African Maths Initiative

Sharing Initiatives in Maths Education

Maina John

I joined AMI as an intern in 2017; previously, I worked as a data analyst intern at Twaweza East Africa Department of Data and Voice.  I studied an undergraduate Statistics degree from Kenyatta University, Kenya. AMI has exposed me to several diverse initiatives that enabled me to not only utilize my expertise but also interact with the end-user with whom I could use my education to help meet their various statistical needs. Through this involvement, I have also gained a wide array of knowledge in other areas besides mathematics and statistics. I have since been involved in the statistical documentation, testing and quality control checks on R-Instat and climsoft softwares.

I enjoy working with people, and I have been involved in the Digital Community Initiative in schools and communities in Kitale, Kenya.  I am also involved in leading statistical sessions at Maths Camps. Besides math camps I have also been involved in designing a training workshop for Participatory Integrated Climate Services for Agriculture (PICSA) for financial service providers in Kenya. I came up with graphs on the historical climatic data for Kisumu County, Kenya and gave the statistical interpretation of the same to the FSPs.

Currently, I am working on the McKnight Foundation agroecological hub project.  I am involved in the scoping study to understand farmer challenges and experiences in key areas such as weather changes, soil productivity, pests and diseases, food security and income generation.

I enjoy using technology to teach young children and would love to work more on suchlike initiatives.