A Computer for Sagam Primary

Last week, a computer arrived at KMET's office, just prior to the departure of the Bowman team for Sagam Primary School. The arrival of the computer was an exciting event, as this computer is the first computer that Sagam Primary School will have ever had. The contents of the packages were carefully checked, and on the following Monday, they were packed into the car carrying the team and several members of KMET's staff.

Arranging for Sagam Primary School to have a computer was one of the first priorities for the partnership. The computer will be beneficial to both students at Sagam and at Bowman. At Sagam, the students and teachers will have access to resources that simply would have been impossible for them to access before. For both Bowman and Sagam students and teachers, the computer will allow us to connect to each other despite the large distances between us. We can share stories and experiences, photographs and activities, and the computer will act as the vital link. The school has been preparing for the arrival of the computer by securing the room in which it will be housed.

On Monday, the team traveled with the computer to Sagam Primary School. After introducing the newest arrivals of the Bowman team to the entire school, by going classroom to classroom, there was an assembly which was attended by all of the teachers and students at the school. During this assembly, several speeches were made introducing the partnership officially to all of the students, the Sagam teachers were introduced one by one, and the Bowman team members were introduced. After a series of performances by Sagam students (check back soon for video clips!), the computer was officially presented to the school. With all 1,000 students gathered around, the boxes were unpacked, and the parts were held up for all to see. The excitement in the air was very real, amongst both teachers and students.

Computer training sessions will be arranged for the teachers of Sagam Primary, so that they can use the computer to its full potential. Regular maintenance has been scheduled through KMET so that the computer's performance remains optimal, and it has a long life. The computer is the first step in creating a sustainable, mutually-beneficial partnership, because it makes it so much easier for us to communicate with each other while we are thousands of miles apart. Hopefully someday soon, blog posts will be coming from Sagam Primary School's new computer, and the posts can be used as a unique teaching tool for students in both countries.

The team will be arriving back in Kisumu shortly, after having spent an entire week up in Sagam working at the school. We will share their experiences here soon, as well as more posts from the first assembly (including pictures of the distribution of the bags made by Bowman students!!) so stay tuned for more exciting updates!