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Project description
Technology advancements often take courses unequally across society, with those having access to technologies benefiting way earlier compared to marginalized societies. This project addresses this gap by training epileptic African youth on AI safety and opportunities. In structured online and physical sessions, this program will give Artificial Intelligence literacy lessons delivered by Clarion Institute of Technology and Pause AI Kenya to members of Kiserem Epileptic Foundation over the course of six months. We believe by equipping such vulnerable population in the AI wave, we shall impact on the lives of the students to better understand and use AI to make their life easier as well as come up with innovations that will be better suited to manage their disease.
AI Safety Bootcamp – Kenya is a six-month programme to train 100 Epileptic youth in Mwihoko, Kiambu County in AI, responsible AI, AI safety, cybersecurity, Python, and digital innovation. The programme combines technical excellence with ethics, governance, and employability, creating a pipeline of responsible AI practitioners.
Consortium
Kiserem Epilepsy Foundation will lead community mobilization and project management. Pause AI Kenya will lead AI safety curriculum, advocacy, governance and guest experts. Clarion Institute of Technology will deliver technical instruction, mentorship, assessments and career development.
Problem Statement
Kenya's digital economy is expanding rapidly while underserved communities remain excluded from AI education. Responsible AI capacity is scarce despite increasing adoption across sectors. Epilepsy is a growing challenge in Kenya as the number of those battling it keeps increasing. Due to their disease, epileptic kids often learn at a slower pace compared to normal students therefore crafting a special program for them will really help them adapt Artificial intelligence quicker
Goal
Equip 100 Epileptic youth with AI safety competencies that improve employability, entrepreneurship and responsible AI leadership.
Objectives
· Train 100 students.
· Deliver industry-relevant AI Safety curriculum
· Support inclusive participation
· Produce community AI projects
· Connect graduates to employment and freelancing.
Category Amount (€) % Justification
Laptops & AI lab equipment 7000 35% Training devices
Training materials & software/cloud 2000 10 Ai platforms
Instructor 4500 22.5 Technical delivery
Internet 800 4 Connectivity
Hackathons 1500 7.5 Innovation events
M&E 700 3.5 Data collection
Administration 2000 10 coordination
outreach 500 2.5 recruitment
Contingency 1000 5 Risk reserve
· Seth Momanyi- National Director Pause AI Kenya – Partnered with Otterman Institute of Technology in 2025 to deliver AI literacy courses to 5000 Kenyan Youth.
· Joseph Mwangi – Director, Clarion Institute of Technology.
Causes
· Low retention due to health-related barriers :seizure frequency, medication side effects, or hospital visits could cause students to miss sessions or drop out, especially given the six-month commitment.
· Digital access gaps :inconsistent electricity, internet connectivity, or device availability in Mwihoko could disrupt the online components of training.
· Funding shortfalls :if the minimum funding target isn't met, laptop procurement or instructor availability could be delayed, compressing the training timeline.
· Stigma and family/community resistance :epilepsy-related stigma in some households may limit parental support for youth attending sessions, particularly physical ones requiring travel.
· Partner coordination gaps :as a three-organization consortium (Kiserem, Pause AI Kenya, Clarion Institute), misaligned schedules or unclear role division could slow curriculum delivery or assessments.
Outcomes
· Partial completion, where only a subset of the 100 targeted youth finish the full curriculum, reducing the intended employment/entrepreneurship pipeline.
· Loss of trust with the epilepsy community and future funders, making it harder to secure support for follow-on cohorts.
· Underused equipment (laptops, lab tools) if training is interrupted, representing a sunk cost for donors.
· Delayed or diluted community AI projects, weakening the project's evidence base for scaling to other regions.
Mitigation
· Flexible scheduling (recorded sessions, makeup classes) to accommodate health-related absences.
· Hybrid online/physical delivery to reduce dependency on constant connectivity.
· Contingency budget (5%) already allocated for unforeseen disruptions.
· Kiserem Foundation's existing track record (prior $10,000 and $15,000 grants successfully deployed for coding/robotics training with this same population) as evidence of implementation capacity
Kiserem foundation was funded 10,000$ by the international bureau for people with epilepsy to train people with epilepsy with coding and robotics skills.
This year youth voice funded us 15,000$ for expanding the coding program for people with epilepsy.