[Nettime-bold] NairoBitsNews # 3

[NairoBitsNews <newsletter@nairobits.org> (by way of Josephine Bosma)]

- - - - - - - -  N A I R O B I T S N E W S  - - - - - - - -

# 3 - 10 March 2000

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C O N T E N T S

1 - Kenyan and Dutch DigiFriends create a virtual island
* an interview with Arjenne and Sebastiaan

2 - Kenya online...

3 - What's happening next!


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1 - Kenyan and Dutch DigiFriends create a virtual island
* an interview with Arjenne and Sebastiaan

Currently, the MYSA youth from Nairobi and youth from the
Comenius College in Amsterdam are taking part in a virtual
exchange program called DigiFriends, which is part of the
NairoBits project. The youth build a virtual village on a
deserted island together. The Dutch and the Kenyans work in
small groups. The groups all choose their own spot on the
island, where they can create a virtual hotel, shop, cinema
or whatever they can think of. Each Kenyan group is linked
to a Dutch group, so they can exchange ideas about the
design of each other's spots.

Arjenne (15) and Sebastiaan (17), pupils of the Comenius
College, both take part in DigiFriends, which in the
Netherlands is co-ordinated by Danae Interactive Education.
Sebastiaan and Arjenne are already experienced in using
computers. This is not only because they followed
information science lessons at school: both Arjenne and
Sebastiaan have a computer at home, which they use for
typing reports and for surfing the internet. Arjenne
especially likes to chat. Sebastiaan likes to chat as well,
but he also uses the internet to search for information on
music. In the future, he would like to work in the music
scene.

Arjenne and Sebastiaan both like the exchange very much and
think it is a good way of getting more knowledge.
Sebastiaan is member of the group Sebrick, which created a
beach cafe on the island, where people can eat and drink a
bit and can get in contact with each other. Arjenne is
member of 2blonds. This group made a fashion store,
surrounded by a beach volleyball field and places to drink
on the beach. In the store, African as well as Dutch
clothes are sold. Arjenne thinks Africans often wear long
skirts, with many different colors. What Arjenne likes
about DigiFriends is to communicate with people on the
other side of the world. Sebastiaan likes to get in contact
with other cultures through the exchange.

The only thing Arjenne and Sebastiaan know about Kenya is
that it is situated in Africa. They both would like to go
to Africa one day. Arjenne wants to become an ambulance
nurse and after her training, she would like to go to
Africa for one year as a development-aid worker. Sebastiaan
wants to sample the African atmosphere and to get
acquainted with people, but he doesn't know exactly what he
would like to do in Africa.

Amsterdam, 7 March 2000


Come and visit the island:
http://www.nairobits.org/island
More info on the exchange:
http://www.nairobits.org/getthevibes
More info on Danae:
http://www.danae.nl

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2 - Kenya online...

NairoBits is all about computers and the internet. In
Kenya, the use of computers is not as widespread as it is
in e.g. the Netherlands, but, as elsewhere, the number of
people using computers and the internet is rapidly
increasing. Deven, director of DNS Office Systems Ltd,
dealing in customised PCs, computer hardware, accessories,
etc., based in Nairobi, tells more about the subject.

Currently, the average Kenyan cannot afford to buy a PC.
But, according to Deven, there is a growing market in the
last two years for low cost desktop PCs. These are mainly
being purchased by small business, home owners and some
academic institutions. Most buyers are from urban areas
like Nairobi, Mombasa, Kisumu, Nakuru.

Deven feels the internet is grossly under utilised in
Kenya, due to the high cost of PCs and the high monthly
internet charges by internet service providers.
Furthermore, the Kenyan telephone line connections are at
best very ordinary. For many Kenyans, the only affordable
internet gateway is via cybercafes, which you can find on
almost every corner of the street in Nairobi. But even
these have prohibitive costs ranging from KSHs 5/= to 10/=
per minute for internet surfing. This is way above what the
average Kenyan earns per hour.

Despite all these problems, Deven has a positive outlook on
the future: "I think in the next five years e-commerce will
play a major role in the lives of most Kenyans and shall be
a gateway for young intelligent people to be successful
without resorting to 'connections' or underhand deals."

Nairobi, 29 March 2000

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3 - What's happening next!

In every newsletter, we will pay attention to upcoming
events, which can be visited physically or followed online
via the website.

  * 29 March 2000: Festive closing of the Dutch part of
  DigiFriends
  The Dutch participants in the exchange program
  DigiFriends will give a presentation of their
  activities on a location somewhere in Amsterdam.
  Furthermore, photos will be exhibited which were made
  during the exchange lessons at the Comenius College in
  Amsterdam. For more details, please contact Danae:
  info@danae.nl .

  * 30 March 2000: Opening NairoBits exhibition
  In the National Museum in Nairobi, an exhibition will
  be held on NairoBits. Beside the website, you can see
  pictures, photographs and other creations made by the
  MYSA youth during the workshops in February and March.
  The opening will be broadcast live on internet by De
  Digitale Stad. If you're in Nairobi and you would like
  to receive an invitation for the opening in the
  National Museum, please send an e-mail to
  info@nairobits.org .
  De Digitale Stad: http://www.dds.nl

In the next issues of NairoBitsNews, you will find more
detailed information about place, date and time of these
activities.

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C O L O F O N

NairoBitsNews is the newsletter of the multimedia project
NairoBits, and is sent about once a month to those who are
on our mailinglist. More information on NairoBits can be
found on http://www.nairobits.org . If you have any
questions about the project, you can send an e-mail to
info@nairobits.org or write a letter to NairoBits,
Rustenburgerstraat 405/1, 1072 GW Amsterdam, the
Netherlands.

Editor: Maaike Fekkes, maaike@nairobits.org .
Archive: All issues of NairoBitsNews can be found on
http://www.nairobits.org/newsletter .
Comments: If you have any comments or suggestions regarding
NairoBitsNews, or if you want to contribute to
NairoBitsNews, please write an e-mail to
newsletter@nairobits.org .
Subscription: If you want to subscribe or unsubscribe to
NairoBitsNews, please send an e-mail to
newsletter@nairobits.org .

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