1. Langata Womens Prison - 2004

Every year we sponsor one or two initiatives. This time we latched onto the prisons system. We worked out a method to roll-out basic computer trainig across all prisons, at absolute minimal costs. The idea was to arrange for basic ICT training for qualifying prisoners, so that they would have better chances on the job market once they go free again. We found that it can work, for three reasons: prisoners are highly motivated; their trainers (long term convicts) have plenty of time. Thanks to that, the prison computer lab can be very small with 3 or 4 machines. Prisons can acquire these labs through national school projects, they pay with school classroom furniture made in the prisons' workshops. The trial training was done at Langata Women Prison (Nairobi, Kenya), with support of Sam Aguyo of GTP kenya www.gtpkenya.org.

NexGen Studio Project is an initiative aimed at encouraging secondary school students to act out using ICT tools to create a project of their own choice. NexGen is sponsored by three small Kenyan private firms. It is the first ever programme that equips the youth with the right tools and framework to design workable projects that reflect original thinking and a solid approach. It is also proof that small firms (less than 5 staff) can realise great sponsored projects.

Benefits of the project

The school community benefits from the NexGen Studio Project in three ways:

• Demonstration of the use of ICT for project based education.
• Demonstration of productive use of school-based ICT labs beyond games and e-mail.
• Exchange of ideas between NexGen members and the schools they represent.

The first session ended on 16th August 2003. The first prize went to Goibei Girls Secondary School from Western Province while the second prize was awarded to Augustana Academy from Nairobi Province.