OLPCorps Kibwezi Educational Centre, VA Tech, James Madison U., Radford U., and Northern VA Community College Kenya

Kibwezi Educational Centre, Kenya


Our team is composed of 22 Americans from Burke Presbyterian Church partnered with the Imani Primary School at the Kibwezi Educational Centre, in Kibwezi Kenya. Our team is already financialy committed to returning in July 2009. Four members of the team are enrolled in University level classes at the following schools: VA Tech, James Madison University, Radford University, and Northern Virginia Community College. The other 18 team members come from all walks of life, including a elelementary teacher and a math teacher from Thomas Jefferson School for Science and Technology. This will be our second deployment of OLPC computers to the primary school. Last year we purchased six OLPCs through the Give-One-Get-One (G1G1) program. This year we have already purchased four OLPC computers, two new OLPCs through G1G1 and two used OLPCs through Ebay; in adaddition we have adapted "Sugar on a Stick" to train team members who do not have the ororiginal hardware. Our focus this year is developing a cucurriculumhat fits into Kenya's focus on standardized testing. We have two former teachers training with the Laptops via a tutoring program located in Burke Presbyterian Church. This practical experience paired with guidance via email cocommunication with the director of the Imani Primary school will prepare us for our second deployment.

Several strengths of the OLPC deployment to the Kibwezi educational Centre include:

1) A twenty-one year historybetween Burke Presbyterian Church and the Local Presbyterian Church of East Africa, to include the Educational Centre and the Inmani Primary school, which we help fund.

2)OLPC "bonusing" off of costs already covered by Burke Presbyterian Church, to included thousands in travel expenses and the salaries of the local Kenyan tecers.

3) A demonstrated comitment to learning at the local level inthe United States. Both atthe DC Area OLPC Users club and by tutoring American students with OLPC machines.

References: [en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kibwezi_Educational_Centre Kibwezi Educational Centre on Wikipedia]

background on the Burke Presbyterian Church and Presbyterian Church of East Africa

Youtube Video from 2008 Deployment: coming soon

Photographs from 2008 Deployment: coming soon

Please visit our OLPC wiki page for more information, or feel free to contact David Norman, (703) 489-0334, parkranger1998-alaska at yahoo.com.