<nettime> NairoBits News #2

[NairoBitsNews<newsletter@nairobits.org> (by way of Josephine Bosma)]

- - - - - - - -  N A I R O B I T S N E W S  - - - - - - - -

# 2 - 9 February 2000

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C O N T E N T S


1 - "All work and no play makes a dull day"


2 - MYSA youth behind the computer
    * an interview with MYSA members Ann and Simon

3 - What's happening next!

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1 - "All work and no play makes a dull day"

If you would pass by the School for Information Technology
in Kilimani, Nairobi, on a weekday, you would probably see
twenty youths running around with paint and pencils or
typing stories about themselves on the computer. To put it
another way: NairoBits has started! On the 31st of January,
twenty youths gathered for the first time at the School for
Information Technology, where NairoBits is hosted. Only a
week later, the youth already feel at home and their
computer knowledge and visual vocabulary is steadily
increasing. For example, last Tuesday, the group could be
seen collected around the local shopping arcade choosing a
suitable image which connected with their individual chosen
slogan to be looked at through a self-made viewfinder by the
rest of the participants.

On Friday 4 February, NairoBits was officially opened and
representatives of different organisations and institutions
joined the youth and the NairoBits crew for a drink in the
garden of the school.


Pictures of the opening can be found on:
http://www.nairobits.org/opening

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3 - MYSA youth behind the computer * an interview with MYSA
	members Ann and Simon

The twenty youth involved in NairoBits are all members of
the Mathare Youth Sports Association (MYSA), which started
as a football club for the youth from the slums of Mathare,
Nairobi and grew to be an organisation of about 10,000
members throughout Nairobi. MYSA members Ann Nekesa (18) and
Simon Matheka (17) were both selected by MYSA as youth
leaders to take part in NairoBits. One week after the start
of the project, they tell about their experiences.

Simon has been active in MYSA for about 10 years. "I have
football training each day and play matches during the
weekend. About once a month, there is a clean-up project in
our zone - the clean-up projects are arranged per zone - and
I take part in it." Ann has been involved in MYSA for six
years. "I have football training every day, in a mixed team.
In the weekends, we play matches. I take part in clean-up
projects in my zone and I sometimes volunteer in the
clean-ups of other zones. Furthermore, I am taking part in
MYSA's AIDS awareness project. We inform the youth about
AIDS and gender issues. This can take place everywhere, at
home as well as before football matches."

Ann and Simon both joined NairoBits because they want to
learn more about computers. Ann doesn't have any computer
experience. Simon has some: "When I was in Norway with the
MYSA football team, I played computer games." Ann knows
nothing about the Internet yet, Simon knows that "the
Internet helps people to communicate."

During the first week of NairoBits, Simon and Ann both
learned how to open the computer, how to type, how to save
and how to use the different keys on the keyboard. One thing
they both like most: Typing!!! Simon: "It's just flowing..."

In the future, after NairoBits, both Ann and Simon would
like to continue working with computers. Ann: "I would like
to study computer science. That's something that is within
me."  Simon: "Working with the computer is like a dream
coming true. After this project, I want to study mass
communication, which has a close relationship to this
project, in which information plays an important role."


7 February 2000


More info on MYSA: http://www.nairobits.org/mysa

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4 - What's happening next!

In every newsletter, we will pay attention to upcoming
events, which can be visited physically or followed online
via the web site.

  * From the end of February : virtual exchange
  From the 21th of February, a virtual exchange will take
  place between the MYSA youth from Nairobi and youth from
  the Comenius College in Amsterdam. The groups will build a
  virtual village on a deserted island together.

  * September 2000: broadcast NairoBits documentary
  A TV documentary is being made by Rein Hazenwinkel about
  NairoBits. All kinds of activities with the crew and the
  participants, varying from their travel to the workshops,
  are being filmed. These recordings will result in a TV
  documentary, which will be broadcast by the HOS
  (Humanistische Omroep Stichting) on Dutch television in
  September 2000.

In the next issues of NairoBitsNews, you will find more
detailed information about place, date and time of these
activities.

More info on the exchange:
http://www.nairobits.org/getthevibes De Digitale Stad:
http://www.dds.nl

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C O L O F O N

NairoBitsNews is the newsletter of the multimedia project
NairoBits, and is sent about once a month to those who are
on our mailinglist. More information on NairoBits can be
found on http://www.nairobits.org . If you have any
questions about the project, you can send an e-mail to
info@nairobits.org or write a letter to NairoBits,
Rustenburgerstraat 405/1, 1072 GW Amsterdam, the
Netherlands.

Editor: Maaike Fekkes, maaike@nairobits.org .
Archive: All issues of NairoBitsNews can be found on
http://www.nairobits.org/newsletter .
Comments: If you have any comments or suggestions regarding
NairoBitsNews, or if you want to contribute to NairoBitsNews,
please write an e-mail to newsletter@nairobits.org .
Subscription: If you want to subscribe or unsubscribe to
NairoBitsNews, please send an e-mail to
newsletter@nairobits.org .

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