Funny, this topic refused to go away. Anyone from Bungoma who can collaborate this beautiful pics @ http://www.flickr.com/photos/smallsolutionsbigideas with an even better write up below? ~~~~~~ In the Bungoma district, up in the hills one OLPC Kenya project has opened a marketplace center bringing their One Laptop Per Child XO programs to any child who comes. On weekends this center has been servicing 50 – 100 children since last January. For children to really become proficient in using technology for learning, school classroom allotted hours don’t fill the hunger that children have to master the technology. For these students who are able to come to their local marketplace center, hours spent on weekends accelerate learning and engagement. Children come at 9 o’clock in the morning don’t want to leave. There are not enough laptops for all children to have one to themselves. These children are good at collaborating. Now they are proficient enough to create Scratch animations, use Turtle Art, and Paint effectively and research issues on the internet. The leaders of the program are continuing to engage children in community concerns, using the laptop to interview, video, photograph and document local attitudes towards issues such as farming, HIV/AIDs, and trash disposal. This team led by Fred Juma Wakasiaka and Bonaventure Masika was started in 2009 building a program with a small number of XO laptops. Three years later they have a strong program with 6 – 8 trained teachers working in classrooms at three schools during the week, at the markeplace on the weekends. The access to the internet at the marketplace was helpful during last fall’s teacher strike, as students were able to download archived exams to prepare for their examinations. the center. walu.