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Kenya: Intel Using Education As a Force for Change in Kakuma Refugee Camp

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4 years ago

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In a tin roofed classroom where solar powered ceiling fans provide some respite from the sweltering heat of Northern Kenya we watch a group of primary school teachers working on their laptops eagerly learning from an instructor across the world.

We are in Kakuma refugee camp to see firsthand the multiplier effect technology is having on a revolutionary teacher training program developed by Jesuit Worldwide Learning (JWL). The internationally accredited learning facilitator course is delivered by local and global university professors, online tutors, as well as onsite facilitators through a blended learning approach.

The course was developed in response to the overwhelming need for learning and education at all levels within refugee and other marginalized communities. Among other course content, the training integrates Intel® Skills for Innovation framework which helps educators use technology to embrace new ways of teaching from any location and to adapt instructional technology to meet future needs.

Educators like Israel, a South Sudanese national who’s been in Kakuma refugee camp for thirteen years, initially hoped to be a professional footballer but found a new passion in being an educator. The poet William Yeats once said, “Education is not the filling of a pail, but the lighting of a fire”. This fire is apparent in the teachers’ eagerness to pass it on to the next generation of learners.

Education is a transformative force for good. Thirty-year-old Matthew, also from South Sudan explains that education is a force for peace and stability. He posits that their people fight for lack of education and in areas where education rates are high conflicts are fewer and less explosive.