Dear friends,

Just a short note from me this month to say my warm thanks to Kenya's Ministry of Education, Science and Technology for their support, advice, and cooperation in the 2016 Digital Essay Competition. DEC grew 325% this year in the number of students who participated. That means since 2013 DEC has generated over 11,000 individual student essays across all 47 counties of Kenya. None of this would be possible without strong collaboration from the Ministry at many levels. We are grateful and honored to achieve educational impact in cooperation with MOEST and students and teachers countrywide.At annual DEC prizegiving at Nairobi International Book Fair on 21 September we were very happy to have with us the community of teachers, sponsors, and friends, who have journeyed with us throughout the year, some who have been with us all four years of DEC. At this year's prizegiving we were thrilled to see and hear the original voices of primary and secondary girls who -- again in 2016 -- were the majority of DEC winners and finalists!But let us note the boys performed honorably too. I conclude with this picture below of Titus Kimatu, a boy from Maranda High School, the grand prize winner in the Secondary School Kiswahili category. A teacher in the audience suggested we close the prizegiving ceremony with remarks from a student. The eKitabu team agreed this was an excellent idea and entirely fitting. Titus volunteered. He addressed the assembly with thoughtful and energetic remarks in fluent Swahili that met with happy approval from all. Tunaenda digital!

Warmest regards,Will