Hujambo from Tanzania! I’m SO EXCITED to write you because I couldn’t wait to share: on Saturday, in the Moivaro village of Arusha, Tanzania, in the shadow of Mt. Meru, Shepherds Junior School was connected to the internet for the very first time. The students sent their first tweets from the TweetsGiving classroom built from your gratitude.

Imagine: Students who have never even had access to a library now have access to an entire world of information. Children whose voices are seldom heard can now speak, in real time, to people, like you, across the globe. To our knowledge, it is the first classroom of its kind, a classroom in which primary school children in Africa are using twitter to share their lives with, and learn from, the rest of the world.

So often, we hear the stories of children in the so-called “developing” world from the perspective of the media, nonprofits, or friends who have traveled or volunteered. What happens now – when these students can share their own stories, and build relationships with the rest of the world, for themselves? How will the world be different when these children, who live so geographically far away, move into our virtual backyard? What difference will it make in their lives to know that their voices will be heard?

I hope you’re as excited as I am, and want to follow and become part of this world-changing story of the #TwitterKids of Tanzania. To get involved, just check out the emerging discussion below and join the conversation on twitter by sending a tweet directly to any of the children listed, or by following the #twitterkids meme or the aggregated @ShepherdsJr account on twitter. You can also read & respond to the tweets of a particular child by clicking on their photo below.

For more details from our recent work here, including video, photos and more in-depth coverage of all about the work we’ve been up to here in Tanzania on the “I <3 Epic Change" Blog created by our fabulous volunteers Melissa & AJ Leon of theLacProject.

One final note: Remember voting for Ideablob? Your vote made it possible for this school to be connected to the web for the very first time. For that, and for everything you’ve been doing to create Epic Change, I am incredibly grateful ;)

Asante sana, sana.

Photos courtesy of Melissa & AJ Leon of theLacProject.

Posted: October 21st, 2009 under The Foundry.
Comments: 24