From Village Fields to Coding Dreams: Bridging the Digital Divide in Rural Kenya

As a little girl growing up in the rural parts of western Kenya, I had limited exposure to the digital world. My career options were limited to only what I could see around me.

It wasn't until I moved to the town to stay with my aunt after sitting for my National high school exams, that I got my first taste of the digital landscape. As I wrote my first line of HTML code, it started to dawn on me that there was more to this world than I had ever imagined. My dream shifted, and I no longer wanted to be a lawyer but a girl who could code.

As fate would have it, I qualified to join the university. However, when the selection of courses came, I was still unsure of what to choose. So, I picked law as my first choice and information science as my second. Fortunately, I was chosen for the second option, and my life has never been the same. It was then that I realized there were many other kids in my village who could be limited in their ability to dream of more just because they were not exposed to digital literacy.

I founded Project Digital Impact, which began as an idea in my campus dorm room. I invited a few of my friends, borrowed a few laptops from colleagues, put a few coins together, went into the village near our school, and started teaching. Although the kids we started with were few, I believed in the ripple effect, and I started the dream.

A year later, we managed to teach over 50 kids in Kesses village from four different schools digital literacy. We believe in a model where we create a community of learning. The kids we teach can teach other kids, thus spreading the knowledge. We've faced many challenges in terms of funding and resources, being just students what we have will never be enough. The demand is so high, and we have to turn down many faces because we can't stretch. But we believe the future is bright, and more children will be included.

As long as we don't lose hope, we will be able to reach more kids in rural Kenya. Even though the digital divide is enormous, we know that we can make a difference, and Project Digital Impact is bridging the gap. Our mission is to create a better future for rural Kenya, one child at a time.