The computer education portion of our project has been progressing by leaps and bounds over the last couple of weeks. After meeting with the folks at local organization for kids, we borrowed three of their laptops and fully outfitted them with all of the donated software (which added up to around $1500 worth of educational children’s software!), in addition to the new computer curriculum we wrote and lesson plans and instructions for the most important pieces of software.
Included in the curriculum is the use of several interactive storybooks, as well as children’s drawing software and some math games. Also, as the students progress, they will learn the joy of sending and receiving emails – to each at first and then through a pen-pal project, where the kids will be paired off with kids from a US school, thereby getting great language practice as well as some work with word processing, English, emailing. The kids are already incredibly enthusiastic about using the computers; I can’t wait to see how things progress as they develop their skills. Working now on a second “semester” curriculum, which will involve more art and writing projects and more advanced computer training.
Holly’s in Dar this weekend for some more meetings with potential partners, but luckily we’ve been joined by a new resident in the house, making things a bit more lively. Emily is a Masters of Public Health student at Columbia University, and is spending six months here in Tabora working with the Millenium Village project. It’s great fun to be filling up our 5-bedroom house!
I head off on Wednesday or Thursday to Arusha — partially a personal trip, but also to get our collateral materials professionally printed. It’ll be very exciting to come back here with a box full of professionally-made goods for OTS.
Holly comes back Wednesday, so our cast of characters rotates yet again — such is life in Tabora!
