Coding Workshop — Busia 2025

Objectives

The Busia coding workshop aimed to deliver a foundational digital-skills curriculum to secondary-school students across five local schools, with emphasis on practical web and data basics — skills directly applicable to local business and further education.

What Happened

Sixty students completed a ten-day intensive programme split between morning coding sessions and afternoon cultural workshops. Using locally procured devices and an offline-capable curriculum, the programme was designed to work regardless of internet connectivity.

By the final day, every participant had built and published a simple personal webpage describing their community — the first time most had ever published anything online.

Key Moments

The graduation showcase, held at Busia Town Hall, drew family members and county education officers. Fourteen-year-old Winnie Otieno demonstrated her project to the room: a digital guide to the local market written in both Swahili and English. The applause lasted a full minute.

Why It Mattered

Five of the participating schools had no computer lab. Devices provided for the workshop were left with the schools, ensuring the infrastructure outlasts the event. The county education office has since requested a follow-up programme for the next academic year.