Empower, Engage, Educate in Rural Kenya!

Raise your hand if you or your children ever participated in a library program. Hearing a story by a librarian and doing an activity like a craft or a game was fun and another way to learn (you can put your hands down now). At Kenya Connect, we now hold a weekly Saturday Storytime program with children flocking to the center to hear a read aloud story and to create and learn through the power of stories.

Last week, Mentor Monicah read the book, "You Matter" by Christian Robinson. The colorful book helped the children know why they matter in this world. The colorful illustrations were fun to see and the children shared why they matter with each other before creating an "I Matter" flower. Another story featured "This is the Sunflower," written by Lola M. Schaefer and illustrated by Donald Crews. Students learned that sunflower seeds are used to make oil and are also dispersed by birds. Another Storytime featured the fabulous book, "A Library," by Nikki Giovanni. The children heard what happens in the library like learning "to be quick and smart and to sail your dreams." Joshua shared, "I read book about electricity and electronics in the library and now I want to become an electric engineer." Afterwards the children played library bingo to learn more of what's in a library.

After each week's storytime, the children can check out books from our library of 35,000 books to bring home. In our rural community, children would not have access to the incredible resources of a library and the thousands of books without Kenya Connect. 

Your donation helps fuel this weekly program. Our team is inspired by the children who come each week eager to hear a story and to create. It is a fun safe activity that helps them dream beyond their village. This coupled with our LitMom, LitClub, and other literacy programs are helping us build a community of readers. Thank you for choosing Kenya Connect and for making our Saturday Storytime and other library programs a reality. The gift of books, stories and reading is one that lasts a lifetime.

"Look at how the 3D Printer is working! I used Tinkercard to design an object and it's coming to life!" exclaimed Peace.

Schools are on term break in Kenya and our EdTech Hub is buzzing with activity. Students are creating robots using LEGO Spike kits while other children are learning how to use Tinkercard and the 3D printer. It's a safe place for students to come to create, problem solve and learn. Recently our Director of Technology and Education, Patrick Munguti, attended a Robotics Competition in Nairobi with some of KC's Tech Team. He was energized by watching the competition and said, "Our rural learners can learn how to do this too!" As a result, we are now preparing materials to help students become robot creators and engineers so they can enter the competition next year.

Most of all, students are thrilled to have access to computers, lego, and Raspberry Pi Pico devices. Our tech whizzes are mostly from families who earn less than $2.00 a day and do not have electricity in their homes. Coming to Kenya Connect to create and learn is opening new worlds to them, while preparing them to be part of the growing tech economy in Kenya.

Meanwhile in the Makerspace in our Library Learning Center, students are creating in a "low-tech" way. Using discarded cardboard boxes, toilet tubes, and craft supplies, children are building homes, schools, and playgrounds. They eventually will put all the creations together to build a village. It's hard to imagine, but the schools that these students attend do not have art supplies. There are no crayons, colored pencils or even extra paper to draw or create. However, our new Makerspace means that during Saturday Storytime and School breaks students can use art materials. Instead of having all the houses uniform, students are coming up with their own designs and ideas. They are also working in teams to create schools and playgrounds. It's just heartwarming and exciting to see.

Being able to provide these enrichment programs whether "high tech" or "low tech" are transforming lives and expanding our students' horizons. We could not run these types of programs without donors like YOU. Your investment in Kenya Connect is an investment in the children we serve and an investment in their future. Thank you for supporting us and helping to foster future innovators, artists, and tech leaders. You are making a difference through your generous gift.

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LitMoms learn and laugh! We have a new LitMom group who recently read "Wangari's Trees of Peace" by Jeanette Winter. Eunice, one of the moms shared, "Through the read aloud I have learnt that when I plant a tree, I should take care of it so that it can grow." Felistus, another member said, "I have learnt that when I plant trees, they prevent soil erosion and preserve soil nutrients that makes crops to grow healthy and yield bountiful harvest." The LitMoms, who meet weekly, read a story and discuss it. In addition, the LitMoms also create. As a way for this new group to get to know one another they created comic books about their life. For many of these mothers, it's the first time they have used art supplies and it is clear they enjoy using the materials.

Meanwhile, our student LitClub program is thriving. This is an afterschool literacy enrichment program where students create friendships, build confidence, read stories to one another and make art. Using the LitWorld curriculum of seven strengths, Belonging, Kindness, Curiosity, Friendship, Confidence Curiosity and Hope, these students learn together during this two year program while becoming readers. They are encouraged to check out books and to share the stories with one another. Recently, the newest cohort of LitClubs learned about kindness and love and created pictures to share with their family.

Finally, we were thrilled to have a special "Lit" Tour! The award winning and NY Times best selling author, Kwame Alexander visited Wamunyu with twenty writers, educators and librarians. Among the group was the Newbury Award winning author, Jerry Craft. Kwame and his group visited schools to inspire the students to be readers and writers and held professional development workshops for teachers and librarians. It was a joyful visit filled with traditional song and dance, learning from the Wamunyu Woodcarvers and Women Weavers, and many stories being shared.

Literacy is at the heart of learning, and Kenya Connect's multi-pronged approach is providing access to high quality books while also nurturing and teaching about the importance of reading with teachers, parents and students. Your generous support ensures that we can continue the LitMom and LitClub programs while also having our mobile "Magic School Bus" library visiting 35 schools for book check out. 

This summer, as you pick up a book to read, think about how your donation is providing books for students in rural Kenya to read! We are deeply grateful for your support!

Play is vital for development and education as it allows children, youth and adults the opportunity to use their creativity while developing their imagination and physical, cognitive and emotional strength. In the Kenya Connect Makerspace, we provide a supportive environment for learners to experiment, work together and learn through making. This also involves making games for fun too! Recently, our students did a guided activity on how they can create their own game using materials that are easily available. The activity involved learners between PP1 and grade 8 who really enjoyed working and playing together. They learned various lessons in the process and had an opportunity to actually think and share about different ways to use the materials presented to make a game. They made good guesses!

How good is your aim! They created the ring toss game using paper plates to make the rings, aluminum foil tube to make the stake and cardboard for the stand. They connected the foil core to the cardboard using hot glue. The paper plate rings were created of different diameters. They took turns tossing the ring into the stake/tissue paper core. It was great fun!

We tried aiming with the ping pong toss game using plastic party cups and a ping pong ball. In two teams, they placed the same number of cups on each side. Each participant on both sides took turns aiming a ping pong ball into a cup. The team that exhausted the cups on the opposite end won.  

Can we play with a balloon without using our hands? We used yarn and balloons of different colours. Students created a web and used a game where you mention your favorite colour, food etc before you threw a ball of yarn to someone else. The trick was to ensure that the web was spaced enough to hold the balloon and bounce it without using your hands. Students worked together to ensure the balloon doesn't fall and also close up any spaces that made the balloon fall. Afterwards they just played with the balloons as they normally would (throw and catch)

“Let’s see how good we are at working together!” I said. To experiment this, we used straws and different colour construction paper to play a straw sucking game. Students cut evenly sized pieces of blue and pink construction paper and numbered them 1-50. Paired into two groups, they helped one another identify the numbers in order and one player would suck the paper and carry it into a bowl. They took turns doing this and the group that finished first was the winner.

We also tried working together in a game we made using toilet paper tubes and yarn. The students organized themselves in 2 groups and on one end, I placed the same number of tissue cores. They worked together to ensure they passed along all the tissue cores from one end to the other. They first team wins.

This activity helped students learn how teamwork can make work easier and faster, how we can take care of our environment by upcycling different materials such as cardboards, paper plates, tissue cores. The students also learned easy ways you can make your own game and play by yourself, with family or friends. In addition to this, they learnt the essence of turn-taking by giving each other an opportunity to play. Since the activity was all inclusive, they learnt that helping one another is good and so is asking for help whenever you feel stuck. The upper grade students helped lower grade students in playing. They also got to learn new terms such as ping pong, stake, base/stand, ring toss and what they mean. For many of these students, Kenya Connect's makerspace is the first time they have used these types of materials for learning OR play!

Learning is fun, and thanks to you, we have incredible staff like Sharon Mwende who runs our Makerspace activities. Donations ensures that we have the staff and materials to provide educational enrichment in our makerspace, EdTech Hub and Library! We are deeply grateful!

We hope you have time to play in your life!

We have been celebrating Earth Day in Wamunyu!  Students at Mutyangoi Primary School are earth champions! They are members of the new Moringa Tree club. This group of students, under the leadership of Mentor Brian, have been planting and watering Moringa Trees. The students are learning about the life cycle of the tree, best practices of growing, and the many benefits of the "Mighty Moringa." They, and parents from the school, will help harvest the leaves which will be ground into powder and sold for income. This is part of our initiative to provide income generation programs, plant more trees as part of the Kenyan 15 billion tree initiative and to teach students about the importance of trees in mitigating climate change. “We are excited to be planting Moringa Trees in our school because it is medicinal and the leaves can be cooked. We will also have more plants in the school compound because we have been growing vegetables through the environmental subject.” Mutyangoi PS club members.

In addition, our April 22 Earth Day Saturday Storytime was a special Earth Champion lesson. Mentor David read the book, “Touch the Earth" by Jane Baskwill.” The students then created trees using toilet paper tubes and tissue papers. Our Makerspace has been featuring activities using materials that can be upcycled like plastic bottles, toilet paper tubes, and bottle caps. At the conclusion of the activities, the students helped clean up the Kenya Connect campus by picking up trash. 

Mentor David shared, “There are so many ways people can celebrate Earth Day and through the Saturday Storytime we decided to celebrate through reading.” Students learned different ways that they can touch the Earth like showing kindness, planting a tree and caring for animals and other people. Through reading they will transform their world.”

Donors like you ensure that we can provide these enrichment programs that are not only fun, but help our students learn about being good stewards of the earth. The many programs we provide give students skills and knowledge they can share with their families and use in their lives.

We are so excited to see our Earth Day trees GROW!