Dear Friends,Thank you for joining us in launching the 8th Digital Essay Competition (DEC) on 26th May live on Facebook. The 2020 DEC question is: How is technology helping you, your family, and your community during the coronavirus pandemic? Or Ni vipi teknolojia inakusaidia wewe, familia yako na jamii yako wakati huu wa janga la ugonjwa wa korona?For the past 7 years, we have always welcomed essays and art submissions electronically as well as on paper, almost 44,000, from all across Kenya. In 2020, with schools closed right now for COVID-19 prevention, Digital Essay Competition will go entirely digital.The reason we've always accepted paper entries is simple. We are all going digital—as we say—tunaenda digital. But that doesn't mean we all have equal access to the internet or to a device we can use to write and submit an essay. Therefore, we have always welcomed submissions electronically or on paper. For the first time, in 2020, we are asking everyone to turn in your essays and art online at essay.ekitabu.com. This year we will not collect paper submissions. That will help us to maintain social distancing and reduce the risk of coronavirus exposure for everyone involved.This year is an experiment to learn how, when all schools are closed, we can still make education more inclusive and equitable. We want to hear from you. What are your ideas for how you can use technology to help you, your family, and your community during the COVID-19 pandemic? We don’t have all the answers, but we are willing to help. Please call us or text us to help you submit your essay.This year more than ever, it’s on all of us to find practical and low-cost ways to make digital a tool for inclusion, not exclusion, and leave fewer people behind.Sasa twende, tukomeshe Corona. Tunaenda digital!Warmest regards,WillRead the entire newsletter here