A Techie In Tanzania

So, I went upstairs to work with the computer students. You can't wear shoes in the computer lab because of dust and dirt exposure to the computers. I wore socks and some students were barefoot. The teacher talked to me about what order he introduces different concepts in Microsoft Word, Excel, Power Point, and Publisher and some of the ways his students apply these applications in real world context. For example, they work on creating business cards, invitations, and letters. The boys from Istanbul were teaching lessons on different topics. Mo (originally from Egypt) was filming some of the lessons. Jared (originally from Texas) was teaching typing and Josh (originally from England) was teaching the students how to download a song as a file from a CD. After talking with the teacher and sharing some of the tools I brought, I taught him and some of the students how to record sound using a microphone in both Sound Recorder and in a Power Point presentation. I explained how this could be helpful to him and his students in presentations and I also gave examples of how the adult computer class could create some visuals with audio for the pre-school students to view and associate with words in both Swahili and English. After introducing my headset/microphone to the computer teacher as a tool to record sound, he was very interested in keeping it "safe" inside his desk drawer. I explained that I would hold on to that one after demonstrating and do my best to send more in the near future by writing a grant or raising funds in another way (any thoughts??). I also explained how to input pictures form a digital camera and how to use a web cam. Now, with that said, if there is anyone out there with gently used mic/headsets, digital camera, or web cams that they would like to offload and give to a good cause - I'm your girl! I'll make sure that any such donations go to the proper place.