V.I.P. in Action

The last couple of days were amazing, as we further established our Kilimani School connection and were truly fulfilling the goals of our fellowship. We enjoyed observing classrooms and students, interviewing teachers and specialists about their practices, and meeting our fourth grade partner teaching team. It has been a wonderful learning experience to see first hand the many inclusive similarities between Kilimani and Henderson. In both schools, technology in some form is an important factor for those individuals who don't read using eyes, sensory motor integration is valued, peers take initiative and step up to support one another, and most importantly disability is not seen as inability!

We had the pleasure of introducing digital technology and a laptop computer to the school for the very first time. We were thrilled by “Teacher Nancy’s” enthusiasm as she signed up for her 6-week course (2 hours a day/ 6 days a week). She was nearly skipping for joy when we took her to register for the IT course at the Advanced Institute for Technology. Her enthusiasm was contagious! She kept saying, “Yea! I am going to become computer literate!” She even dove right in to Danielle’s “in-house” digital photo and video training and was an incredibly swift learner.

Once again we felt so honored by this school when the headmaster asked us to participate in a tree planting ceremony. The headmaster put it most eloquently, “We have chosen two trees to symbolize our partnership – one to represent Kilimani and one to represent Henderson. As the trees grow, we will also grow together. We have chosen to plant candlenut trees, because the candle symbolizes light and the nut symbolizes strength. We know our partnership will bring the light of knowledge and understanding to our students and that as we grow and develop we will gain strength.”

We posted a video showing this ceremony and some pics of the technology training. Please check them out at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xtiKyUgbCgc