“Change is the end result of all true learning.”

Last week, we told you all about the bootcamp from the point of view of our project team. This week, we are going to be providing you with a more general overview of the bootcamps project that we worked so hard as a team to make happen as well as the reflections that we received after the event had transpired. First, we would like to once again extend our gratitude to TME education and Kelvin, whose support was invaluable, as well as SAP who provided us with the funding that allowed us to initiate the project. We would like to thank Victoria, Dennis, and Mercy once again for their knowledge, guidance, and their belief in the S4V team. In part one of our bootcamp series, we highlighted the experiences of three of our team members that led the bootcamp. In part two of our bootcamp series, we will be discussing the bootcamp from a general perspective – in order to do this, we will be mentioning points from our bootcamp debrief meeting.

The feedback from Daraja was highly positive. The bootcamp was successful in accomplishing its purpose, and many students wished that it was even longer. The girls from Daraja were able to learn new skills related to design thinking, coding and circuitry. Using these new design thinking skills, the girls now have a new resource to approach problems in their lives. The girls have also expressed their eagerness to identify as many challenges around them and come up with appropriate solutions. The bootcamp put a large emphasis on the importance of collaboration and teamwork, as we hope the girls would be able to utilize collaboration as they solve problems at home in their local communities. Perhaps the biggest reason for the successes of this bootcamp is how motivated the girls are – by the end, we recognized that we have been working with driven girls who believe that they have a responsibility to brainstorm ideas and develop them into solutions for their local areas. 

During the days leading up to the bootcamp, the S4V team developed a workbook for each individual student. According to Daraja, the students had put the workbooks to good use and the content was very well-detailed. The English was simple to digest and the concepts were easy to understand. Several activities had been laid out in the book for student interactiveness. Many pictures had been added as well, much to the delight of the students.

Despite the success, the project was not without its flaws. First, we have not been able to bring the teachers on board as of now, although we do have a teacher representative. We would like to bring more teachers on board with our project, and allow them more involvement with the students. The big problem, however, was the time. Everything was done in one week, so we had to rush through the content. Both S4V and the students wished that we had more time to deliver the lessons and do the activities, so we are hoping that the next time we implement a similar project, we would be able to extend the time of that project. In addition, we were unable to provide resources for students to practice with after leaving the bootcamp. Individuals who learn a skill, but do not practice it on a regular basis will not retain the information. Several possible solutions that we would consider implementing to address these problems in the future would be to stretch the duration of the bootcamps to two weeks so we wouldn’t have to rush and allow students more time to practice, digest, and collaborate. Another option would be to have the bootcamp when the girls are on break, so it could be operating for more hours during the day. 

Kelvin, an Ambassador who is facilitated with TME education, mentioned that in order for the girls to learn something tangible, they need at least twenty hours of practice. In two weeks, he believes that they will be able to get twenty hours. Kelvin also mentioned that he felt the energy at Daraja, and thought the girls there were incredible. Out of all the other high schools and institutions that he had visited, he thought that Daraja is exceptional in terms of how curious, eager, and inquisitive they were. Kelvin is running a program called FIRST Robotics Competition, an American NGO that organizes international robotics competitions. They select a team of students to represent each country, and two girls from Daraja are being recruited for the robotics challenge and will be representing Kenya in the global competition. This year, it will not be possible due to COVID, but they will gain skills from speakers in STEM fields during the meantime. We are truly excited for Asha and Sharon who have received this great opportunity, and we are beyond thankful that our project was able to act as a gateway for these two talented girls. 

Now, we would like to continue hosting bootcamps not only in Daraja but in other schools, and perhaps in other communities. From a sustainability point of view, it would not be sustainable for S4V to visit different locations in order to host the bootcamp. As a result, we must make the program self-sustaining – the program must be able to run without our physical presence. First, we must ensure that Daraja has the tools to replicate our bootcamp in some fashion. We have the option of allowing the girls who participated in our bootcamps this year to serve as facilitators for the next cohort of students, and we can also do part of the program virtually as the girls continue to obtain knowledge. We will also be providing Daraja with more workbooks each year in case some get lost or the content needs to be updated as the program evolves. Like we mentioned before, it would be amazing to have a number of teachers on board who could oversee the program and act as facilitators and mentors to the girls participating in the bootcamps. Kelvin mentioned that TME Education is happy to support schools by donating Arduino kits which contain several electronics for the students to learn with. 

Overall, we are very pleased with how the bootcamp went, and we are beyond excited to have worked with these driven girls. At the moment, we have some survey data to crunch, but we are looking forward to expanding the bootcamps project to more schools in the future!