2011 at DOT Kenya was kicked off in January with an interactive three-day workshop between DOT Kenya and DOT Ethiopia. Also in January, the DOT Kenya partnered with NiCAN Business and Technology Institute to deliver the ReachUp! program, and we heard about a staff member's trip through the North Eastern Region of Kenya.

February 2011 saw the graduation of a group of ReachUp! interns at Maasai Mara, and in March DOT Kenya celebrated the graduation of 15 Interns who had been facilitating the ReachUp! program throughout the country.

In April 2011, DOT Kenya welcomed new Deputy Director Ansetse Were, and in May the DOT Kenya family was honoured to host Krista Pawley, Vice President of Communications from The MasterCard Foundation.

In June 2011 DOT Kenya hosted a Skills Development workshop for interns who were nearing the end of their Internship with DOT. The three day session helped outgoing Interns pinpoint their future goals and explore future opportunities. In July, a group of volunteers from IBM's DOT-facilitated Corporate Service Corps program were recognized in Kenya's Daily Nation newspaper for their efforts in assisting to set up a new online voting system for Kenyan elections. Also in July, DOT Kenya hosted the first Facilitators' Learning Experience, which was a learning session for the facilitators who would be training future interns. The event brought together facilitators from DOT Egypt and DOT Kenya.

In August 2011, 53 Interns graduated in a colourful ceremony that was attended by DOT President and CEO Janet Longmore. The Interns, who were funded by The MasterCard Foundation, delivered the ReachUp! program to more than 8,500 people in communities throughout Kenya. A few weeks later in August, the DOT Kenya family welcomed 75 new Interns, funded by The MasterCard Foundation.

In September 2011, Intern Training wrapped up and 75 new Interns returned to smaller communities throughout Kenya to begin facilitating the ReachUp! program. DOT Kenya's own Ayshah Maende, a Field Officer in the Coast Region, was invited by Bill Clinton be be a panelist at the Clinton Global Initiative Annual Meeting in New York City. Ayshah was a panelist at the event, and brought her experience and expertise to a discussion on "Transformative Tools for a Skilled Workforce."

October 2011 saw the introduction of five experience hubs for Interns to exercise and expand their professional skills, as well as a tree planting ceremony in honour of the late Kenyan Nobel Laureate Wangar Maathai. DOT Kenya welcomed the fourth group of IBM Corporate Service Volunteers who worked to develop technological projects with various Kenyan government organizations and community groups. Also in October, DOT Kenya began recruiting a third group of 75 Interns, funded by The MasterCard Foundation.

In November 2011, DOT Kenya participated in the ICT for Development Conference in Kibugat, exhibited at the AITEC East Africa ICT Summit, and the team joined a group of IBM volunteers as they helped to clean up and beautify the Machakos School for the Deaf. Near the end of the month, Interns in the Rift Valley region celebrated young local entrepreneurs as a part of Global Entrepreneurship week.

Finally, in December 2011 DOT Kenya recruited 78 new interns, funded by The MasterCard Foundation, to deliver the ReachUp! program throughout Kenya.

In addition to all of the events and notable news above, DOT Kenya staff and interns shared their field experiences and success stories in blog posts throughout the year.

We would like to extend a sincere thank you to DOT Global, The MasterCard Foundation, and DOT Kenya staff, our Interns, partners, participants, friends, as well as everybody who helped to shape our events in 2011. We look forward to your continued support in 2012, and can't wait to see what this year brings for DOT Kenya.