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Seven students.Then thirty-two.Then three of the first seven came back to teach.

An AI school for Dzaleka Refugee Camp, Malawi. Built from Austin. Taught by people who live there.

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01

Dzaleka

Dzaleka sits about 41 km from Lilongwe, the capital of Malawi. More than 52,000 people live there. The classroom is an internet café in the camp, with a Starlink dish on the roof.

Every lesson in both years happened in this room, over Starlink.

AustinLilongwe
Austin
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Dzaleka
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02

Why here

I was helping with a program for Ukrainian students who already had options.

I wanted to work where the gap was bigger.

Then I read about Dzaleka.

Geetesh, in Austin

There was no budget, so I borrowed from my school to pay for year one.

I paid it back.

Austin to Dzaleka: about 14,000 km.

03

Day one

Most of them had never used a computer.

Day one was a test of what they didn't know yet.

Day 20 is further down.

Skip ahead

Day one. One student's first attempt, before any lessons.

04

Twenty days

ChatGPT, then Canva, then Sora, then Replit. Every day ran the same way: a warm-up game, an AI lesson, a soft-skills drill, work on the class's real-world project, a written reflection. Lunch paid for every day.

  1. Day 1ChatGPTdraft

    Pre-test. What AI is, and what it is not.

  2. Day 2ChatGPTdraft

    Spot the AI-made image.

  3. Day 3ChatGPTdraft

    Spot the made-up fact.

  4. Day 4ChatGPTdraft

    First prompts.

  5. Day 5Canvadraft

    A first poster in Canva.

  6. Day 6Soradraft

    Images in Sora.

  7. Day 7Soradraft

    Animation in Sora.

  8. Day 8Canvadraft

    A personal website.

  9. Day 9Canvadraft

    A website for a mock client: Healthy Living in Dzaleka.

  10. Day 10Canvadraft

    Research, present, debate.

  11. Day 11ChatGPTdraft

    Write a product spec for a game.

  12. Day 12Replitdraft

    Build the game from the spec.

  13. Day 13Replitdraft

    Keep building. Test each other's games.

  14. Day 14Replitdraft

    Finish the game.

  15. Day 15Replitdraft

    Graded tests: a poster, a website, a game.

  16. Day 16ChatGPTdraft

    Interview young people in the camp.

  17. Day 17Canvadraft

    Plan the workshop. Market it door to door.

  18. Day 18Canvadraft

    Workshop, day one.

  19. Day 19Canvadraft

    Workshop, day two.

  20. Day 20Canvadraft

    Workshop, day three. Post-test. Showcase for families.

  21. Every lesson, day by day →

05

What they made

Stand-in until the student's game arrives.

Student's first name

Built in week 3 with Replit

A stand-in game. The student game goes here once its hosted copy arrives.

A student's words go here once their consent is recorded.

All the student work →

06

The workshop

The final project wasn't for a grade. Students designed posters, marketed a three-day mental-health workshop door to door, and ran it for 30+ young people in the camp.

A student's words go here once their consent is recorded.

07

Showcase

A student's words go here once their consent is recorded.

Students graduated only after passing three tests: a poster, a website and a game.

Day one, unlocked.

Day oneDay 20
One student: the first attempt on day one, and the graduation project on day 20. Drag to compare.

From refugee to content creator.

08

The ripple

Year one: 7 students, 2 teachers.

Year two: 32 students, 5 teachers.

Three of those teachers were students the year before. This time they were paid to teach it.

2025. 2 teachers, 7 students.

Where the students are now: coming.

09

From 14,000 km

I ran it remotely. I wrote every lesson, trained the teachers on video calls, and talked them through each week.

It was not smooth. The internet dropped. Replit locked people out. In the first week I was on calls with the teachers all day.

AustinLilongwe

10

Next

100 students. More camps. A course anyone can take online.