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Pan African Project - Nairobi, 2004 |
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Capturing Africa in Our Web
Edna Dach
Mon. July 26
Today is the big day. We rose early, and had breakfast before we went downtown to the SkillSoft eLearning Centre for the training day. Both of us are quite excited to meet the rest of the participants. We had the opportunity to meet some them at breakfast this morning. They are all so excited about this opportunity. All of them are dressed in their finest. You can tell that coming to a workshop is something that is not taken for granted.
 It is great to have the training centre. Some of the machines crash mysteriously (they systems are relatively well put together, but they seem to have quite a bit of spy ware and a virus or two), so the techs swap machines out for us. They allowed us to keep working. The internet works on 2/3 of the machines. For the week, the lab costs PATC US$2,000.
The day went on very well. All the participants are eager to learn and are appreciative of our efforts. We began the day with greetings and introductions of ourselves. We broke for tea (very affordable) and each of us sat at different tables with the participants. They have so much to share and tell us. One question is how can they get a computer?
We returned around 10:45 and I began an introduction to the computer - mousing, folders, file naming, etc. Edna and Zack helped the participants. We spent a lot of time describing and practicing skills. Donna Griffin has come along to help with the session. She mans the computer and does the driving while we do the instruction.
At lunchtime, David sat with Pauline, Joel and Esther. Pauline is very interested in his Palm handheld computer, and played with it for quite a while. The participants see the need for desktop computers, and see the handhelds as an extension to what they can do while at their desks.
After lunch, Edna began Word - the formatting toolbar, saving & naming, creating a letter template. We take time to review and practice all of our new skills, and it's most effective. Teaching was fun today.
We had coffee after the workshop shut down at 4:30 at a coffee shop nearby, and we experienced downtown rush hour this afternoon. It's amazing that these many cars can share the same road (sometimes four lanes of traffic on a three lane road) without more accidents.)
Everyone at the hotel is so helpful and friendly. The accommodations are excellent. Manager Mwanda of the Silver Springs Hotel is a special person. We saw him welcoming guests and his staff this morning at 6:30 and he was still here to talk to us about arranging rooms for after the Safari at 10:00. He is "Mutu Wabide" Ð a Hardworking Person.
David's bag still hasn't returned, but his laundry is in his room when he returns. My dress shirts are packaged like brand new - a cardboard backing with the hotel name printed on it. So far it has been 4 days without his luggage.
Tues. July 27
 Today we introduced eMail & web searches, and were supposed to do digital photography. We had a lesson plan, and once they saw "the Internet" all bets were off. It was a long day of learning many things. The time in the class goes so quickly. All the participants are so eager to learn and try out new things. They are also adapting our instructional methods. We are trying to engage them as much as possible and be role models.
At lunchtime, the Kenya teachers took us to the Masai market. It takes place every Tuesday on a hillside; think of having 200+ shops (2 metre square cloth plots) with 800+ people standing beside McKnight Blvd or Jasper Ave during rush hour! It was fun to go with the participants and buy some items. Everything is on a barter system. Edna, Donna & I bought (stone) plates, and I got a globe for my son. We returned to our class for the afternoon.
 Joel from Zambia (pictured at right with Margy), made a comment to David. He said, "You have great knowledge and ability, yet I have no "airs" about your teaching. He says that if the student does not get it, you try something different." All the participants were so thankful for the time and effort all the presenters put into the workshop. Good news too, David's luggage finally arrived.
Wed. July 28
It's a cool morning today. It is hard to believe that we are near the equator and yet we are cool. The temperature in Nairobi runs between 22°C and 26°C the entire time we are there, and doesn't deviate much from that year round. One morning we actually saw our breathe.
 Today was the introduction to spreadsheets and making graphs. Most of the participants have never used spreadsheets but saw the potential of this tool. They realized that this would allow them to share data with each other. I brought over smarties from Canada to use as the data for compare. When we introduced spreadsheets, we used the "Smarties Graphing Project" where each delegate is given a Halloween sized box of Smarties, and we compare the colours that each person gets in their box. One of the delegates titled his graph "Smarties Inequality" (picture to the right).
Later in the afternoon we went to the Kenya National Union of Teachers office. We met with various dignitaries. We met with 2nd Vice Chairman Julius, 1st Vice Chairman George, Secretary General Lawrence, David, and Assistant Treasurer Charles. We talked about the importance of the workshop, and they have asked for our help to get computers to them. We listened but did not make any promises. The meeting gave us an opportunity to share information at CFT, PATC, ATA and KNUT. The sharing share taught us a great deal about the Kenyan education system. It is a centralized education system - same curriculum in entire country, all examples must be the same. We took pictures of the group. You should have seen their faces when we said "Can we show you that picture?" They are obviously used to film cameras, not digital. One of the key items was when Magy and Lucy spoke about their experiences at the workshop. It demonstrated that the goals of the workshop were very successful. These two ladies explained that the internet and websites would allow KNUT to communicate with their members. They noted the strong role of PATC. After the meeting Donna and I went to a school where we met with teachers and students. The purpose of the meeting was so that we could listen to the issue facing KNUT regarding Aids. Twenty teachers a month of dying and many children are let as orphans.
Thur. July 29
 We began programming web pages this morning - get out of their way! This was what so many have come to see this week. We took digital pictures of the participants, and gave them each a floppy with that picture.
We took a group picture on the stairs outside of the training centre and had the film developed. Each delegate received a copy. We went to a local sports shop to buy soccer balls for the school that we had visited the day before. At every opportunity the participants want David to demonstrate his palm pilot. What a great group. We can not believe that tomorrow is the last day.
Fri. July 30
When we arrived at the training centre, we found that Peter, one of the participants from Kenya had become a father. All the class was excited about the new baby girl; which was named Donna Edna (it would have been named Zack David if a boy!). There was much to do today as this was our last day together and many were leaving in the morning.
There was no formal instruction today. Zack and David played a lead role in working with the class.
 Finally the time had come to end the session. The presenters showed a PowerPoint presentation with photos taken throughout the week. We wrapped up with lunch at Red Bull. We sang the union song (Solidarity Forever) and we all received gifts from KNUT. At the left are Margy and Lucy with David.
On my trip to Kenya, we met many great friends delegates, people at the hotel, and Kenyan citizens such as Kennedy our taxi driver. Everyone was helpful, and wanted to share their experiences and to learn from you. We learned a great deal about our African colleagues, and the situation they are in. We feel quite privileged to have been asked to go to work on this project.
To teach is to touch the future and we know that our workshop has touched the future of PATC and the future of these participants. We look forward to future opportunities to work with our fellow colleagues in Africa.
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African Project 
