, graders, rollers, speedboats, drones, pop corn machines and a helicopter that can fly with a wireless remote, among other things. His popularity has grown, no small thanks to his use of scraps or discarded materials like cardboard, syringes, intravenous tubes, batteries etc., to construct miniature machines. The only son of a petty trader mother and a father who has been bedridden for a while, Hope Emmanuel Frank, or Idorenyin, as he is known and called by his family and neighbours, is a 15-year-old student of Technical College, Ewet, Uyo, Akwa Ibom State. Idorenyin has a knack for creating things out of waste or discarded materials, a feat that has filled his family with optimism that he could gain recognition and maybe even a scholarship to continue “constructing things.” In Uyo town, in the heart of Ibibio country, a certain boy named Idonrenyin is practically living his name, giving his family hope that he might just be on to something great. T he Ibibio word Idorenyin translates as hope in English. His creations are garnering him fame but his dreams are growing bigger, as big as the machines he hopes to build when he grows up. Hope Emmanuel Frank, 15, better known at home as Idorenyin has been building miniature machines from when he was in primary five using scraps and discarded materials.