Digital Schoolhouse visits Nigerian partner Kucheza Gaming in Lagos

Last month, the Digital Schoolhouse (DSH) team travelled to Lagos, Nigeria to visit their partner Kucheza Gaming, whose mission is to empower young people across Africa through esports

The Team attended Kucheza’s inaugural Game Makers Assembly (GMA) — a series of events for school children focussing on grassroots game development, encouraging careers and sector growth

The Head of Education, Shahneila Saeed, gave a talk on Careers in Video Games to an audience of enthusiastic students and their parents. Curriculum Content Developer, Estelle Ashman, delivered the workshops Street Smart: Step, Safe, Repeat and Loopy Games at two of schoolhouses in the locality, Akoka Junior High School and Lycée Français Louis Pasteur de Lagos, as well as at Microsoft Nigeria as part of GMA.

Shahneila joined Kucheza in meetings with Hewlett Packard and Logitech to help identify ways in which these leading tech companies can contribute to the development of digital skills for young people in Lagos. The DSH team also met Sheevolution Africa, an initiative working with girls from underprivileged communities to develop self-confidence, digital literacy and entrepreneurship.

Sharing their experiences, the team confessed to have enjoyed some downtime with the Kucheza team, celebrating the end of a fantastic year at the office Christmas party and supporting Sheevolution Africa’s pop-up bazaar, which was run by the girls on their programme. The hosts had clearly honed their customer service and sales skills as the DSH team was presented with bags of goodies, all made by the girls themselves.

Shahneila Saeed, Programme Director

“The last time I visited Nigeria was in 2019. It was my first trip to the country, and I went with an open mind to learn more about the educational environment, raise awareness about DSH and attempt to establish our first international pilot programme. To have the opportunity to go back with my team three years later was exciting.”

Shahneila delivers a talk on Careers in Video Games at Game Makers Assembly

“On our first day I delivered a talk to students and their parents on careers within the video games industry. I’ll always remember this talk as one of the toughest I’ve ever delivered because I’d been awake for over 30 hours when I delivered it! My favourite of the DSH workshops during our trip has got to be the one at Akoka Junior High School. This is a public school serving the local underprivileged community and relying heavily on donations.”

“The day we arrived was their sports day and end of exam celebrations, so there was a veritable party happening on school grounds. What struck me most was the enthusiasm and excitement from the students. They didn’t feel like they were missing out on the party, they felt privileged and delighted for this unique opportunity. Their dedication to their learning was inspirational and moved us all. None of this would have been possible without their visionary teacher, who demonstrated that great education does not have to be limited to well-equipped schools. The play-based learning approach has unlocked the potential for her to deliver complex concepts unhindered by their lack of technology. “

“We made new friends that we look forward to meeting again and learnt a great deal too. One of the things that struck me was the drive from the children and determination to soak up as much knowledge as they could. They understood the value of the opportunities and were keen to make as much of them as they could. They understood that a strong education was the key for them to unlock their future.”

“What stays with me is an overall feeling of warmth. Not just the warm weather (we were sitting in 30-degree heat while the UK was amid an artic freeze), but the warmth from the people we met. Everyone at Kucheza welcomed us with open arms. And the warmth of the evenings. Once our work commitments were over, we spent our evenings together as a team on the hotel terrace. Whether we were watching the bats fly out overhead or laughing endlessly at the joke of the day. It was a work trip that, despite being full of long days and hard work, felt like a holiday with friends.”

Estelle co-leading our Street Smart workshop at Akoka Junior High School

Amii Oldham, Programme and Communications Manager

“I was absolutely blown away by the work taking place in Lagos by the Kucheza team and the teaching staff at our Digital Schoolhouses. There is such a drive to boost digital skills across these schools and this was clearly demonstrated by the keen interest, imagination and professionalism displayed by all the students that we met. The dedication of the teaching staff to the outcomes of these children was second to none and it was inspiring to see how play-based learning can truly make a difference to how computing can be taught in a fun and accessible way! GMA itself was a wonderful example of how we can best advocate for and support young people who want to pursue tech careers and I’m sure the success of the first conference will see a continued growth in opportunities made available to students in the future.”

“A personal thank you to the entire Kucheza team for being so friendly, fun and accommodating throughout the week. I am so excited to continue our work with you all in 2023!”

Estelle leading our Loopy Games workshop at Game Makers Assembly, Microsoft Nigeria

Estelle Ashman, Curriculum Content Developer

“ Visiting Lagos has been my highlight of 2022. Getting the opportunity to teach alongside Vincent (one of our Nigerian lead teachers) at Akoka Junior High School was an absolute privilege. It was brilliant to see the experience, skill, and enthusiasm displayed by our Nigerian team and I loved getting to see Street Smart, the workshop written by the team, in person. Another standout moment was seeing the students pitching their game ideas at ID@Xbox, the professionalism and confidence of the children was brilliant to see.Despite being put into mixed groups with people they didn’t know, they were able to put forward their ideas, think about how they were going to work as a group and put together a pitch that was clear and concise,”

“Visiting Lycée Français Louis Pasteur de Lagos tested my school french in ways I hadn’t anticipated, and I enjoyed how excited the students were at the prospect of entering Kucheza’s annual MOBO game jam. Our final day saw us visiting a Christmas Bazaar run by the amazing Sheevolution, the passion poured out by the ladies who run the project was a pleasure to be part of and the girls did a fantastic job of clearing out the last of the money that Siân and I had as they sold us their delightful products,”

“On a personal note, I don’t think I have laughed so much for a very long time – it was a pleasure to spend the week with some of our amazing DSH team. A huge thank you to Obi from Kucheza for looking after us so well, especially on the first day when I am sure he was wondering just what he had agreed to take on as the reality of being awake for over 30 hours took its toll.”

(left to right) Estelle, Shahneila, Obi and Amii at the Hard Rock Café Lagos

“One lingering memory is speaking to the friendly locals as we waited to board for our plane home, the sincere gratitude for us coming over to teach was humbling and helped to highlight further the importance of the work Kucheza and Sheevolution are doing in Nigeria.”

Siân Mayhall-Purvis, Education Programme Coordinator at Ukie

“Our trip to Lagos was an incredible experience and I am so grateful for the opportunity. The Kucheza team welcomed us as their colleagues and friends, and fully immersed us into their work and the culture of this lively city. There are a few moments that stand out to me… Sitting in the ICT Room at Akoka Junior High School with fans on full blast in every corner of the room, with the distraction of music blaring outside the classroom for the school’s Sports Day, and yet the students were so focussed on the workshop Estelle was co-leading and so keen to collaborate and complete the work.”

“At Kucheza’s Game Makers Assembly, it was fascinating to learn about the outreach that ID@Xbox are doing in Nigeria, and hearing the insightful questions that the students asked, including one girl who was very concerned about her game ideas being stolen so wanted to learn all about IP protection! I love that we were able to conclude our Loopy Games workshop with the opportunity for the students to pitch to an Xbox scout.

“I also really enjoyed seeing the students at Lycée Français Louis Pasteur de Lagos collaborate in pairs to develop game ideas, having friendly but heated debates over mechanics and characters. Two students presented a concept that was essentially Hades with Roman gods, which they’d come up with in half an hour, which I thought was very impressive!”

(left to right) Siân, Estelle and Amii at the Kucheza Gaming office Christmas party

“Trying Nigerian food for the first time, belting Mariah Carey’s All I Want For Christmas Is You with Amii and Estelle at the Kucheza office Christmas party karaoke, and following the World Cup final from the hotel pool with thousands of bats flying overhead are some personal highlights from the trip! Most of all, I loved meeting the students and making friends with the Kucheza and Sheevolution Africa teams. I can’t wait to see them and work with them again.”

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