Outreach
The vision of in.code has always been to bring computational thinking to EVERY learner, not just the fortunate few in private schools who can afford it. The vision is that we would see schools invest in this programme and make it accessible to all foundation phase learners. However in order to gain credibility and show the value of our programme we needed to start somewhere, so we partnered with a private school in KwaZulu Natal South Africa, Felixton College, where we offered in.code as an extra-mural programme.
Bringing coding to the kids at iKhaya LikaBaba!
iKhaya LikaBaba is a children’s home located in Zululand just South of Empangeni, KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa. iKhaya was founded as a home for abandoned babies but has transitioned to be a children’s home with a vision to see the children grow to maturity physically, emotionally, mentally and spiritually. iKhaya strives to give the children in their care the safety, security, and love that every child deserves and desires to see them all grow to become effective and stable contributors to society.
Visit iKhaya LikaBaba’s website
The Relatomics Foundation is passionate about education and empowering the youth in Southern Africa. One of its signature projects, in.code, was inspired by the belief that the greatest impact in a person’s life can be made in the earliest stage of learning.
in.code focuses on developing pre- and primary school learners’ cognitive skills through computational thinking activities using human centred, design thinking. We are about developing young leaders by equipping them with the skills needed to define their future.
We also believe that EVERY child should have the opportunity to learn computational thinking, not only those who can financially afford it. Our vision is to be a part of the solution in making computer science accessible to foundation phase learners from all backgrounds in their respective environments. Thus we identified iKhaya LikaBaba as in.code’s first CSI project and have already got the ball rolling.
- In 2019 on Mandela Day (18 July 2019) we sent our in.code project director to introduce 5 preschoolers to non-screen based, tangible coding. Terri spent an hour engaging with five busy boys who loved listening to the story she read, “Journey inside a Computer by Linda Luiks”. They were captivated with our robot and enjoyed participating in problem-solving through learning how to program Cubetto the robot. This was all very new to them.
- In 2020 we took a different approach in partnering with iKhaya. We identified two caregivers who were already studying to become teachers, our facilitator then took these two caregivers with to her lessons offered at a nearby private school to observe and learn. This was going well until Covid-19 hit. Schools limited people coming in and iKhaya in efforts to protect their staff and children also had a no ‘in or out’ policy.
- Fast forward to 2021… fundraising… this is still the best and most sustainable option to bring computational thinking through in.code to iKhaya for its’ present and future children. Equipment, resources and in-house training
Become a part of this journey!
Their future is bright! Orphans also dream of becoming astronauts, teachers, scientists and engineers! Let’s equip them.
Help fund coding lessons for iKhaya LikaBaba Children’s home – https://bit.ly/2LWF1h
If you would like to recommend and fund bringing in.code to an underfunded school or community in your area, please get in touch!
