Literacy and Digital Learning for Orbit Village

In the community of Kayole, a slum area near Nairobi, Kenya, many adults make $2USD a day in the quarry nearby. This area has been affected by many extreme challenges such as the HIV/Aids crisis, unemployment, poverty, lack of access to education, addiction and trauma, and no support from the government. Orbit Village Project has been operating in this area since 1995, and in the 28 years has supported the community in gaining access to education, healthcare, employment, and the support that comes with forming a community. We operate as a primary school and a children's home and serve 360 students as well as supporting 80 students in high school. One of our biggest challenges has been in psycho-social support and enhancing literacy for both students with learning disabilities as well as parents who do not speak English and therefore limit their employment opportunities. 

By having support to more digital tools we could enhance learning overall as well as language and literacy skills which have been a big challenge for children and their parents in the community.

Setting up apps and online resources for various subjects and topics of learning would be a huge advantage and advancing our reading initiatives through devices would help enhance literacy for both children and parents in an after school program would be a big part of this project that seeks to bridge technology as an innovative way to bring solutions to our community. 

One pertinent example of using technology for enhancing psycho social support and social and emotional learning is the after-school educational program AS220 Youth, which runs a huge project each year called FutureWorlds. This is an example of the intersection of technology, youth leadership, and SEL as the AS220 Youth members use concepts from Afrofuturism, “a framework which is very rooted in both social justice and youth interest in sci-fi and speculative fiction, as well as a very positive orientation around speculating about possible futures rather than purely looking backwards,” Santo said. 

The programs we could deliver through the aid of digital tools would be to install hope in our youth through programs that deliver reframing their current situation which in many ways can engender hopelessness and use technology as a way to rewrite their story and increase psycho-social well being through positive interactive games.

The solution for getting support of technological devices and programs/apps to help advance learning as well as literacy will be a significant advantage to our students and the adults in our community. 

The technology could include tablets and/or computers as well as virtual reality and apps for enhancing learning overall as well as psycho social well being and games that provide hope and positive engagement around youth empowerment; many of whom are struggling with hope and aspirations for a better future.  These apps could significantly support the children who are struggling due to learning disabilities such as dyslexia, cerebral palsy, autism, and who have no support from the government. The apps would also include language and literacy programs to help students who are struggling as well as the adults in our community who would like support in enhancing their skills.

This would be an after school program where groups would come to engage with the programs in a way that serve their biggest needs. We would have a program coordinator who would help facilitate the technological aspects as well as helping participants to advance overall in the pursuit of their various goals. 

Our target population consists of some of the most underserved children and adults and elders in the country. Located in an informal settlement ( slum area), there is a true lack of access to resources and zero government support to those who have been facing extreme poverty, unemployment, lack of access to education, health issues such as HIV, addictions, and international trauma. We have already seen how Orbit Village Project has enhanced the lives of many and also helped to heal families survive broken generations and to come out on the other side breaking the cycle of poverty, being resilient, educated, and successful in reaching their potential. 

The needs of the community are underserved in every way. 80 children live in our children's home within the school gates as they do not have families that can meet their needs either financially, emotionally or otherwise, Additionally, many of the children who attend the school are affected by extreme poverty and abuse such as neglect and we help them through school feeding programs and by providing not only education but going above and beyond to ensure that they have a safe space at school and have access to our psycho social support system.

This after school technological program would build on the great work that is already being done and provide greater opportunities to heal and to improve their current situation through gaining literacy and social and emotional learning opportunities. 

I grew up in this community and have been a part of the community since my childhood, I am now on the board of directors and have been involved in all aspects of the project. Along with the Director who has been serving the community for 27 years, we work closely to ensure that we understand the needs of the community and we have always worked with the communities we serve and for them. We engage them through continuous feedback and monitoring how various initiatives improve things and adjust as we go. 

For the past 27 years of Orbit Village, the community has shaped the project and informs all that we do and all that we seek to advance for them. We have slowly introduced computers and it has really been welcomed by the children and adults in our community and they feel empowered using technology for teaching and learning.

We would definitely include both students and teachers and staff to inform how we implement this project and how we adjust it as we go to ensure we meet the needs of the community and uplift them. 

We would require support of purchasing the technological devices such as tablets/computers/virtual reality technology and the expertise around learning apps as and programs best suited to our communities needs to help with learning disabilities, quality of education, accelerate literacy, social and emotional learning, and youth empowerment. We would benefit from support of how to integrate technology into underserved populations and how to ensure that technology is used in a way that enhances learning for different ages so that children, youth, and adults may all benefit from this technology.

Though we have been providing remedial classes, reading programs ,and psycho social support, the use of technology is slowly coming into our school and this would be a very innovative and new approach to handling the issues of learning disabilities, illiteracy, and overall well being with the addition of technology as a tool for change and catalysing advancement and support in a new way within our community.

The impact goals for the next year are handling the impacts of COVID-19 such a shortened school year and really helping student to deal with these changes and the academic struggles they are having since the pandemic. Helping our students ensure that they transition from primary to secondary and ensure they receive the academic and psychosocial support they need to meet their goals. This will also include enhancing our curriculum and capacity building of teachers so that they can improve the quality of education, integration of technology is also an important aspect of this.

Over the next five years we will have grade 9 added back as part of the primary school so this will be a big goal to ensure that our students who are in grade 9 are being prepared for high school and that we have a higher quality of education overall. Goal 2 is to ensure that we are equipping teachers to deal with social and emotional learning from early on so really training the teachers and using technology in ways that promote this better. Goal 3 is to expand our social work program to help children face their trauma and to de-stigmatise  trauma, learning disabilities and mental health overall as this has been a highly stigmatised and ignored aspect of our community and the country overall. Goal 4 is to help our children improve academically as a lot of them are dealing with trauma and personal challenges that affect their ability to learn and outcomes. Goal 5 is to incorporate technology even better in all aspects of teaching and learning and community engagement. 

How many children complete primary school, how many children transition into high school, how many children make it to college and then how many are employed.

Additionally, how many children break cycles of addiction, early pregnancies, improving mental health and coming out of poverty which is related to SDG 1- poverty.

Measuring quality of education- being able to measure how many children and adults who are currently illiterate are able to read from enhanced education, how many improve grades and meet their academic goals. SDG 4- Quality Education.

Our solution of using digital tools to enhance literacy and social and emotional learning will increase literacy rates, improve quality education, and enhance social and emotional learning. 

Using the Theory of Change framework to ensure that our school is equipping learners to meet their academic goals, wellbeing,  to finish school and reach their full potential starts by finding out what the gaps are in meeting the needs of students. By using mixed-methods research and including quantitive, qualitative research through surveys and focus group discussions, we are able to find out what is missing and what needs improvement. Measuring these indicators through gender responsive curriculum, teacher capacity, grades, drop out rates, training uptake, and policies overall we can follow a framework that measures if we are attaining the goals we set out to accomplish. We would measure literacy rates and do surveys before and after to see how well being has improved or not.

The core technology that powers this solution would be innovative apps and devices that enhance learning and improve the quality of education. Virtual Reality could definitely be a part of this as it has a huge potential for helping expand learning and grow opportunities especially for children and adults who have not had much exposure to technology and its benefits. 

Our team is made up of mostly Kenyans and our Director is American and the board is a mix of Kenyans , Kenyan-Americans, and Americans. We very much value equity and diversity and inclusion and particularly in Kenya we have to acknowledge the various tribes and ensure that there is a diversity rather than a majority when it comes to representation. We also train a lot about gender equality and have a lot of Kenyan females in leadership which is  progressive in this country. 

Our business model as a non-profit is through donations from abroad as well as through a sponsorship program for the children, grants, and school fees that come in through the primary school.

We provide education, mental and social support, healthcare, and access to food.  Due to our community being underserved and in a very poor informal settlement area there is a a true lack of opportunity for most parents to give their children what they need and they rely heavily on Orbit Village for meeting they children's basic needs as well as helping them to finish primary and secondary school. 

We have been operating for 27 years through donations, sponsorship, and grants from individuals and NGOs so there has been sustainability throughout the years, however, this would truly help us advance in terms of technological integration and digital support for literacy and social and emotional learning that would be a huge advantage to the community. 

We receive approximately $200,000USD through sponsorship and donations each year. 

We have received grants such as USAID which supported 300,000kes over 5 years.