A technology camp for African students is soon to be brought home to Bermuda’s less fortunate youths.

“It was a brilliant experience, for the children and for me,” said Darren Burchall, a local educator whose Great4Learning initiative just delivered its latest course in Ghana.

Keen to bridge the global “digital divide”, Mr Burchall’s science, technology, engineering and maths (Stem) class gave students in the town of Gomoa Fetteh their first experience with iPads and iPhones.

With the help of Bermudian donors, the class also furnished 14 girls and nine boys of middle-school age with basic practical robotics, circuitry, programming and coding.

“By the end of the camp, they knew how to use these devices,” Mr Burchall said. “It was fantastic, a really worthwhile venture. They didn’t even know these types of things existed.”

It also afforded him a chance encounter with Kofi Annan, the former United Nations Secretary-General: Mr Burchall happened to find the Ghanian diplomat enjoying a beach close by.

“It was not organised; I just went up to him and started talking about what we were doing. He said he thought it was very noble and important that we had brought the camp to that village.”

Mr Burchall met twice with the chief of the small fishing town, acquiring new contacts in his bid to spread Great4Learning in Africa. He plans to try the programme next in Kenya.

The technology workshops have come several times to Bermudian schools, but Mr Burchall plans to bring them to local students whose families might ordinarily lack the financial means to put them through Stem camps.

“Most of the children have been from private schools that could afford it, so I’d like to make it include more children who might not have that opportunity.

“I do it for the children, but for me the most important part is getting teachers on board with this, so they can embed 21st century learning in their teaching.”

• Bringing more ambitious Stem academies back home will require help with fundraising: anyone interested in getting involved can e-mail Mr Burchall at darren@great4learning.com