On first reflection Kevin Muriuki doesn’t consider himself a teacher – rather he introduces himself as an IT specialist. But life has a funny way of drawing you into the unknown dreams of our heart. Kevin Muriuki teaches code to kids. More specifically – kids who have never seen or interacted with a computer.
His unlikely path came when he volunteered for a one day camp to teach kids at YMCA primary in Kibera. The day was fascinating – seeing awakening unfold in the eyes of the children he was teaching that day amazed Kevin. He was hooked. When another call came to volunteer in Murang’a for another coding camp he signed up without hesitation – this time it was a camp of a few days and he came back been even more energized. Teaching kids who had never seen a computer to click a mouse, open a folder, understand how words are generated on a screen was a like watching a flower bloom in acceleration.
Soon Kevin transitioned from the freelance work he was doing to focus full time on driving curriculum and learning development for Kids Comp Camp.an initiative that teaches under served children the most important language they need to know – digital. Kevin’s approach to teaching is simple but genius – let the children problem solve their way across the keyboard, don’t spoon feed them otherwise learning doesn’t stick. Observing him working with groups of kids from Mathare’s Malezi centre, one can see why his approach works. The kids start off focused with furrowed brows as they laboriously toggle with CTRL+ ALT and other commands on their keyboards. But when they successfully complete the step, bright smiles emerge that lights up their eyes. The kind of look that doesn’t come from being told what to do but that comes from personal accomplishment. Kevin’s approach is founded on teaching kids how to ask questions and then allowing them to learn from the questions they ask.
Kevin has been with Kids Comp Camp since 2016 and the goal of the programme is to reach 20,000 kids by 2020. So far over 6000 kids have been taught through the initiative in ten counties, mainly by volunteers – people who are eager to infuse computer learning as a way of life. For Kevin his future is clear – creating content that will last for a long time, infusing understanding of basic computing and opening up the worlds of coding and computational thinking as a window to a whole new world. That is what brings meaning to his days. Kids Comp Camp continues to work with kids from all over Kenya during school holidays and through after school programmes.
We applaud Teacher Kevin for stepping into an unexpected role and unlocking the language of the future to the citizens of tomorrow.