Launching of the KiberaOnline Schools Project

Above: James points out the different parts that constitute 'hardware.'

After five days of installing operating systems, drivers and programs onto the ten donated laptops designated for the new computer lab at the Kibra Academy, our team of teachers begun instructing introductory computer courses.

In an impressively large room with new curtains, a freshly painted workspace and recently tiled floors, James, Tim, Tamara, Sarah and I welcome four classes of high-school students a day, each class comprising around nineteen students.

After introductions, we ask the same question to each class. “How many of you have used a computer before?” After some prodding, a couple hands go up, but for the majority of the school, students have little to no experience using laptops or desktop computers. So our lesson begins.

Above left: Sarah instructs students on how to save a document. Left: Students gather during their free time to practice typing and manipulating fonts.

In an interactive process, we formulate a basic definition of a computer and brainstorm its potential uses. Evidently, students share what they have learned in our class with each other. Whereas it took several minutes to evoke a workable definition of a computer from our first couple classes, the definition we use, ‘an electronic device that takes data, processes it and then provides information,’ is readily offered up by a students in the afternoon classes.

The Form Four students, or fourth years, demonstrate the most pressing desire to learn as much as possible about computers before graduation. As they explore the desktop and basic functions of a computer, their excitement is palpable. The students scurry over desktop icons, in a sometimes clumsy manner as they adjust to using a touchpad, to open folders and programs and demonstrate surprise as music emanates from the screen or photos appear on the desktop. They ask when they’ll learn how to use the internet and get an email address and nod and smile when we talk about our plans to teach resumé and cover letter formatting.

Perhaps the most rewarding experience so far has been teaching students how to type. In pairs they actively work together on typing programs that have been installed on each computer, careful to maintain proper finger placement and letting out an occasional “aie!” when they tap a key accidentally. On Microsoft Office Word they write sentences to experiment with different font sizes and colors. Soccer is a key area of interest among these students and sentences such as "I love Manchester United but don't like Arsenal!" appear frequently. As word spreads in the school about the computer lessons, students arrive at the lab on their break time to try out what other students have already practiced in class. For them and other students at the Kibra Academy, computer class is a rare privilege that must be seized.

Above: Tim, Jeff, Tamara and James in the new computer lab.