By Bett Kipsang’
‘Global village’
is a phrase commonly used to define the world we live in today. In reality the earth
is a vast mass covered with land, rocks, vegetations, air and water bodies.
Referring it as a ‘village’ is hard to imagine without the advancement brought
in by modern technology. It is argued that those who can access and afford
modern technological infrastructure like transport and communication are the
only ones who can boast as living in a global village. The rest who are cut off
from road network, air transport, land-line or wireless telephony and the
internet are virtually in the dark and therefore lives ‘‘far away from the global
village!’
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| ICT students practice their skills at Maarifa Centre |
No other
phenomenon brings out the realities of a ‘global village’ than the internet.
People can stream videos and chat in real time and share information across the
world. People’s voices are heard and perhaps no other medium has ever brought in
such empowerment before.
In the recent
past, East Africa has witnessed massive infrastructural development in the
communication industry. The landing of undersea fiber optic cables was the peak
of the positive developments bringing the global village closer to East Africa
and vice versa.
The landing of
the cables alone was not enough. There is need to initiate affirmative action
to deliberately target the marginalized communities with information, even when
the initiatives are not necessarily bringing profits to the governments and the
telecommunication industries.
Arid Lands
information Network (ALIN), www.alin.net, has curved a niche for itself by purposely
conceiving and executing the mandate to connect the marginalized arid lands
communities with information and communication infrastructure, necessary
to enable them access and use information and also to make their voice heard in
a global village.
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For close to two
decades, the organization has worked tirelessly to link up remote villages in
East Africa to the knowledge economy, efforts that have elevated the
organization to the global radar in the recent past. ALIN is known for its
(Maarifa) knowledge centres where communities living far from the tools of
information and communication can access the services, gaining important
knowledge and using it to better their lives. The Maarifa centres often
established in remote locations offer free access to the internet, free ICT
training, library services and information related to agriculture and climate
change adaptation.
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| A community member learning ICT at Ng'arua Maarifa Centre |
N’garua Maarifa
Centre, located in Sipili market of Laikipia County in Kenya, has just released
100 computer literate community members who have been training at the centre
for the last three months. Had it not been for ALIN, these beneficiaries would
never have imagined touching a computer. Each student who has been through the
exercise has a story to tell. The following is a random selection of a few
trainees who gave moving tales and hearty appreciation to ALIN for bringing the
golden opportunity closer to them.
Geoffrey
N’getich, an Administration Police Officer in Sipili division, never imagined
he could land such an opportunity, considering the nature of his duty. Ng’etich
acknowledges that he was completely green as far as computers are concerned. He
is grateful to the people who came up with the noble idea to empower the
marginalized communities with knowledge.
‘‘As I speak
now’’ Ng’etich said ‘‘am able to power a computer, compose a letter and align
it accordingly, perform calculations using excel and validate my pay slip over
the internet www.ghris.go.ke just to name a few.’’
He also said that the knowledge he has
acquired will help him increase efficiency at his workplace and probably
facilitate promotion. ‘‘I did not have an email before but now I have one. I no
longer require anybody to assist me do my personal stuff on the net and this
has enhanced my privacy,” he said. Ng’etich is optimistic that his office will
soon be computerized and he will be best placed to use the technology.
This comes at a
time when the Kenyan government is adopting a new constitutional dispensation
where government services which were traditionally centralized in the
headquarters, mostly in Kenya’s capital Nairobi and which was hard to be
accessed, will be devolved to the counties. A lot of time and resources were
lost in the process of seeking access to basic government services which are
now only a click away. An internet access point like the Maarifa centre,
located in a place like this is by far a blessing to the rural folks.
Esther Kamuri is
a medical lab technologist at a nearby health centre and she is proud to be ICT
literate. She had never used a computer before and was excited to hear about
free ICT training at N’garua maarifa centre. “I just came to try my luck and I
was both surprised and happy, there were no much hustle, interested persons
could just enroll as long as there were vacancies,” Kamuri said.
Word spread quickly about the trainings and
people wanting to be enrolled thronged the centre, making it a beehive of
activity. Kamuri can now stand tall and say she is computer literate. Asked of
what she is now able to do with a computer, she took a deep breath, and
deliberately narrated the skills she had learnt. ‘‘I can type and print a
document, send and reply e-mails, work with several applications effectively,
connect with friends through chats on social media like Face book and access my
pay slip online,” she said adding that she has also learnt the components of a
computer. She reported that she was able to understand almost everything and
that was because the training was offered in a friendly environment and at a
comfortable pace. She intends to use the acquired skills to improve on her work
output.
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She says that the
learning environment at the Maarifa centre was friendly with a lively
instructor and welcoming ALIN staff. ‘‘It was a team of wonderful people who
worked seamlessly to ensure that everything fell into place’’ she said. Kairu
loves teaching and is longing to become an ICT teacher some day. ‘‘I thank ALIN
so much for educating me for free’’ she said. And as luck would have it, Kairu
has secured a job in Nyeri as a result of the ICT training. ‘‘Thanks be to
God’’ she said happily.
The Free training
has caused a revolution in the life of Peninah Njoroge. Looking into her eyes,
one could tell of the bubbling joy she had after being able to understand and
work comfortably using a computer. Among the things she can do includes switching
on and off a computer, creating, saving and retrieving documents, using search
engine such as Google to access information e.g. jobs, reading and sending
e-mails. Peninah is also able to use several programs simultaneously, otherwise
known as multitasking.
She says she
would really like to teach what she has learnt to those who are not computer
conversant and also apply what she has learnt in her business. The skills have
also increased her thirst for knowledge on various issues of interest which she
quenches by searching for it through the internet. ‘‘I thank ALIN very much for
according me the opportunity to train,’’ Njoroge said.
For Mary Wamuyu,
a nurse at a public health centre, a positive change has taken place in her
life from the time she walked into the training room and now. ‘‘I am very happy
to be computer literate because the skills will enable me to write my reports
using the computer among other office responsibilities’’ Wamuyu said.
‘‘I credit my
success to ALIN for offering me the free training. God bless ALIN for the good
work, keep it up!’’ she added.
Wamuyu didn’t
have any knowledge on computer, but she now can confidently say that she is
literate after learning how to use a mouse, keyboard, print information, open
and close programs of her choice, search for medical information for her
E-learning of health matters and access government updates e.g. GHRIS, H.I.S
etc.
