Athletes at the Refugee Olympic training camp in Nairobi arrived there from refugee camps throughout East Africa. They were discovered by the Tegla Loroupe Peace Foundation and came to live with other young people who showed a gift, great athletic potential. Together, they train and compete – their ultimate goal is the Tokyo Olympics in 2020.
But the Peace Foundation is thinking long-term. Maybe some of these athletes will make a life from sport – most will need some other livelihood. But they’re all at different stages in their education. So, while these young people are in their care, the foundation is making sure they continue their education through secondary school graduation. When they’re not in school, they’re training. When they’re not training they’re in school.
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But something they don’t get in school is time to build their computer skills. So, on Day 237, we decided to do something about that and deliver two desktop computers, complete with monitors, keyboards and all the programs they’d need.
“They can’t express themselves,” said Lam Joar, refugee himself and intern at the foundation, about the athletes who didn’t know English. “They meet people and visitors come to the camp, but they can’t communicate.”
Lam lives at the camp with the athletes, so he offered to help them learn to type, use email and study English using the new computers. If these young people don’t make it as athletes, they’ll have computer skills that can help them land a good job. And maybe they’ll even have the chance to continue their education in college.
This change made possible by Atomic Data.
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Photos by Katie G. Nelson
