Describe the results of your project as per today:
One of the most important aspects of this project is that young people who dropped out of school due to lack of school fees are the ones managing the project. For example, online cataloguing through database developing is done by a standard four dropout after being trained by teacher and instructor from Islamic University, Kushtia, Bangladesh for a period of five weeks. The young people who have been trained in basic library management in turn train their peers. Approximately fifty young people are trained after three months;
Today, the project consists of wireless connectivity, community library, studio and magazine, all of which are geared towards creating awareness and building young people’s self-esteem.
Children who had nowhere to do their studies have a place to read and relax thus reducing the number of children idling around in the slums. We have seen a new generation of young people who have come to love books and play computer and video games.
In che misura risponde ai bisogni degli utenti:
The community tele-centre has provided the youth with an opportunity to access and browse Internet. Most users coming to the tele-centre use the Internet to read/write e-mails, do research work for their studies and find markets for products. Most youth out of school use Internet to look for markets for their products that they make, thus apart from reducing youth unemployment, the facility strives to curb poverty in the slums. In the process, anti-social activities are minimized among the youth as most of them are engaged most of time.
When a standard four drop-out learn how to do cataloguing online, it is even more self satisfying in the sense that despite his/her limitation in education, s/he can work comfortably with a privileged person who has a higher education than his/her.
The community Library has witnessed an increase of the number of young people interested in borrowing books. The slums where BIRD operates have 15”x10” houses that double as the kitchen, sitting room and bedroom. Most of the school going children doesn’t have appropriate facilities to do their studies after school. The community library has not only provided them with that space but also provided them with the much-needed textbooks to enable them conveniently complete their schoolwork. The community library is therefore a valuable asset to many people, especially children and youth in the community.
Quanti utenti interagiscono con il progetto mensilmente e in quale modo:
At least, 2500 youths use the project every month. Community tele-center and community library takes the bulk of the users. Most of those who come, come to surf Internet while others come to do their studies and research work and run a cyber. Others come to re-hearse their music and plays that is being recorded at the community studio.
Descrivete in quale modo il progetto contribuisce a migliorare l'educazione e la formazione dei giovani:
In the slums, people don’t have access to computers or Internet. They are viewed as luxuries since most people lack the basic needs like food and shelter. Most of the students from the slums are therefore forced to walk miles to seek Internet and library facilities in far removed places from the slums. In the process, most of the students from the slums (poor families) have been performing poorly due to lack of such facilities.
However, all these have changed. Students no longer have to worry about where to do their studies and the textbooks. From a mere 2% joining tertiary colleges/universities and 5% joining secondary schools, there has been an increase of 3% joining colleges/universities and 7% joining government managed secondary schools. The training on computer offers the youth opportunity to join the job market, thus reducing the number of unemployed youth in the slums. The other important program that the organization has come up with is the training of nearby school teachers to impact the same skills to the children. Thus, we hope that in the end is going to make all slum children computer literate in the next five years
Descrivete in quale modo il progetto ha ottimizzato la partecipazione di professionisti, ragazzi, giovani o altri soggetti:
Before coming up with the community tele-centre, most of the children, youth and the community at large had no idea on how to use computers, let alone how to play games. Most of the children and youth were loitering in the estates and streets with nothing to do. This has since changed. Children are now coming to the centre to read storybooks they love watch educative movies/ drama, cartoons and play games. They can also now do their homework from school without much problem. They have a chance to communicate with their pen pals from other countries through the Internet, and this has helped reduce the costs and delays associated of having to wait for letters on both sides.
The youth on the other hand have been participating tremendously in this project. BIRD Community Library web site is being updated by the very same youth residing in the same neighborhoods. The fact that these young people, most of who are primary schools drop-out are the ones updating library web site show how eager they are to learn new things. The youth also train their peers on computer skills. The others trained can either remain at the centre to volunteer as trainers to train others. Thus, the organization does not need to hire people from outside which in the first place is not sustainable for the projects’ long term.
Students too are using the presence of Internet and the library to help them with their research projects. This has enticed many students to seek more resources from the Internet, which can be helpful for their projects. It is also worth noting here that fees charged from to those using the Internet is half price what is charged elsewhere. The connectivity speed is also so fast that those using the Internet don’t have to spend a lot of time waiting for the sites to open.
The youth who are unemployed have also not been left behind. The Internet has given them an opportunity to sell their products online. This is helping to reduce poverty and unemployment among the young people.
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 students, by using Internet to research on certain topics, give them head start above their peers. They no longer need to rely only on books, but could even go far by doing research. They also have share notes with their peers from other countries through yahoo groups that have also been very helpful in terms of educational and cultural exchange. It is unheard of to find children playing games in the computer; this is the only slum to provide children with such facilities. More importantly, it could be as well the only institution to use database system program for online library cataloguing. It enables the librarian to track down the books borrowed, acquisition process and the books in high demand.
The use of emails has been very helpful in promoting cultural development among the youth and children involved.
Descrivete i criteri che usate per misurate i risultati raggiunti dal vostro progetto:
One of the ways of measuring the results includes: the number of people coming to use the internet, the number of people coming for computer training and the number of people coming to the library to read and do their research work. We also measure the results through the demand of our services by the community members and people from other slums requesting us to start similar initiative in their respective slums.
Other ways of measuring the results of what we do also includes the recognition by the government and other stakeholders on our work.