Lezha High School und Casa Rozalba I
The JavaScript part of the web development course at Lezha High School is picking up speed. Immersing oneself in a programming language is a challenge, but the course participants are slowly advancing into the deeper realms of JavaScript control structures. The students' smoking brains are cooled down by playful quizzes with Kahoot, which Michelle, our quizmaster, masterfully guides them through.
10.04.2024
After a brief guest appearance in a class learning about Visual Basic, the Lezha delegation of the iSTEP team (Adrian, Michelle, and Olivia) transfers en masse to Casa Rozalba I in Gjadër. There, Adrian continues his beginner courses in general computer skills and Excel, which he had already started online, with the young residents of the children's home. Side by side with the children and the helpers at Casa Rozalba I, we are integrated into the colorful lunch table. Traditional Albanian dishes are served, vaguely reminiscent of a good Swiss Hörnliauflauf and tzatziki.
Before continuing with the lessons, everyone is allowed to take a break in the house's communal living room. Sister Maggie (actually Margerita, but no one really calls her that) tells a little about her career, which brought her from northern India to Albania. Before moving to Albania to support the Casa Rozalba project, she worked with NGOs on aid projects in India, including projects for blind people, women who were given new opportunities, and disabled people for whom prosthetics were organized, for example.
Michelle and Olivia then get to put their IT skills to the test. Their task is to remove technical hurdles so that all interested children can later participate in the online courses. But the computer scientists are also busy with other tasks in the house. After solving the printer problems of the in-house psychologist, switching a student's notebook from Italian to English, and creating a few Discord accounts, the Excel course can continue. When everyone is already tired, there is a quick excursion into the topic of PowerPoint. This will probably be continued on Thursday.
Somewhat exhausted but filled with exciting new experiences, we begin our journey home in the packed school bus from Casa Rozalba. The bus jolts along the deserted runway of the abandoned military airport in Gjadër. Taking a detour through the surrounding villages, where some children are dropped off, we approach Lezha, where we will soon continue with JavaScript.
