Stima Series: The fun way to teach young ones about electricity

In the old days, school trips were an exciting time for the few pupils who could afford the extra money needed. The popular destinations were Nairobi National Park, National Museums and perhaps Masinga Dam to learn how water generates electricity.

Missing such a trip brought a sense of loss and ridicule from the lucky ones who narrated the events back to back for the rest of the term.

But trust the tides of time because now, pupils do not need to travel to Masinga or Kamburu or Olkaria to learn how electricity is generated. One man, James Ngomeli has thought one better, and written easy to read books for primary school pupils.

Pupils will find 'A Visit to the Power Station' interesting. It describes the experience like a travelogue, when lucky Class Five pupils from Mwangaza Primary School get two trips in a term, one to Kamburu Power Station and the other to Olkaria.

They go past the towns of Kivaa and Matuu, and soon they are at Kamburu, one of the five major hydro power stations in Kenya that make up the Seven Forks hydro stations along Tana River. The dams, the turbines and other new things excite the pupils and they ask endless questions.

Two weeks later, they head on the opposite direction to Olkaria, passing through the picturesque Great Rift Valley. Olkaria, a geothermal plant is another exciting electricity generating process.

Dangers inherent

The book is illustrated with coloured drawings and pictures with Ngomeli breaking down the ‘energy sector’ jargon for pupils. The energy communication and marketing consultant worked at Kenya Power for 15 years.

A Visit to the Power Station is one of the Stima Series, targeting classes Five and Six. The first one is titled My Picture Book for pre-unit to Class Two. It introduces children to the domestic, office and school items that use electricity, in colourful images. Then there is Mr Kilowat for Class Three and Four, where the children graduate to learning about the usage of electricity in the home.

Published by the East African Educational Publishers, the fourth book in the series is The Cat’s Tail targeting pupils in Class Seven and Eight.

It discusses the benefits of electricity as well as the dangers associated with it.

“I started writing the books in mid-2013, after realising Kenya Power was not communicating well with children,” says Ngomeli who was the project coordinator of culture change and corporate rebranding at Kenya Power, 2010-2014.

“At the time, there was a lot of vandalism and one of the reasons is that people do not understand electricity, its benefits and dangers. If we internalise this at a young age, the children will be able to avoid the dangers inherent, and be able to conserve energy even as adults.”

Ngomeli says 70 per cent of domestic electricity related accidents are among children.

“We need to communicate with them from an early age about this ‘animal’ called power that is part of our lives.”

Inspire careers

He echoes the thoughts of Eng Joseph Njoroge, the Principal Secretary, Ministry of Energy and Petroleum writing in the forward of all four books. Njoroge says that the knowledge contained in the books will not only help “nip cases of vandalism in the bud but it will also inspire pupils to pursue energy related careers besides internalising safety measures.

The books will be launched by Education Cabinet Secretary Jacob Kaimenyi on Wednesday next week at the KICC from 10am.