On Thursday, 27^th July 2023, the inABLE team from Nairobi went on a fun field trip to Thika Primary School for The Blind in Kiambu County and Kang’aru Digital Hub, Kairi village, Kiambu County. First stop was Thika Primary School for the Blind, where we were received by Mrs. Margaret Njoki, the Head Teacher in her office. Mrs. Njoki mentioned that the current Class 8 candidates were performing very well academically, threatening to beat the record set in 2008 by inABLE’s Advocacy Officer, Julius Mbura of 400 out of 500 marks in the Kenya Certificate of Primary Education (KCPE) exams. Julius promised to give a gift to whoever surpasses his academic record this year. Besides their academic excellence, Mrs. Njoki also showed us a display of trophies won by the students in STEM and drama. 

The team also visited the newly refurbished Computer-Labs-For-The-Blind, where we found Antony Wambua, a computer lab Instructor teaching. Anthony Njoroge, Program Manager, inABLE, showed us how the walls were repainted a dazzling white with new and fun posters installed, plus branding bringing life to the labs.   

We also got an opportunity to interact with Lucy Muluki from Child Helpline, as they took the young learners on best practices for online safety while using the internet. This is close to our hearts, meaning as we equip young learners with visual impairments with critical ICT skills, we also care about keeping them safe online. 

We also got a chance to watch the students having fun while on break with their friends, igniting our childhood memories and the games we used to play, including skipping rope, hide and seek, football et cetera. 

Later that afternoon, we headed to Kang’aru Digital Hub and found St. Trisha Primary School in class with the newly employed staff members since the renovation. We congratulate Evelyn Omollo and Joan Muthoni Wanjiku on joining the Kang’aru Digital Hub as IT Instructors. Evelyn and Joan taught the kids how to go online, open Google Docs, and type on Google Docs. The kids were also willing to give their friends a helping hand. The next session was with Grade 5 & 6 students from Kairi Primary School, which focused on operating Windows and desktop basics. 

Finally, Form 2 students from Rumwe Mixed Secondary School entered the computer labs. They were taught about the different operating systems and system software found on computers. They were also shown how to create a document in Google Docs, using the keyboard to type words and backspace to erase words. 

To fully understand what we do at inABLE, we are available to take you on a field trip around our different Computer-Labs-for-the-Blind across the 4 counties in Kenya- Kiambu, Meru, Siaya, and Mombasa. If you or your organization would love to go on a field trip, please contact us via mobile phone on +254-703-619-044 or e-mail- info@inable.org, and we would be happy to take you. 

Written by: Linda Wairegi, Multimedia Project Manager, inABLE