Kenya | Global Junior Challenge

ClaSSworks

Mer, 29/07/2009 - 16:00

CLASSworks guides a school through all the essential parts connected to the establishment,
management, maintenance, and use of a computer lab

1. Sommario progetto

Sommario:

While ICT developments in Western societies are booming, many African countries are only
beginning to explore the possibilities of the use of ICT. More and more initiatives from the
West are aimed at closing this "gap", mainly focusing on hardware and training in software
use. The vision of Viafrica is that this focus produces an unsatisfactory effect. More attention
should be paid to the practical application of ICT within the local context. ICT should be used
for the purpose of strengthening existing developments; it is not an aim as such.
In 2003, Joost Dam, the founder of Viafrica has been approached by COSTECH (Tanzanian
Commission for Science and Technology) with a demand of schools and parents in the
Kilimanjaro region to develop an ICT programme there. Joost Dam went to Tanzania to meet
with COSTECH and to visit some schools and two pilot schools were picked for an initial
CLASSworks project. Later on, three schools from Uganda applied to become part of the
programme and were implemented. During this test phase CLASSworks was further
developed and has started to run at full speed in Tanzania and later Kenya since 2005. In
2009 the programme will be expanded to Sierra Leone together with the local partner Sierra
e-riders.
Viafrica works together primarily with secondary schools in sub Saharan Africa. The primary
target group are the teachers and students that are reached through their schools. The
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expectation is that a new middle class emerges from that target group which is able to serve
as a motor for economy and further developments.
CLASSworks: CLASSworks is an abbreviation for 'Computer Learning And Sustainable
Support works', guides a school through all the essential parts connected to the
management, maintenance, and use of a computer lab. The programme begins with the
preparation and startup of a suitable computer room and continues with training of teachers
and supporting the school in maintaining hard- and software.
Schools who want to participate have to take care of a suitable location for the computer
room and release several teachers who are to receive training for becoming an IT-teacher.
Viafrica takes care of the follow-up: delivery of hard- and software, implementation, teacher
training and support and maintenance. Supporting measures are seminars, trainings,
maintenance and end-user support. After that, the school is responsible independently. For
further support and trainings the local service center is always available, of course. Schools
are responsible for the running costs, teachers and infrastructure. They can close a contract
with the service centers and regularly pay a cost covering amount for the services they
receive

2. Paese (Città / Regione)

Stato:

Kenya

Città:

Kenya, Tanzania and Sierra Leone

3. Nome dell'organizzazione che presenta il progetto

Organizzazione:

Foundation Viafrica

4. Tipo di organizzazione

Scegli tipo:

Altro

Altro:

non-profit organization

5. Coordinatore del progetto

Nome e Cognome:

Emmy Voltman

E-Mail:

e.voltman@viafrica.org

6. Website

Il sito web del progetto:

http://www.viafrica.org

7. Selezionate la categoria di appartenenza del vostro progetto

Youth Education Project. Select Project Users by age:

Fino a 18 anni

Inserimento dei giovani nel mondo del lavoro:

NOT Helping youth step in the job market

Creatività e Innovazione sociale:

Creatività e Innovazione sociale

8. Da quando è funzionante il vostro progetto?

Da:

01/01/2005

9. Obiettivi ed elementi di innovazione

Please explain the targets and the background of your project:

The goals on which grounds CLASSworks has been founded, are the possibilities for the
schools to
- broaden their curriculum by offering ICT lessons
- strengthen the existing curriculum by using computers and digital information methods
- support supporting activities (administration) through ICT
So the overall goal is to give education at secondary schools a broadening and deepening
impulse and to strengthen and extend the capacity in East Africa in the field of ICT servicing.
By offering ICT services on rural schools, we empower young people with ICT skills which
they will need on the labour market. The access to these skills is brought on an equal basis
on the schools to boys and girls whereas when not brought to secondary schools, access to
ICT is more focussed on boys and men. We thereby promote gender equality and empower
women.
The focus lies as well on partnerships for development. In cooperation with the private
sector, CLASSworks makes the benefits of new technologies, especially information and
communication available. It offers youth and local communities’ access to ICT and thereby
equips them for the changing economy and information structure. An effort towards closing
the digital divide. Self-evidently better, broader education offers great advantages for the students, be it during
their academic or during their future professional career

Come, e con quali mezzi cerca di raggiungere gli obiettivi prefissati:

Equal access to ICT and ICT knowledge in African countries. Schools in Africa should be
able and equipped to provide high quality education that prepare students for the
requirements on the job market.
Viafricas vision on development is that projects should only be carried out when they have
legitimacy within the local context. This means that there has to be a local demand from
which the projects are formulated.
Apart from this, every project should be able to run independently after the project period.
This independence is shown in financial issues, but also in knowledge and a vision for the
future in which the projects turn into daily practice.
11.3 Which opportunities/problems does it address to?
African schools want to prepare their students as good as possible for the future, too. The
adaptation of education to social developments is very important. One social development is
automatisation which is is the starting point for CLASSworks (Computer Learning and
Sustainable Support Works).
There are hardly any possibilities to make use of ICT in education in sub-Saharan Africa due
to practical problems like
 the costs of a computer room at a school are too high
 knowledge about ICT/computers is absent or very limited
 there is no support and maintenance structure
 there is no education material/software
 there is no experience with computer education
The Digital Divide: There is an increasing importance of computer skills on the labour
market, secondary schools in East Africa strive to fulfill the requirements that are imposed
upon them by modern society. Those requirements are not only coming from the parents but
also from the public sphere and the labour market, an important subelement are computer
skills, crucial to prevent poverty.
Strengthen academic capacities in sub-Saharan Africa: Viafrica prepares students for
careers in higher education where computer skills are necessary; ICT means access to
knowledge and information needed for academic activities.
The strengthening of the ICT service capacity in East-Africa is justified through the demand
from the market that reaches our Service Centres in Moshi and Nairobi. This demand is
expressed by:
 the CLASSworks schools;
 non-CLASSworks schools with ICT infrastructure;
 other organisations with an ICT infrastructure.
In the regions where Viafrica is active there are no professional ICT service providers who
can answer this demand. The result is that we are confronted with a lot of broken hardware,
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old software, viruses and users that are not geared for their tasks from other projects and
initiatives. The Viafrica Service Centres in Moshi and Nairobi more and more are asked to
provide an answer to these questions as we are one of the few organisations on the ground.

Please explain what is unique or special in your project:

First of all, the projects of Viafrica are special because they focus on the middle class, not on
the poorest of the poorest. CLASSworks focuses on people with opportunities and develop
and expand them together. This does not mean that the poorest of the poorest need help
too. But, to work towards real sustainability and independence within development projects,
we think focusing on the middle class is the way to go forward. Humanitarian aid (focusing
mainly on the poorest of the poorest) is a different way of helping. Really necessary, but not
working in the field of development and education were Viafrica is present.
Secondly, Viafrica is an organisation working towards real sustainability, in a sense that all
funds for projects are only used for a start up / investment phase, but as soon as possible we
want projects to run on their own. A lot of development organisations or projects state that
they have the same goal. But in practice it is difficult to reach real sustainability because in a
lot of cases local (partner) organisations are not becoming project owners, whereas Viafrica
thinks this is the only way to become really independent. All schools (our local partners)
within the CLASSworks programme become project owners. They are responsible to run the
project in a sustainable manner. Viafrica only supports them to become and stay
independent.
During the last years it became clear that this way of working in Africa or in development
countries is quite unique.

10. Risultati

Describe the results of your project as per today:

From 2004 till now, Viafrica has implemented 85 CLASSworks schools in Tanzania, Kenya
and Uganda. The schools are serviced by Service Centers. All schools are using the
computers for teaching and the reactions of both teachers and students are very positive. In
2008 the first schools joined the national examinations in computer science. Viafrica has
proved that with professional services it is very possible to sustain ICT within education
combined with a self-sustaining Service Center.
In 2005, the independent regional office and service centre in Moshi, Tanzania was set up. It
is is responsible for the CLASSworks programme in Tanzania and offers service contracts
for schools. Currently, the centre provides assistance to schools participating in the
CLASSworks programme, start-up of computer rooms, training for the teaching staff,
seminars for school boards and others who are interested, and maintenance of the ICT hardand
software. As a regional office, the team in Moshi is responsible for the overall
coordination of the CLASSworks programme. A second service centre, responsible for the
CLASSworks schools in Kenya has been established in Nairobi, Kenya.
The interest for the CLASSworks programme is large. More and more organisation
acknowledge the value and are interested in using the CLASSworks principles in their
environment. This interest comes from both international as well as local organisations. In
most cases the question is whether Viafrica can expand to new areas in which they work. Clearly Viafrica's capacity is not large enough to respond to these requests. However, there
are possibilities which are being explored. If Viafrica can find a good local partner with
sufficient experience and capacities it is very possible to expand CLASSworks through them.
So far this is being done with Ukengee in Tanzania, Linknet in Zambia and Sierra e-riders in
Sierra Leone.

In che misura risponde ai bisogni degli utenti:

Students of CLASSworks school have access to computers / computer education
· Teachers have the opportunity to receive trainings and make use of the CLASSworks
box and e-learning material made available by Viafrica
· Schools are able to raise their profile and improve the education they can offer

Quanti utenti interagiscono con il progetto mensilmente e in quale modo:

In the Netherlands, external interaction with the CLASSworks project takes place primarily
through the Viafrica website and the quarterly newsletter that is being published.
In Africa, there are several modes of interaction with the CLASSworks schools. First of all,
headmaster seminars are organised on a regular basis where the headmasters of
CLASSworks schools are invited to discuss the development of the project and for evaluation
purposes. During regular school visits Viafrica employees visit the CLASSworks schools on
site, and teacher, students and headmasters can come up with any CLASSworks related
questions or problems they have. For this purpose, there is also a helpdesk available in the
local Viafrica offices that can be reached by phone, email, post or personally. There are
teacher trainings offered in the Viafrica office as well, where IT teachers are being trained
and CLASSworks related issues can be discussed.

Descrivete in quale modo il progetto contribuisce a migliorare l'educazione e la formazione dei giovani:

At CLASSworks schools there are ICTs available and computer education can be
offered
· The computers can be used in other subject lessons as well
· Administrative activties are supported by the use of ICTs provided through the
CLASSworks programme
· The service centres are contact points for any maintenance related questions and
computer trainings

Descrivete in quale modo il progetto ha ottimizzato la partecipazione di professionisti, ragazzi, giovani o altri soggetti:

Viafrica organises headmaster seminars on a regular basis in the local service
centres in Moshi (Tanzania) and Nairobi (Kenya). The evaluation and input of the
schools is highly appreciated by Viafrica.
· Viafrica involves headmasters, teachers and students in evaluating the project
(school reports)

11. Sostenibilità

Indicate la durata complessiva del progetto:

Meno di 1 anno

Indicate il costo di massima del vostro progetto (in Euro):

Da 75.001 a 500.000

Come è finanziato il vostro progetto:

Finanziamenti pubblici o privati

Is your project economically self sufficient now:

12. Trasferibilità

Il progetto è stato replicato/adattato altrove:

Specifica:

Ukengee in Southern Tanzania (up and running)
· Linknet in Zambia (preparatory phase)
· Sierra e-riders in Sierra Leone (starting 2009)

Che cosa possono imparare altri soggetti dal vostro progetto:

South-South internships
Part of the professionalisation of the ICT network is offering internships to staff of ICT
companies within the network. During the internships at the service centres of Viafrica all
aspects of a service organisation are discussed and the intern will co-operate.
The aim of the internship is to have the staff experience in which way a professional service
centre functions and have him/her return to his/her own organisation to put it into practice.
The interns get their travelling expenses and accommodation reimbursed; any salary costs
have to be paid by the partner organisations.
South-South training
Next to the internships, specific training courses are organised for network organisations.
These training courses mainly take place on site and are attended by representatives of
multiple organisations.
The training courses are given by local employees of Viafrica from their experience with all
aspects of service management and CLASSworks. These training courses cover many
areas, from technical training to training on management software. The precise content of a
course is determined by the demand and the level of the network organisations.
Partnerships – Franchise
More organisations have shown interest in the CLASSworks concept. With one of them a
concrete cooperation has been established, which started early 2009. Within this
cooperation the CLASSworks framework is used in a new area in the South of Tanzania.
Viafrica will train the operational manager and trainers of the local partner Ukengee.
Ukengee will use the CLASSworks procedures for secondary schools in the South of
Tanzania. Viafrica in its turn will profit from the experience with solar energy and low-energy
consuming computers that will be used by Ukengee at the schools.
A Memorandum of Understanding with LinkNet Zambia has also been signed and is due to
start in 2009. In Sierra Leone Viafrica has selected a local partner as well. Early 2009 a pilot
tender was successfully carried out in Sierra Leone. In 2009 we expect to implement the first
CLASSworks schools in Sierra Leone through the Sierra e-riders, a local NGO. The main
idea is that Viafrica offers the local organisation everything there is to know about
CLASSworks, including the concept of the service contracts with schools. Through this
income the local organisation is able to sustain without external dependence. Only the initial
hardware investments, installation and training is funded. For every school the local
organisation receives a fixed amount and Viafrica provides the hardware and international
logistics.
With these and future partners in more areas and countries Viafrica aims at strengthening
more secondary schools and setting a solid and professional foundation by using a common
set of procedures and the same framework. As the network grows the accumulation of
knowledge, solutions and experience grows. From the Viafrica offices in both Kenya and
Tanzania it can already been seen that the exchange of employees brings new insights and
working approaches. Another advantage is the economies of scale that can be achieved for
hardware, shipments, training courses, etc...

Siamo disponibili ad aiutare altri soggetti a sviluppare progetti o a migliorare progetti esistenti:

Siamo disponibili ad aiutare altri soggetti a sviluppare progetti o a migliorare progetti esistenti.

13. Informazioni aggiuntive

Background:

→ the CLASSworks programme has been continuously running since it has been established and there is no end date planned. However, within the CLASSworks programme the individual school projects can be singled out. If a school is becoming a CLASSworks school, there is an implementation period of less than one year. During that time the school receives the equipment for a computer lab and initial teacher trainings. After that period the schools become project owners themselves and are able to run the project independently. Most of the times they close a service contract with the Viafrica service centre for maintenance of the computer lab CLASSworks schools become project owners and are independent after the implementation period is over. However, new implementations of the CLASSworks programme require initial funding. NB: Viafrica Business Solutions (VBS). VBS is an initiative of the Foundation Viafrica. It is a for profit organisation that sells hardware, software and ICT trainings. A large portion of its profit is going to support the activities of the Foundation and contributes to increase financial independence

Political unrest
The year 2008 started with political unrest in Kenya which resulted in riots and a very
insecure situation. Viafrica Kenya was very much affected. Our employees origin from
Nairobi and are Kikuyu. However the Viafrica Kenya office and the CLASSworks schools
were situated in Kisii which is a Luo area. The clash was between those two groups. The
Viafrica Kenya employees were put in a very insecure, and potentially life threatening,
position. In the Rift Valley, on the road from Nairobi to Kisii was a lot of violence against
“other” tribes. Next to this the situation in and around Kisii became very tense. People started
speaking their mother tongue instead of Swahili. Viafrica employees were therefore
constantly recognized as “aliens” and verbally harassed.
Viafrica took the decision to organise a training month in the Viafrica Tanzania office in
Moshi. The decision was made to await how the situation would develop and take further
decisions in February. At that time things luckily cooled down and, although still tense, were
workable. However, as nobody could predict how the situation on the longer term would
develop, Viafrica decided to move its office from Kisii to Nairobi. This decision was
communicated to the CLASSworks schools, which of course were disappointed but also
understood the decision. It was agreed that three times a year Viafrica Kenya employees
visit the schools for support. Something that proved very workable for both the schools and
Viafrica. The office in Nairobi was organised quite fast and early May Viafrica started
introducing the CLASSworks programme in deprived areas in and around Nairobi. This
resulted in 18 new CLASSworks schools in Kenya. All in all the political situation of early
2008 had a great impact on both the employees and the practical operation in Kenya.
However, the outcome is that there is a well Illustration 2: outside the new Viafrica Kenya
office in Nairobi established office in Nairobi and that all involved came out well.
Safety situation
Late 2008 and early 2009 saw a huge increase in robberies in Moshi. It is normal that before
Christmas and Eastern there is an increase as people need money for these days. However
the situation remained bad all over. Organised robberies are performed almost every night. It
became really close when the Viafrica guards told us that they were offered part of the profit
when they would cooperate with certain robbers. Luckily enough they decided to inform
Viafrica so that we could increase the security level even more. However in the same period
robbers went a few times for the private house of one of our employees. He faced eight
armed (knives and guns) guys who were looking for “the guy who worked with Wazungu”
(white people). Apparently they didn't know who exactly to look for and tortured the
neighbour, a very old lady, to tell them, without success. These guys have come back five
times during night but were scared away by the dogs and new guards. Although not
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Viafrica's prime responsibility, the employees safety at home is an issue. The Viafrica
employees become targets because they work for a successful organisation. Where possible
Viafrica assist the employees to improve the security situation. Besides the district officer has
been informed about the situation.
Personnel changes
By the end of 2008 three Viafrica Tanzania employees left. All three choose for a career
somewhere else. Unfortunately Viafrica Tanzania didn't get the chance to negotiate with
them and keep them. Apart from one trainer, the other two just didn't appear any more. No
explanations, we can just guess for the real reasons. One of the reasons could be that other
NGO's offer much higher salaries as Viafrica does. Salaries for which they can never be
competitive in the local market. However this is not an issue for these organisations as they
are totally internationally funded. These developments are killing for the local economies as
the people with knowledge will no longer be interested in working for local companies with
local salaries like Viafrica Tanzania. We realise that we are an excellent place to start a
career, but that we will most likely not be able to keep our employees for years. There for
from early 2009 onwards we will make sure that we offer continuous internships in both the
Kenya and the Tanzania office. This pool of interns will be our buffer if we need new
employees. On the other hand, these internships are very useful for the interns as they
acquire practical knowledge and skills.
Some bottlenecks of CLASSworks
The current modus operandi is restricted by the following factors which we have to address
in order to be able to reach a next level of use with the schools.
Practice versus theory
Teachers have ample experience with computer teaching. Within the formal CLASSworks
training programme they acquire the basic knowledge needed to start training the national
ICT curriculum. However, this knowledge does not turn them into ICT teachers as there is
little time for practical teaching.
Teaching ICT requires different skills, however, in comparison to the more traditional
classes. It is more interactive, allows more exploration by the students and the possibilities
are much broader.
Rural context
The rural context of most CLASSworks schools makes it difficult for the schools to send
teachers and staff to the Viafrica training centre. It involves a lot of travel time and costs,
apart from the fact that most schools cannot miss their staff or teachers for days in a row.
Experience shows that organising training courses during school holidays does not work as
well as few teachers stay in the same area. Most of them visit family living all over the
country or have other activities.
Different levels at the schools
Not all schools are at the same level when it comes to computer use. Some have more
experienced computer teachers, they did not receive computers at the same time and
therefore use computers for a different period, schools have different demands, etc. It is very
difficult to match this with a standardised training programme that goes beyond basic use
which is currently the level of the Viafrica training courses.
Experience and expectations
Most schools have hardly any experience with computers and computer maintenance.
Neither teachers nor headmasters do exactly know what to expect in practice. Despite the
fact that Viafrica puts it on the agenda during seminars, headmasters and teachers still have
difficulties reporting faulty hardware, breakdowns or software errors to the Viafrica service
centres.
The result is that Viafrica discovers this only during the six-monthly on-site service visits. In
some cases computers were not used for months because of a faulty power socket which
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could be fixed in five minutes. However as long as there are schools where headmasters
blame the computer teachers and hold them personally responsible, this behaviour will not
change.
Fear for the national rankings
Every school is ranked for the national examinations per subject/class. These rankings are
published annually and are publicly available. Viafrica noticed that schools were hesitant to
offer national examinations in computer science. The main obstacle was the lack of
experience and confidence with the subject and the fear that this would result in bad results
for the national examinations.
Part of the decision of parents for a school for their children is based on the national ranking.
A low ranking can thus result in fewer students and thus fewer school fees.
For all the above bottle necks a possible solution is to work more closely with the schools in
the school environment. The advantages are:
· work with all involved at the same time
· see the reality of the teachers and headmasters
· support the users during their daily work
· work for longer periods with the users
· offer assistance during classes
The future plans listed below give an idea of how Viafrica is planning to tackle these current
questions.
16.4 Future plans and wish list: Briefly describe future plans or ambitions for your
project and what you would require to make them true.
The strategy for CLASSworks is to go to the next level and stimulate the use of computers as
a tool within education. CLASSworks 2009 – 2011 is focussed on the facilitation of this next
step for most schools. Activities entail more on site support, training of more teachers and
staff at the schools and the development of cross subject materials.
Part of this strategy is to work in closer relationship with the governments. The Tanzanian
Education Authority is interested in a Memorandum of Understanding with Viafrica. From this
and other, more regional, cooperations we hope to get more leverage for CLASSworks.
Another important issue is to get accreditation of Ubuntu/the use of OpenSource for
examination of the national curriculum. Besides, other educational related solutions will be
explored. Viafrica has a programme for primary schools called KIDSworks that will be
launched early 2010. A solution for locations without proper infrastructure is also being
developed so that we can extend our activities to other areas in Tanzania and Kenya.
CLASS works Award: Good computer usage within the school environment has to be
stimulated from within the school. Therefore Viafrica challenges all Tanzanian schools with
two awards. From 2009 onwards, Viafrica grants anually an award to the school with the best
idea for the use of ICT within education and to the schools which perform best in the national
computer education examination. Prizes to win range from new computers for the schools to
free training courses at the Viafrica traning centres, memory sticks, certificates etc.
During a one-day event all CLASSworks schools can present their idea for the use of ICT
within education. Of course this idea has to be presented by electronic means. Most
important is that Viafrica will facilitate the further development of the idea and dissemination
to other CLASSworks schools.
The schools that perform best in the national computer education curriculum also receive
CLASSworks awards. The objective of this award is to stimulate schools to participate and
excel in the national examinations and thus enable their students to receive an officially
recognised examination score.

The objective of the CLASSworks awards is to stimulate schools to explore the possibilities
of ICT in the context of their school and share these with other schools. Furthermore,
schools should be stimulated to participate and excel in the national ICT examinations and
thus enabling their students to receive an officially recognised examination score.
CLASS works box: Another tool to stimulate the potential of ICT for education is the
CLASSworks box. This box is a set of learning tools, assignments and materials. Each box
has one subject that is approached from multiple points of view. The assignments are
focussed on exploring and developing competence based learning. The idea is that this
multidisciplinary approach supports the exchange between the subjects taught in the school
and shows the value of computers within the educational process. Students are encouraged
to use knowledge from different subjects to complete the assignments. The tasks are
performed both inside and outside the classrooms and focus on a team effort, the use of the
environment and alternative sources of information. Finally, the usage of the available ICTs
at the schools should not be restricted to the computer education lessons. Other teachers
should make use of these technologies as well in their respective subjects lessons.
E-learning platform: Viafrica is currently working on the development of an e-learning
platform that provides access to digital educational material for the CLASSworks schools.
This platform will be accessible through a server that will be installed at all CLASSworks
schools. The CLASSworks box will be linked to educational material that is available via the
platform.
Internet: Currently most CLASSworks schools do not have an internet connection because
they are located in rural areas and additionally internet access is generally very expensive.
Viafrica is looking for a payable solution for internet access in rural areas. This has been
made a topic together with the magazine Computable.
CLASSworks franchise: In the upcoming years, Viafrica hopes to be able to build more,
strong partnerships with local organisations in Africa who are interested in the CLASSworks
programme.
A well functioning knowledge transfer system in order to meet the educational needs of
present and future employees. Besides the already implemented knowledgesystems the
regional team in Tanzania has to develop further. This team is crucial for the local support of
the service centres. In 2008 the first steps have been taken. A new cooperation with the
company TOPdesk is being established. TOPdesk focusses on service management
systems that can be used at Viafrica's local offices.
A well functioning service organisation that can serve Viafrica's target group most
efficiently. In 2006 the grounds have been layed through an independent consultant. Since
2008 Viafrica has extended its cooperation with the company IT-staffing that sends
independent IT consultants to the local Viafrica service centres. Several of such missions
have already been completed and yielded important insights for improvements and further
professionalisation.
E-Waste: Viafrica will work further on awareness raising and solutions for e-waste. In
cooperation with the Technical University Delft and the organisation ICT~Milieu the possibilities
for a (pilot) project are being developed.

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Nakuru Learning Center Educational Program for Vulnerable Children

Lun, 20/07/2009 - 12:15

Currently LDK supports 324 orphans and other vulnerable children with their basic needs to enable them reach their full potential.

1. Sommario progetto

Sommario:

In 1998, Three Kenyans - Philip Ndeta (the brains behind the organization), Obed Tsuma and Benta Atieno founded Learning and Development Kenya (LDK) to work with the local communities to address the problems brought about by government’s introduction of cost sharing in the education and health sectors. While outwardly improving the economy of Kenya, these government measures ultimately led to an increase in child labor, high rates of school dropouts, and increased homelessness in children. As Director of the organization, Mr. Ndeta oversees the day to day running of the organization.

At LDK we believe that education is the great equalizer, and by working to ensure that all Kenyans (especially children), have access to quality educational programs, we believe we can dramatically reduce the inequalities caused by extreme poverty. Through teaching a child to read, helping a youth master a computer so she can get a better job, or educating the community about HIV, LDK is working tirelessly to equip the most vulnerable Kenyans with the tools they need to succeed.

Since 1998 and through its education program, LDK has been able to provide support for high education and specialized training in secretarial courses, computer, teaching (both primary and ECD), IT and even tailoring to over 150 young Kenyans who would otherwise not have had a chance to empower their talents and build their future. Though no follow up has been made to establish their current status, we believe that with the qualifications attained through our support they are now employed in the government or private sector or even self-employed and therefore contributing to nation building.

Currently LDK supports 324 needy children in nursery, primary and secondary schools. It further supports 74 orphans with shelter, food, medical care and other basic needs. The orphans live in the home at the Virginia center in Rhonda slums within Nakuru Municipality.

Programs: Education program; HIV/AIDS program; Environmental and Sanitation program; Peace initiative project; Relief activities; Civic education program.

2. Paese (Città / Regione)

Stato:

Kenya

Città:

Nakuru, Rift Valley Province

3. Nome dell'organizzazione che presenta il progetto

Organizzazione:

Learning and Development Kenya

4. Tipo di organizzazione

Scegli tipo:

Scuola

5. Coordinatore del progetto

Nome e Cognome:

Philip Ndeta

E-Mail:

philipndeta@yahoo.com

6. Website

Il sito web del progetto:

http://www.learninganddevelopmentkenya.org

7. Selezionate la categoria di appartenenza del vostro progetto

Youth Education Project. Select Project Users by age:

Fino a 29 anni

Inserimento dei giovani nel mondo del lavoro:

NOT Helping youth step in the job market

Creatività e Innovazione sociale:

NOT in Creativity and Social Innovation

8. Da quando è funzionante il vostro progetto?

Da:

05/02/2001

9. Obiettivi ed elementi di innovazione

Please explain the targets and the background of your project:

In 1998, Learning and Development Kenya (LDK) was founded to work with the local communities in addressing the problems brought about by government’s introduction of cost sharing in the education and health sectors. While outwardly improving the economy of Kenya, these government measures ultimately led to an increase in child labor, high rates of school dropouts, and increased homelessness in children.

Come, e con quali mezzi cerca di raggiungere gli obiettivi prefissati:

We believe education is the great equalizer, and by working to ensure that all Kenyans (and especially children) have access to quality educational programs, we believe we can dramatically reduce the inequalities caused by extreme poverty.

Quali opportunità/problemi affronta:

Since 2000 Learning and Development Kenya has been implementing a literacy project, designed to improve on the literacy and reading skills of the orphans and needy children and prepare them for positive and active participation in nation building. LDK provides an enabling learning environment with modern teaching facilities including solid classrooms, highly qualified and caring teaching staff and a modern library with the necessary books to motivate and boost the morale of both the children and teachers at the institution. This has improved the standard of learning, making the project one of the best within the Municipality in terms of provision of quality education.

Meal program: Every day, we provide a warm meal to 324 students in our school, children who would otherwise miss a meal.

Emergency Relief: During the post-election violence in Kenya in 2008, LDK hosted nearly 7,000 displaced peoples, coordinating with the Red Cross to ensure steady food supplies.

Athletic Leagues to Drive Community Empathy and Understanding:
Historically, athletic competition has peaceably brought together individuals, factions, and even nations with troubled relations, and we believe that friendly competition and the spirit of teamwork can have a positive impact on the youth of Kenya who have been driven apart by the recent political elections. We have organized soccer games from teams of idle youth who would otherwise be engaged in gang-related activities and violence.

HIV/AIDS Education: In conjunction with the Ark Foundation of Africa, we’ve provided training workshops for locals that aim to prevent the spread of HIV/AIDS and promotes sustainable behavior change among the youth and residents. The workshops also aim to support scale up activities of CBOs within East Africa, engaging and strengthening the capacity of indigenous organizations so that they can scale up their programs and effectively meet the complex needs of orphans and vulnerable children in their communities.

Environmental Sustainability: It is a priority to LDK to ensure that the people we are helping will have a clean, healthy, safe place to live for many, many years – and environmental sustainability through improved sanitation is a critical component of that effort. LDK mobilizes youth in the community to participate in the environmental activities.

Please explain what is unique or special in your project:

LDK provides an enabling learning environment with modern teaching facilities including solid classrooms, highly qualified and caring teaching staff and a modern library with the necessary books to motivate and boost the morale of both the children and teachers at the institution. This has improved the standard of learning, making the project one of the best within the Municipality in terms of provision of quality education. We consider this special for our literacy project.

The students in our classrooms are already among the neediest in the region, and by providing a warm meal as part of their education, we are improving their ability to learn while ensuring they are meeting their minimum daily nutritional needs. Our feeding program is of its own kind among the local schools.

Other than the local churches, LDK was the only local NGO in the area that hosted displaced peoples during the post-election violence in Kenya in 2008. This was because most of the affected people were from this area, a majority being the poor parents that LDK supports with education of their children. The facilities at its learning center also ensured safety of the Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) as well as our networking skills with both the provincial administration department and the Red Cross.

Being an active participant in community activities, LDK has positioned itself as a collaborating agency with the community in solving their most pressing issues. Due to this position the community has high regard for LDK’s initiatives, providing the much needed support and networking that is required for effective project implementation.

Initially there was stigma related to HIV/AIDS but with continuous awareness activities carried out by LDK staff and their understanding of the local cultures, the community became more cooperative and supportive. Also given the fact that we care for orphans in the community whose parents have died due to HIV/AIDS related dieses gives the community members all the reason to participate and support the imitative. Our unique facilities at the learning center have also made it possible for LDK to host participants for HIV/AIDS training and education.

10. Risultati

Describe the results of your project as per today:

During the post-election violence in Kenya in 2008, LDK hosted nearly 7,000 displaced peoples, coordinating with the Red Cross to ensure steady food supplies.

Since the Micor credit program was initiated in 2001 it has helped more than 4,500 families to develop sustainable sources of income (through loans of small amounts of seed capital at zero interest to start their own business), directly benefiting more than 36,000 individuals where an average family in these rural and urban poor areas consists of 8 members. These are families who otherwise would never have dreamed that financial independence was a possibility. In addition, we have held monthly workshops for the loan recipients to empower them with business skills. And because of the relationships we have fostered with the families of the many children from the communities enrolled in the schools, LDK is uniquely positioned to identify the most motivated, entrepreneurial individuals as recipients.

In che misura risponde ai bisogni degli utenti:

Users needs: Education – which we believe eventually contributes to reduction of inequalities caused by extreme poverty. LDK provides quality education and other services to its users, meeting their needs.

Quanti utenti interagiscono con il progetto mensilmente e in quale modo:

3,000 users. To be precise, 324 children, 22 teaching and subordinate staff, 1,600 familly members (200 families), 10 government, NGO and church officials, at least 500 other community members, and 500 other stakeholders (donors, overseas friends and guests, etc.) interact with our project per month through personal vists to the school (for the children, staff, government visitors, guests, and some parents), postal mail, and email. Some family members are updated by the school going children and therefore considered to be interacting with our project. Our termly newsletter since 2008 is also used as a form of interaction with the community while our website is visited by many people from around the world.

Descrivete in quale modo il progetto contribuisce a migliorare l'educazione e la formazione dei giovani:

The quality and standard of education of our children is high due to the determination of our teaching staff. The number of children per class is also reasonable at 35, enabling the teacher to reach all the children in the class, unlike in public schools where the population exceeds 120 children per class. This teacher-pupil ratio, in addition to available learning aids ensures that quality education is provided to the needy children. The interaction has fostered trust among the users who enjoy using the services, though it has not been able to attract more support in terms of funding, as we earlier anticipated.

Descrivete in quale modo il progetto ha ottimizzato la partecipazione di professionisti, ragazzi, giovani o altri soggetti:

Participation is still less except for a few high schools and local churches that have mobilized their students and members to donate for our activities targeting the orphans and the poor. The youth participate in the activities while other members of the community have been very supportive, inspiring us even more. The government recognizes the role LDK play in the provision of basic needs to the needy and has supported our initiatives like donation of food for the feeding program and a grant for the learning aids.

Descrivete in quale modo il progetto favorisce l'uso delle nuove tecnologie da parte di professionisti, ragazzi e giovani per lo sviluppo culturale e didattico:

The use and promotion of ICT is core to our project and a major component of our activities. The installed cybercafé at our learning center allows not only students but the rest of the community members to use the internet and communicate with people around the world, effectively promoting the use of ICT among the professionals, children and youth.

To market our services: Education, training, HIV/AIDS etc., to a wide audience LDK uses a number of techniques including advertisement in both print and mass media, posters, brochures, our end of the term/year newsletter, and even the internet. We therefore try to reach as many people (professionals, children and youth included) through frequent use of these techniques, again, effectively promoting the use of ICT.

Descrivete i criteri che usate per misurate i risultati raggiunti dal vostro progetto:

We record the number of users applying for our services. The number has exceedingly increased over the years, indicating strong support of our programs by the users.

Exams done by the children in our school together with other children in other Municipal schools: Comparison done has shown that children in our school have done much better than children in other public schools, confirming the high quality of education that we provide to our children.

We interview the public to find out how they view our services and they positive comments confirm their satisfaction with our services.

The visitors to our website, viewing our programs and interacting with us thereafter now exceeds 4,200 people. This is also used to measure the results of our services.

11. Sostenibilità

Indicate la durata complessiva del progetto:

Più di 6 anni

Indicate il costo di massima del vostro progetto (in Euro):

Da 30.001 a 75.000

Come è finanziato il vostro progetto:

Vendita di servizi o prodotti

Is your project economically self sufficient now:

12. Trasferibilità

Il progetto è stato replicato/adattato altrove:

Specifica:

The Government of Kenya through the district children’s office started a street children rehabilitation center “Ukoa Mtoto” within Nakuru Municipality and sent its engineers in 2007 to our learning center to get a view of the home we put up for the orphans to replicate the same at their planned rehabilitation center.

During our HIV/AIDS workshop held in 2007 for CBO leaders from Tanzania, Kenya and Uganda, participants from Tanzania were particularly impressed with not only the solid buildings but with the whole set up for a home for orphans who have been empowered and feel very much at home. They lived with the children in the same home during the workshop period and promised to replicate the same in their respective projects. No follow up has been made to confirm if at all replication has been made by any of the participants.

Che cosa possono imparare altri soggetti dal vostro progetto:

Quality is everything that others can learn from our project. With quality the users feel assured of the results.

Empowerment approach: We empower the users to feel part of the project, hence project ownership.

Permanent (solid) structures: These ensures that quality is provided to the users, for example the case with IDPs who felt much secure at our center during the post election violence.

Networking: Good and sustainable results are obtained through consistency and networking. LDK has been consistence with its approach to poverty aleviation, establishing and positioning itself as a poverty reduction agency within the community and hence wining the much needed support from all stakeholders – community, government, donors and friends.

Innovation: Unique activities started after careful research for community needs have had profound effect on the lives of our users.

Invovement and participation of the users have garaunteed project sustainnability even during difficult times when funding is so low like now.

Siamo disponibili ad aiutare altri soggetti a sviluppare progetti o a migliorare progetti esistenti:

Siamo disponibili ad aiutare altri soggetti a sviluppare progetti o a migliorare progetti esistenti.

13. Informazioni aggiuntive

Background:

In 1998, Three Kenyans - Philip Ndeta (the brains behind the organization), Obed Tsuma and Benta Atieno founded Learning and Development Kenya (LDK) to work with the local community to address the problems brought about by government’s introduction of cost sharing in the education and health sectors. While outwardly improving the economy of Kenya, these government measures ultimately led to an increase in child labor, high rates of school dropouts, and increased homelessness in children.

Vision: To see a free Kenyan Society without inequalities of extreme poverty, destitution, deprivation, or austerity.

Mission: To respond to the needs of the communities and those of their children with a primary objective of improving the quality of life of those in need.

History: Local non-governmental, non-profit, non-sectarian development organization founded in 1998. It acquired special consultative status with the Economic and Social Council of the United Nations in 2008.

Programs: Education program
HIV/AIDS program
Environmental and Sanitation program
Peace initiative project
Relief activities
Civic education program

Overview of donors that have contributed to our programs:
Foundations; INGOs; Overseas corporations: The Hilden Charitable Fund – UK
Bertelsmann AG – Germany
The Ark Foundation of Africa – USA
CO-OPERAID – Switzerland
Random House New York – USA (Books)
Crossroads International – Hong Kong (China)
Misereor – Germany
Advantage Africa – UK
MIVA Switzerland (Vehicle)
Government: Kenya Government (Department of provincial administration – food for feeding program).
Kenya Government (Ministry of education – Grant for support of informal education system).

Programs details
Literacy Project
Since 2000 Learning and Development Kenya has been implementing a literacy project, designed to improve on the literacy and reading skills of the orphans and needy children and prepare them for positive and active participation in nation building. LDK provides an enabling learning environment with modern teaching facilities including solid classrooms, highly qualified and caring teaching staff and a modern library with the necessary books to motivate and boost the morale of both the children and teachers at the institution. This has improved the standard of learning, making the project one of the best within the Municipality in terms of provision of quality education.

Meal Program
Every day, we provide a warm meal to 324 students in our school, children who would otherwise miss a meal.

Skills Training Workshops
The skills training program is more connected to the micro credit project. It aims to provide capacity building and therefore strengthen individual business skills of the loan recipients. The program is based on the premise that trade is the most effective way of helping the poor to create sustainable, long-term solutions to the economic problems they face. It has helped beneficiaries to master their trading skills, lowering default rate on repaying the loans.

Microcredit Program
To help families develop sustainable sources of income, we loan small amounts of seed capital at zero interest to families to start their own business—families who otherwise would never have dreamed that financial independence was a possibility.

The micro credit project has been implemented on the believe that the best way to address poverty is to help families and individuals to become financially independent – through free revolving loans, education and training, that will lead them into income generation and employment. And because of the relationships we have fostered with the families of many children from the community enrolled in the school, LDK is uniquely positioned to identify the most motivated, entrepreneurial individuals as recipients. These individuals are often the parents of our students, which allows us to ensure that this support is being targeted at the families most in need and maintain continuous contact.

Emergency Relief
During the post-election violence in Kenya in 2008, LDK hosted nearly 7,000 displaced peoples, coordinating with the Red Cross to ensure steady food supplies. Other than the local churches, LDK was the only local NGO that was involved in this exercise because most of the affected people were from this area, a majority being the poor parents that LDK supports with education of their children. The facilities at its learning center also ensured safety of the Internally Displaced Persons as well as our networking skills with both the provincial administration department and the Red Cross.

HIV/AIDS Education
The program aims to prevent the spread of HIV/AIDS and promotes sustainable behavior change among the youth and residents.
LDK has also collaborated with the Ark Foundation of Africa to support scale up activities of CBOs within East Africa:

Too many orphans and other vulnerable children (OVC) in Africa are growing up in situations of scarcity without education, healthcare, strong parental support etc. Similarly, grandmothers who care for the majority of orphans are overwhelmed, doing their job under very difficult, unsupportive circumstances. Grandmothers are simply doing what they know and what they love doing, day after day.

In countries with very weak or practically non-existent social safety nets like Kenya, indigenous NGOs and CBOs are also struggling to survive. Many do not have the resources or enough staff with the right skills and training to enable them to effectively address OVC related challenges.

To address this dilemma, LDK and the Ark Foundation of Africa and its partners organized a 5-day capacity building workshop for leaders of indigenous organizations in Kenya, Tanzania, and Uganda. The participatory workshop focused on building culturally sustainable and realistic programs to close the large gap between the need and available services. Learning and Development Kenya acted as the host organization for the workshop.
30 participants were nominated for the workshop from eligible organizations working directly with orphans and vulnerable children and their caregivers. Most of the nominated organizations that participated in the workshop are based in the districts of:

Kenya – Nakuru, Mombasa, Nandi and Trans Nzoia
Tanzania – Bagamoyo, Dodoma Rural, and Mbozi, and Zanzibar
Uganda – Gulu, Kitgum, Luwero, and Wakiso

The workshop aimed at engaging and strengthening the capacity of indigenous organizations so that they can scale up their programs and effectively meet the complex needs of orphans and vulnerable children in their communities.

Athletic Leagues to Drive Community Empathy and Understanding
Historically, athletic competition has peaceably brought together individuals, factions, and even nations with troubled relations, and we believe that friendly competition and the spirit of teamwork can have a positive impact on the youth of Kenya who have been driven apart by the recent political elections. We have organized soccer games from teams of idle youth who would otherwise be engaged in gang-related activities and violence.

Environmental Sustainability
It is a priority to LDK to ensure that the people we are helping will have a clean, healthy, safe place to live for many, many years – and environmental sustainability through improved sanitation is a critical component of that effort.

LDK mobilizes youth in the community to participate in the environmental activities. Usually once a year in tree planting exercises when the long rains start in March/April, and once monthly in the clean up exercises. Most of the youth participating in these activities are those being supported but they influence other members in the community in the overall cleaning exercises.

Ostacoli:

Poverty is at its highet in this urban poor (slum) area. The users come in large numbers but have not been able to contribute substantially to the level that the project can remain sustainable. Our IT training has not quite picked up since a majority of the targeted youth cannot afford to meet our subsidzed tuition.

Funding from potential donors has been less or nil in some situations, leading to difficult implementation of the planned activities. For sustainability purposes we plan to diversify our funding sources and initiate more for-profit activities that will generate more income and cover for any dificit in donor funding.

Marketing of our products – college, Cybercafé, magazine etc. has not been effective due to less funding for marketing activities.

Cultural norms: Particularly stigma when it comes to HIV/AIDS awareness program.

Soluzioni:

Consistency in provision of services, for example our creation of awareness activities for the HIV/AIDS program has worked positively towards stigma reduction among the target groups.

LDK has started for-profit activities to meet the needs of our charitable initiatives. We have planned to introduce a magazine “The Charity”. The first copy is ready but funds for its production, marketing and distribution is still unavailable.

Sale of T-Shirts planned.

Student’s canteen planned.

Sale of stationery and being agent for Safaricom for M-PESA services also planned.

Cybercafé has been installed.

College planned, awaiting marketing to get the minimum number of students. Facilities and human resources are available and on standby.

Future plans and wish list:

LDK plans for the future:
LDK hopes to become a vibrant organization adhering to its core values of integrity, honesty, fairness, openness, respect and responsibility in all that we do. It will focus on improving the lives of the poor, especially children, youth and women, and those affected by the HIV pandemic.
In the next two years LDK hopes to enroll more than 1,000 children and youth in its literacy program – from nursery, primary and secondary schools. Its training facility will be training more youth in IT and other specialized courses to enable them gain the required skills for employment. The construction of the stalled primary school will also be LDK’s top priority once more funding is available.
For it to remain sustainable LDK will target to fully operate the student training facility and offer other services associated with it including a student canteen, a cybercafé, and a stationery shop. Other income generating activities like the production and sale of publications e.g. a newsletter/magazine will be LDK priority at this time and when funds become available.
To have more impact within the community it operates and to contribute positively to reduction of poverty, LDK will increase its loan support to the poor members and continue with the workshops to empower the beneficiaries with business skills required to ensure business success.
For the projects to be run professionally and ensure that the stated goals and objectives are met on timely basis, LDK will require to retain and sustain its qualified staff, by paying them salaries and allowances based on the current market rates.
Stalled initiatives: Soccer teams and athletics will be enhanced when LDK access more funding.

When all this is achieved, we believe we shall be taking a holistic approach towards fighting the inequalities caused by extreme poverty within the communities that we work with.

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