KiberaOnline Computer Training Workshop for Teachers

In our quest to introduce technology –based education in local schools, Children of Kibera Foundation organized a free Level One Basic Computer Applications course for 34 primary school teachers from various institutions across Kibera slum from April 11^Th -29^Th . This was aimed at building the capacity of these various schools to be able to incorporate computer training into their curriculum.

From the onset of the project, it was clear that the thirst for computer literacy was very high among these custodians of knowledge. Within two days of call for participants. The office received 50 training request and the number kept on swelling with each passing day. At the end we had 83 applicants.

Due to limited resources in terms of training facilities, we took the first 34 for our first ever teacher training, we had two sessions: morning and evening, each having 17 learners with a computer- learner ratio of 1:1 for that quality Trainer-Learner attention.

We hope to hold another training session come August holidays for the second intake.

“The head ache of manually preparing report forms is a thing of the past! Thanks to knowing how to use Excel.”
- Selina Nyaikori-Lindi Friends Primary School.

“I can’t wait to teach my students using power point when my school will acquire a computer, it is so powerful!”
–Daniel Otieno-A.C.K Silanga primary School.

“Children of Kibera Foundation has built your capacity, now embrace technology in the learning process, for it gives a whole new experience and twist to it”
-Peter Samora( Trainer/CoKF staff)

Show me what you've been learning...


Class in progress


Individual attention


Ken (center front row) with the proud group of graduands

Mentors day April 2011

On the 30th of April we had a mentors day for our girls (High School Scholar). We tackled some of the agendas the girls had written down like, challenges in school and how to handle them, achieving success in school and how to effectively choose careers. We had a tantalizing lunch after which the mentors who came vividly described to the girls the ladders they had to climb to reach where they are today. The girls later had a chance to reflect the effects of the talks on them and how it would help them choose careers not on the basis of money but what they are passionate about. "We really enjoyed ourselves and feel very fortunate to belong to Children of KIbera Foundation. Thanks alot for your support" Zainab Abdallah.

KEN GIVES A LECTURE.

On the 28^th of April, the Ken Okoth delivered an eye opening and hugely motivating lecture to our scholars.

What is your Brand/Identity?

This is the question that took the participants to a journey of self awareness, discovery and as a form motivation towards self improvement. The lecture touched on the desired quality of brand that CoKF scholars should aspire to exhibit: Strong, Clear, Positive, Desirable and only recognised as the best. The scholars were urged to learn from their experiences, improve on their skills and even acquire new ones for the job market is very competitive and employers go for the best. ‘Attitude’ was also discussed as a central ingredient towards building a good brand. With our scholars coming from humble backgrounds Ken told them to literally ‘grab’ opportunities that would present themselves in their way. Lastly, knowledge, the world is fast becoming a global village and having a wide knowledge base is inevitable if one is to stand out.

“The lecture made me think deeper about my life. It opened up my mind about grabbing opportunities and today I have made some resolutions in my life”
–Kelvin Shilisia, Dagoretti High School Scholar

“Simply enlightening!”-Zuhra Suleiman, Pangani Girls Scholar.

“Kens lecture was motivating, it made me realize I still have a long way to go”-Philitricia Were, Moi Girls Scholar.

“Create your individual brand everyday in everything that you do”
- Ken Okoth, CoKF Founder.

What is your brand?

Everyday in everything you do create a brand.

Wow! some deep stuff!!

A HOLIDAY OF TUITION, COMPUTERS, LECTURES AND TOURS.

The April holidays were an eventful one for the CoKF scholars. They had various specially designed programs in their waiting:

This term’s holiday tuition was a special one for the CoKF scholars. They had the opportunity of learning from each other and sharing learning experiences unique to their respective schools. This was a very special session since the scholars also engaged in cascade learning. The form 2s had the chance of engaging the form 1s and so on.

Come afternoon, our scholars had computer lessons for we believe that computer literacy is a salient skill that every person should posses in the 21^st century. They had the opportunity to learn the Microsoft office package, Internet based academic research and managing their social media accounts, namely: Facebook and twitter since we believe that this accounts also contribute to a person’s identity.

Away from the learning and skills acquisition programs, four of our scholars had the chance of going to Mombasa for a fun filled tour, purely on a merit based approach. The tour was a token to reward their hard work and to motivate the other scholars to work even harder with all of them having the knowledge of another mouth watering tour package on the offing.

“Hard work pays”-Brother Tonny,Dagoretti High School Scholar.

Mombasa here we come!!!

At the Fort Jesus....

The breeze is cool!!!

A DAY WITH THE DRAMA PATRONS.

Preparations for this year’s Annual Children of Kibera Foundation Music Festival are at an advanced stage. With the intent of making this annual event a festival not to be missed, CoKF organised a 1 day meeting with drama patrons from the various schools that have previously graced the occasion.

The workshop had two objectives: one, to learn from the patrons’ previous experiences. The CoKF staff wanted to get views from the perspective of the drama patrons since as genuine stakeholders, their views and insights would give the organizers the ‘third side of the coin’ so to speak. This session was very fruitful since their contribution was invaluable, among the aspects of the event they wished to be adjusted were: setting of the stage, Patrons appreciation and splitting of the Narratives and Solo Verses into different categories among others.

The second objective was to discuss, learn and agree on the basic elements making up the various categories to be contested. This was important since not all the Drama patrons had prior knowledge on basic drama skills. At the end of the day, there was an air of confidence among the participant that this year’s event will be more competitive and the artistic pieces entered would be of greater quality.

“Now I know what I have been doing wrong while composing and directing my poems, it is time to make it right”-Mr Maloba John Paul Sec.

“This time round my dance will be tighter and more artistic” Linet-Drama Patron St.Aloysius.

This is how we do it...

Now,these are the components....

Lets act with the food!

High school scholars reach out

What a day it was! In fact a remarkable one in our lives. This is was brought about by the experience some of us have never had, that of mingling with totally different people in the society. Today we went to FIKISHA KENYA, a rehabilitation centre for street boys in the slums of Kawangware. We enjoyed volunteering and we engaged ourselves in cleaning various places and even cooking lunch. We also played and ate with the street boys. In addition, we learnt many things from them including their life experiences after our interactions. Most of them used to be good people but due to circumstances and family issues such as family break ups, death and poverty they ended up in the streets loitering. When they get to the streets they get to sniff shoe glue, and also take hard drugs of which they claim it gives them psych to do things

As CoKF we were pleased to donate them some bundles of maize flour and cooking fat to them. We then had a small talk among ourselves as high school scholars, we enlightened each other about the opportunities that we have at CoKF. We will grab every opportunity that we have, not forgetting education which is a great opportunity offered to us. We would like to thank Children of Kibera Foundation and everyone supporting CoKF who have enabled us to be in school in a bid to make our future bright.

Thank you.

Kelvin Shilisia