My name is Melkizedek, and I am ROCK scholarship and mentorship beneficiary that graduated from high school in 2016. As a student, I used to come to ROCK in the evenings to practice my computer skills — typing, graphic design, and web design (using WordPress). The most exciting part of our learning was the typing competitions between me and my friends. It was during this time that I gained a passion for using computers to express myself. Thanks to my experience using computers at ROCK, immediately after high school, I got the chance to join Tunapanda Institute, a community-based organization which trains young people in practical tech, design, and business for three months and later on finds the graduates job placements.
ROCK students have had access to computers for the last five years. ROCK, with the help of Tunapanda Institute, set up the laboratory in 2014 to help the students have often access to the Internet and be familiar with the rapidly changing world of technology. We schedule classes on Saturdays after our regular tutoring program. We train our students in several computer areas — handling, safety, maintenance, typing, graphic design, video editing, and how to do effective research. For example, because of our partnership with RECA Film, our students have gained much interest and passion for video editing. In addition, we’re creating a competition for our students to design a new logo for ROCK using their graphic design skills. The results of our computer training over the past 5 years have been tremendous — some of our graduates have been employed in different technical institutions around Nairobi. Robert Ouma and Brian Mwevi who are both my fellow 2016 graduates got jobs at a local media house and Tunapanda Institute, respectively.
We would like to open doors to more young people to join us in the revolution of making Kenya and beyond digital. With the increasing number of students each year, there is a need to expand our computer lab. Our current lab cannot accommodate all of our 65 students. Also, the existing desktops have started to become outdated and very slow, and we have only three well-functioning laptops. The lack of adequate computers has really slowed down our highly valued computer classes. With your support, we can expand our computer lab — adding more desktops and laptops. One basic desktop costs around $400, one high-power desktop costs $800, and one laptop costs around $500. For 8 new laptops, 14 basic new desktops, and 1 high-power desktop, we’re trying to raise $10,400.
Our new improved computer lab will allow students to improve their typing speeds, video editing, graphic design, and other computer skills as they will have more time to practice. Your support will also contribute to the enhanced academic performance of our kids in their respective schools. I was lucky to gain professional opportunities from computer training at ROCK, and I hope we can continue to provide these opportunities for current and future students.
To contribute, you can visit our campaign on Fundandrise.com.