Nairobi slum students surf their way to success

A student enjoys free internet. The Internet for Schools Project plans to connect over one million students across the country to the web. [PHOTO: DOMINIC OMONDI/STANDARD]

NAIROBI: On this warm afternoon when we pay a surprise visit to the students of St Michael Secondary School at the Mukuru Promotion Centre in South B, Nairobi, we find a number of students in the school's computer room. Their eyes are glued to the screens.

But they are not here for computer classes. Most of them are reading for their literature class.

St Michael is one of the projects under the Mukuru Promotion Centre which for long has been trying to help children in the nearby Mukuru slums gain knowledge and practical skills.

We found 17-year-old Jackton Odhiambo Ogutu reading The River and the Source by Margaret Ogolla. Before, Ogutu would have had difficulties getting a printed copy of the book.

Today, he explains, he simply went to the Google search engine and typed the title of the book. Not only did he find his book, but also found some analysis on the book.

But the free Internet is not only helping Ogutu with his curriculum activities, it is also helping him with extra-curricular activities.

Being a footballer, the Internet, through Youtube, has also helped him watch and learn from some of the best talents in the game. He can also catch up with some of his friends on Facebook.

His companion, Millicent Kasandi, a 16-year-old Form Three student, is trying to understand the styles of poetry. She typed 'styles of poetry' into the Google search engine, found the site and downloaded the materials.

She loves reading novels and looks for some of the best titles of novels online and then buys the ones she finds relevant and interesting in the street.

Thanks to the Internet, the students can also download past papers for revision. And when they are given research work by their teachers, it is their first port of call.

When the time comes for these students apply for their national exams, they will do it online. Similarly, when the time comes to check their results, they will do it online.

Through the Internet, they have also been able to learn about the different careers available and apply for their favourite courses in universities.

Moreover, in a world of information, the students have been able to keep abreast of current affairs, both locally and internationally.

This is how free Internet, brought to this school by Airtel Kenya, is transforming students' social and academic lives.

Coming from the slums where their parents struggle to make ends meet, these children had difficulty getting books and, in effect, education.

The Internet for Schools Project was launched last year June. Airtel plans to connect over one million students across the country.

"If you care for somebody, you give them knowledge," says Dick Omondi, the Corporate Affairs Director at Airtel Kenya. He compares the connection of the students to the Internet with the proverbial granting of a fishing rod to a needy person.

Omondi says that Airtel Kenya is using its core competence, technology, to help Kenyan communities succeed.

The project at Mukuru Promotion Centre also extends to the nearby vocational training centre. It has especially been helpful in catering for students who have been able to download presentable menus.

For 20-year-old Queen Achieng', access to the Internet has taken her catering classes to a whole new level. She has been able to access some of the most exotic menus and recipes.

"I can now prepare carrot chapatis," she says, adding that in the slum, people only prepare white rice. But with the unique methods and ingredients she has learnt from the web, she can prepare better rice.

But the World Wide Web also has its negative side. Although the school does not bar students from visiting social media sites, John Macharia Ngugi, the Head of Skills Centre and ICT at the vocational training centre, says that they always try to remind them of the importance of being responsible when online.

Collins Ngawanda, a business studies and computer teacher, adds: "You expect children to be curious, so at times when you revisit their browsing history, you find that they were trying to find out what Illuminati is."

But the bottom line, they all agree, is that the Internet is brightening up what was billed to be a bleak future for these kids.