A Global Village

The formal evaluation carried out in August 2000, showed the following results: Participation: · Active involvement of teachers and students in community activities, developing projects aimed to solve real problems in the community · Family involvement in the Center, as a meeting and learning place (a total of 183 families, between the ages of 8 and 80, have joined the training and computer accessibility programs) · Performance of group activities related to the zone's culture and tourism (Excursions have been carried out, as well as information gathering about tourism in the region) · Creation of computer clubs, which develop projects related to social and environmental matters in the region. · Extensive women participation in all techNological training programs (Women participation in Center activities and support to school activities has been 57 %). · Workshops and spare time activities for children and teenagers (a wide variety of activities, including workshops involving the use of computers, have been carried out during vacations. 56 children between the ages of 5 and 14 have participated in these activities). · 95 adults from the community received certifications on the use of computers and Internet. · Four young members of the community were trained to be computer and communication techNology instructors, as part of the Center activities. Infrastructure and Performance: · Two computer rooms with a total of 16 computers connected to Internet. · Academic programs, designed by levels, to teach basic computer skills (Computer, productivity tools) and Internet. · Five schools linked to the process as support of classroom activities. This came as a result of the "Conexiones" Model implementation. · 600 hours of training for the community. · 6 computer clubs, averaging 40 students per club, created by students between the ages of 8 and 16. · 40 teachers and management personnel trained in the incorporation of new techNologies into the classroom.

The reason of starting this program was to equip the young people living in the slums with information techNology. Africa has been left behind from industrial revolution to information techNology, and it is from this reason that the Ford Foundation came out with this program to benefit youths living in the slums of Nairobi who are disadvantaged in every sphere of life. The Resource centre has proved more popular with the young people than expected. Several young people coming for the slums have benefited from free training of computer skills. The youths have been using Desktop Publishing to publish our monthly magazine called Slum news. From keying in articles to layouts and printing of the magazine. This has saved the organization a lot of money, which we used to give other agency to do as the layouts. Apart from services offered to the community like word processing, the community benefits from the use of web browsing, receiving and sending E-mails. Training offered to the youths in the information techNology has helped some of the youths to acquire jobs related to information techNology. Several traders have benefited through the use of information techNology since some could Now sell their products directly to the foreign market. This is reducing poverty level among our people and enhancing better living conditions of our people. We have also started offering basic computer skills to primary school teachers to equip them with computer skills. Our desire is to see that every school in the slums has computers and the children taught computer skills. Our partners (Yen members) have gained considerably. Most of youths working in these organizations have been trained by SIDAREC youth and are Now computer literate. They also have E-MAIL accounts through SIDAREC and therefore could access their mail anywhere they want. Above all, we¡¦ve managed to stir something in these youths that they have never realized before ¡V passion. They have a passion for information techNology and would even go at great length to kNow more. In other word, we have encouraged them to dream big dreams.

Our project pays attention to every social group in a different way, adapting the activities to their necessities (women, elder people, cultural agents, workers, businessmen, etc). We create collaboration nets between people with similar interests and we put them in contact by e-mail, chats by IRC, etc. so, we generate possibilities to create new business. We also pay attention to different social worries: environment, agriculture, ecoNomy, health and tourism are some of our main objectives. We create initiatives that have positive influences on our community (Compilation of popular songs, creation of a digital newspaper made by people from our region in order to spread our culture all over the world.) We measure the results and the fulfilment of people needs by the following data (since May 1999): Direct: „h 13. 000 e-mail addresses have been created „h 800 web pages have been elaborated „h 700 people collaborate with us. „h Our web page has had 1.270.000 visits. „h 16.000 visits to our digital newspaper. „h 145.000 people have come to our centres. „h 24.000 users. Indirect: „h Purchase of computing equipment. „h Purchase of new domains. „h New Internet connections. „h Installation of new ISDN lines. „h Selling and buying products in the net. „h Young people have found jobs in the Net. „h The town councils of the towns where there are centres provide services to the citizen, (e-democracy) thanks to the lessons learnt by attending to the NKC. It is worth mentioning the change of thinking the people who attend to our centres experiment and the awareness related to the possibilities of the ICT.

The main reason for the introduction of ICTs to Manguzi was to facilitate access to opportunities and information. A mission in which it is succeeding. The members of the community are actively using the facilities offered by the Telecentre to do word processing, desktop publishing, send and receive e-mail, surf the Web and perform numerous other activities. Training teachers in the utilisation of ICTs in education accompanied the introduction of the techNology to the schools. This was done in cooperation with the KwaZulu Natal Education Department and SchoolNet SA (a NGO with a Government brief to introduce Internet into South African schools). Teachers, who had never seen a PC before, gained basic web literacy within a week. These skills will be maintained by the establishment of professional networks and support groups between teachers in Manguzi and elsewhere.

KORRnet currently serves over 8,000 individuals, and 700 Nonprofit organizations. KORRnet's web site has had more than 11 million page accesses with an average of nearly 120,000 pages delivered each week. In addition to the ships Participants receiving enhanced accounts, KORRnet provides 140 enhanced accounts to eligible organizations and individuals. For many Nonprofits, KORRnet is a vital stepping stone to their growth as an agency as many of them eventually expand their capabilities and incorporate the assistance of private Internet service providers. This advancement of Nonprofits then becomes a positive commercial by-product of the KORRnet service. The results from ships are multi-faceted, although the most prominent result is the reduction of isolation and increased sense of community with others. The ships Participants complete a feedback email once every two weeks and a more detailed Questionnaire on a quarterly basis. ships also has a database consisting of information on applicants, volunteers, and can generate reports that show various aspects of progress. The following are some excerpts of feedback given from various ships Participants: One particular ships participant did Not want to interact with other people due to his depression. He had suffered a neck injury and was told he was Not going to be able to walk. He then received a computer from the ships Program, and he describes his story as follows: "I started sinking into my small dark room, No ambitions, depression as my best friend. I am living on 20 or so medications. I am Not able to do any type of physical activities. I was rarely aware of what world I was in. I had made up my mind I was going down hill with No way to recover. Then, I was introduced to a program. ships and KORRnet . . . As I was introduced into the world of computers and cyberspace my life has changed. I began a revelation. . . I have access to the outside that would never have been possible without ships, the staff, KORRnet and my connections to the Internet. This computer is my friend. It saved me from sinking down to the abyss of No return. Though still disabled, still gravely ill, I am here and I want to help others. I am sure there are people worse off than myself. . . The best thing I can say about the computer and KORRnet, let me say it has literally saved my life . . . ” ANother ships Participant had this to say concerning how he utilizes his computer with respect to his community: “As you kNow I'm a diehard advocate for the disabled. In my pre-computer era, I worked hard to produce the materials < mostly kNowledge> to help people, i.e., governments, large and small businesses, civic organizations, teaching institutions, churches and individuals understand the rights and responsibilities associated to the Americans with Disabilities Act, 1990. The requests for information had to be limited since my correspondence was done mostly by hand, requiring hours per reply. In this era, post-computer, my ability to respond to every inquiry in a timely manner is possible. It also has allowed me to expand writing legislation at the state level. . . And further, my computer has allowed me the opportunity to perform additional research in hopes of raising the quality of life for those with disabilities, and my community as a whole. On more of a personal area, having a computer has made it easier to stay in touch with my family members, have better options to pay bills, where stamps or a trip to the post office isn't feasible. Additionally, researching medications and procedures, helps me play a more involved part in my own healthcare. My computer allows me to give back to those who have given, and I hope to continue, thanks to being a ships participant.” The following progress report was submitted by mother who is the caregiver of her daughter, who has a terminal illness: “…. You just wont believe what we achieved through the computer… It was instrumental in practically saving (my daughter’s life) and showing us a new path of hope that may bring her back to us in body as well as in mind. . . And we have already used information garnered from the internet to solve long standing medical problems that the doctors could Not get a handle on. We are blessed in having an open-minded doctor … when we showed him all the data and information that we downloaded from the computer... He accordingly ordered whole new tests, changed the medication etc., and today she feels a whole lot better.” The impact of ships on community members is quite evident as well. An individual in the community who is homebound and who was seeking community with other homebound individuals emailed ships expressing an interest in being in contact with the ships Participants. This individual was subsequently invited by the ships Participants to join the ships Listserve. ships Participant A, the “Listserve Greeter”, replied with the following: “Well we are tickled to death to have you . . I wanted to tell you that you're at the right place, we are all friendly here and we try to be as close knit as we can . . . So please make yourself at home, you are one of us and we are tickled to see you . . .” This individual has subsequently become a contributing member of the Listserve, writing a monthly syNopsis of the Listserve dialogue and helping those who have questions about the computer.

The centre has been used more than initially expected. The computer literacy and ability to train other was higher than expected and there is Now a resulting demand for more PCs for the centre. The existing level of literacy underlines the capacity of rural people to accept high tech solutions and integrate them into their own lifestyle. Once the telecom line has been installed, users will be able to register for and complete tertiary-level studies via the Internet, use the African Digital Library and other free research resources made available via the AfricaEducation.org portal website.