Hello to everyone reading our blog. This is my first time so I dont really know what I am doing. I am working at Driehook with David, Erin, and Joe D. My first few thoughts are 1. Africa is amazing, and 2. thank you to the teacheres of the world. My appreciation grows for the work that you do daily. The language barrier is difficult as was expected, but we are able to communicate via "computer and 'XO' language. The kids are amazing and eager to learn. Our first day teaching was simply amazing, it is almost unbeliavable how we can put something in their hands that most of them probably have never seen before and certainly know nothing about, and by the end of a school day they were able to say parts of the computer, open and close programs, turn on the computer.

Its hard to put into words the progress the kids have made. We start off with something they haven't seen before. Thekidseitherdidntputspacesbetweenthewords or too many spaces were used. Punctuation and capitalization were after thoughts. However, but by the end of the first week the kids are capitalizing words and knowing when to use them, names, start of sentences, etc. They have been able to put sentences in B, I, and Underline.

The best part is when a kid masters a task and we can show them shortcuts with the keys. For example, we showed them how to use bold type, but when they forgot to make a sentence bold they would erase the sentence. I showed one of our kids, Johannes, how to highlight sentences and change the font after he had typed it. One the tools we have been using to practice typing is by typing sentences 5x each. Near the end of the day after he had mastered nearly every tool in the Write Activity (similar to microsoft word), I showed him how to copy and paste....you should have seen the look in his eyes!!

At the beginning of this blog i mentioned my deepened respect for teachers. I want to extend that to everyone that volunteers their time because I have seen first hand the hard work of the people around me do wonders for some kids who just need the opportunity. Thank you to everyone that has donated time, money, and other resources to our cause. Hello to all the OHOTers at Indiana who are not here and to the ones across the nation. I especially want to thank my Mom, Dad, and the rest of my family.

Joey