Access to Information

I'm an avid bookworm.  I've never had to go hungry through lack of funds, nor been homeless, nor had to ration the healthcare my children have accessed, - so my perspective on deprivation is limited, in Kenyan terms.  But nonetheless, for me, as I am, lack of access to books and current information would be a major deprivation.

So its been really chastening to run a two-day workshop for 25 highflying interns at BigCorporate.  They were in the top-ranked 100 in the country at KCSE, and are now applying to US colleges. The workshop was on the application process, from researching colleges, thinking what they're seeking and what you have to offer, to choosing essay topics and communicating effectively, on forms and in interviews. 

To compete, you need to sift through piles of statistics to devise your strategy. Success rates range from 6% (Harvard) to a more generous 50% or more.  Which colleges offer funding to international students? Which colleges offer generous funding to international students in need, generous enough to make it possible to attend?  Am I in the ballpark academically, what are the midrange SAT scores for those accepted here?  And what are my SAT scores (delivered automatically to your email account for those having one, and access to the internet.)

OK so I can help with the statistics, but they really do need access to the internet to check out the colleges and courses offered. And internet access is expensive, particularly on a pay as you go basis.  An hour costs around 1000 KSh. 30 hours access, - a snip when you see the range of research needed to put together a compelling application to 8 or so colleges - exceeds their generous monthly wage.  I watched faces pale as individuals worked out that for their US dreams to maybe become a reality, they were going to need to invest considerable sums in buying SAT revision guides (2000 KSh a book, in up to three subjects), pay for the tests themselves, and the rest.

Of the workshop students, only 3/25 had access to a public library. 6/25 had attended a school which gave students access to computers (and of these, 4 were at the same school).  The whole group laughed, uproariously, when I asked if the computers had been linked to the internet. One student described her school library, - 300 books for some 1200 students. We have more books in our home, transported from UK, than even favoured schools have in Kenya.

In my guilt after the chat with the orphan lad in my previous post I came home fired up to do more.  Gave my much-loved series of encyclopaedia from childhood to a local orphanage and remand home, and hope that maybe, a latent bookworm might be awakened, as I was, by Myths & Legends from Around the World, or Great Leaders.   Donated a cache of childrens books to the local school as prizes for the school prizegiving. Did see small barefoot children rushing home, clutching one of our former paperbacks to their bosum in excitement.  A friend has given a series of Biff and Chip easy readers from Oxford Learning Tree to the local school to spice up their literacy lessons, and reports how interest and progress has grown apace.
But its piecemeal.  The crumbs from our tables don't stretch very far.

A Kenyan freshman at an Ivy League college spoke compellingly of her first year's studies there, after a year having studied in Kenya. 
'I'm learning Spanish, and can practice it daily. There are students from Latin American, even Californias with fluent Spanish, its amazing.  I've never bought a newspaper there, but they are just all around in the accommodation. There's a daily campus newspaper. The internet is free.' 
The students got bright-eyed. Vivacious. Posed her 40 minutes of questions.   A world on their doorstep. Maybe.