introduction

Project: Introduction of computer education at a secondary school in Bagamoyo.

Objective: To allow students and school staff to acquire basic computer skills and to embed computer education into the school's curriculum.

Approach: Setting up a computer classroom in cooperation with the future computer teacher and supplying practical educational material for computer basics. Bagamoyo Secondary School is one of four secondary schools in Bagamoyo, and the only one without a computer lab for its students. This government school has 700 students and its headmaster expressed a great interest in providing their students with computer training.

An impression of the project: Since July 2004, all students and staff at Bagamoyo Secondary School can develop their computer skills in this new computer lab, housing 14 computers. According to an official letter of the school's headmaster, addressed at us and cc'd to the Ministry of Education, the school is committed to embedding computer education in the school's curriculum, starting this year. We were pleased to learn that Adbeel Kitungwa, a physics teacher whom we already knew from previous contacts, had been appointed computer teacher. He and Jamani's Jolien Termorshuizen made the necessary preparation for the project. Next to 14 Pentium-II/400 MHz/4Gb/CD computer systems, Jamani also provided 300 copies of Jamani's Guide to Computers. Two copies were used to attach these practical instructions on one of the walls. It was already dark when our private Daladala arrived from Dar es Salam with all the computers at the school. Teachers helped unload the equipment, which also comprised a 5000 W stabilizer unit, to cope with Bagamoyo's problematic electricity supply and an ample number of extension cords. It is a good thing that Daladala's are used to being overloaded. We managed to squeeze in five people and a total of 15 computer systems, which were purchased at East African Computers. Before we loaded them into the Daladala, all computers were checked by Adbeel Kitungwa and Jamani's Marjolijn van Eijk, simply by having them run for one full hour. This way, some poor functioning monitors were identified and could be replaced immediately. One of the conditions we set for providing the computers, was that the school would have a decent and burglar-proof classroom available. With the help of Jamani's Jolien Termorshuizen and Adbeel Kitungwa (picture left), the school made all necessary preparations before our arrival in July. On our first day in Bagamoyo, we were happy to find the computer room in such good condition.

Jamani's Paul Flier visits Adbeel Kitungwa at his home in Bagamoyo. In the past year, Adbeel had proven to be truly committed to ICT training as he had translated Jamani's Guide to Computers into Swahili free of charge. In order to continue his work with computers, Jamani provided him with one private computer for at home.