GlobalGiving.org: Empower Youths Through Computer Skills Training

Computer Training in Office Applications Helps Smiling, Young Adult Secure Job

Sylvester Renner — Tue, 08 Nov 2011 01:57:39 GMT

Warm greetings

Here's a progress update from the field from a smiling young man called Abdul that is sure to warm your heart.

Develop Africa in partnership with AID SL offered a month of computer training in office applications that helped Abdul transition from computer illiteracy to literacy. The training made a smiling Abdul "well equipped". Consequently, he explains, he has obtained a job offer and will start work in 2 weeks.

Thank you donors for helping to provide the essential job-skills training he needed. The training provided the needed computer literacy skills and opened up a world of opportunity. Here again - Education, was a game-changer and an enabler.

Watch Abdul's youtube video

One of our other projects here on GlobalGiving that similarly focuses on computer training is taking part in a special challenge. The project focuses on providing enhanced educational opportunities to girls through a computer lab at an all-girls school. We would be so grateful if you could help us win this challenge by making a donation here.

Thanks for your support and best wishes.

Links:

Watch Abdul's Testimonial on Youtube

Beneficiaries Excited About Basic Computer Training - Hannah's Story

Sylvester Renner — Thu, 14 Jul 2011 13:18:40 GMT

Sylvester, Hannah and other members of AIDSL

I am excited to report that in May, Phillip Sholes and I had the opportunity meet some of the beneficiaries who had received computer training provided partly from funds donated by you, our GlobalGiving Donors. We met the youths and young adults at the AIDSL office in Freetown, Sierra Leone. AIDSL is doing an excellent job motivating and working with them.

During the visit we heard their stories on how the training had been beneficial to them. It was great to hear how excited and appreciative they were. Getting such training for free is next to impossible and we are so happy that we were able to provide this for them.

Video story - Go with us through video to Freetown. Please take a moment to see and hear the excitement in Hannah voice's and face - just as we heard and saw it. It was heart-warming to know we made a definite difference. We helped enhance her skill level and her life.

We are looking forward to providing additional training shortly and welcome your donations that will help us make a difference in the lives of many more youths and young adults. Thanks for your support

Links:

Computer Training Helps Hannah Become Computer Proficient

Computer Proficiency Training Helps Beneficiary Get a Job

Sylvester Renner — Mon, 28 Mar 2011 04:12:08 GMT

Kumba

Choice greetings

It is with joy that I share a brief thank you video clip from Kumba, one of the computer training beneficiaries. Prior to the training, Kumba did not have the computer skills / proficiency required for getting her desired job. She had received the needed training for her field, but lacked the computer proficiency needed.

Through the one month training you helped provide, she received the needed skills and a training certificate that was instrumental in her obtaining a job.

Such stories always warm my heart because more and more youths / young adults are being empowered to become independent and productive members of their communities and nations. Together we can rejoice in knowing that we are helping to make a definite difference. Be sure to watch the very brief video.

Help us provide more training by signing up for recurring donations: We would like to encourage you to consider supporting this project monthly. When you sign up for recurring donations, we can together make more training available to many more youths / young adults. By signing up for recurring donations you would help us do so much more. Thanks for your on-going support!

Links:

Thank you video - Kumba

Video Report - The Training You Helped Provided was a "Great Opportunity"!

Sylvester Renner — Fri, 10 Dec 2010 15:26:38 GMT

Greetings

We are excited to share with you a video made after the past training session. To access the video please click on the video link -"Video - Youth Empowerment - Computer Training Testimonials" below.

This video includes testimonials given by staff and members of AIDSL in Freetown Sierra Leone. Most of the beneficiaries had little or no computer experience prior to the training. To them this was a "great opportunity" as one of them stated. Also for those who had had some previous computer knowledge, this was a very fruitful opportunity as it has helped improved their skills even more. The video includes testimonies by some of the trainees expressing their happiness and how they expect the training to benefit them.

Thank you so much for helping to make this training available. We deeply appreciate your involvement.

We are in the process of planning additional sessions for next year - 2011. We welcome your on-going support to empower many more lives. Please make a donation today or include us in your end-of-year giving plans and let's together transform and empower these young future leaders!

Be sure to watch the video to see how we are impacting lives together. Go now... Then make a donation and help us do even more!

best wishes

Links:

Video - Youth Empowerment - Computer Training Testimonials

13 Participants Receive a Month of Computer Training

Sylvester Renner — Wed, 08 Sep 2010 17:27:58 GMT

One of female participants

In response to the desperate need for youth empowerment, this project is continuing to focus on the development of the skills level of youths with the goal of enabling them to seek and gain employment in both the formal and informal sectors in Sierra Leone. Here is a brief report about the training in basic computer skills that your donated funds helped to provide. Training was offered in partnership with Aid Sierra Leone.

Training Report from the Field: The training which was started on the 28th of July 2010 went on successfully, and came to an end on Friday the 27th of August 2010. In all, (13) thirteen people including staff of Aid SL received trained. These trainees came from various youth groups as well as the university. The theme of the training was “Improving your IT Skill”. It took place at a well renowned computer training institute Ambai Computer Training centre - which offers excellent professional computer training.

Most of the beneficiaries had little or no computer experience. To them this was a "great opportunity" as one of them stated. Also for those who had had some previous computer knowledge, this was a very fruitful opportunity as it has helped improved their skills even more.

Certification: At the completion of the training, certificates were awarded to the trainees. Five programs were covered in depth: Microsoft Windows, MS Words, MS Access, MS Excel and MS PowerPoint. A total of 13 participants received individual and group coaching / training.

Delivering a statement, the National Coordinator Mr. Andrew Daramy expressed thanks and appreciation first to Develop Africa and GlobalGiving for providing the funds for the training and also to the trainees for the interactive time they all have spent together. He further reminded the trainees how important IT could be. These days he stated, IT is crucial to the majority of businesses. Almost all companies use IT to some extent, making it important for employees to have proficient knowledge in the area.

Having good IT skills gives you a major advantage over those who do not. Even if a role is not an IT job per se, IT knowledge may give you an advantage over other candidates and help you once you are employed. Employees are expected to know the basics of IT in most jobs and there is an assumption that you are able to perform basic computer related tasks he continued.

Most admin tasks in any business are now performed through the use of IT and for the large part the traditional numerous filing cabinets are gone he told them. Accounting is usually done with spreadsheets, so accounting staff also need knowledge of IT. Even those working in shops and restaurant will use IT in certain ways, such as the teller / tills. Anyone working in management in any job will need to be able to use computers to either a small or large extend, depending on the nature of their particular job.

With IT playing such an important role in business today, good IT training, either in education or once in employment, can make an important difference. IT is there to make life easier, but if you do not have the necessary confidence it can turn into a nightmare Mr. Daramy warned. Staff need to understand the processes they are using, and this requires sufficient training.

Testimonies were giving by some of the trainees expressing their happiness and how they expect the training to benefit them. They asked Andrew to pass on their thanks and gratitude to Globalgiving and Develop Africa donors and Aid Sierra Leone, for giving them the training opportunity of their dreams.

Closing Comments: Thanks donors for your donations that helped make this empowering opportunity possible! Their lives will never be the same again and a wider door of opportunity is now open before them. We welcome your on-going support as we plan another session for additional participants in the coming months.

Cordially and best wishes.

One of male participants

Improving Quality of life through Technology Training

Sylvester Renner — Mon, 07 Jun 2010 20:02:20 GMT

participants at training session

Warm greetings-

Over the past few months we have been planning and organizing towards our next basic computer training session - that is scheduled for August. During these past months, we have spent time building new local relationships, narrowing down the list of potential participants, studying and assessing beneficiary needs / interest and general logistics. From our studies, we have come to the conclusion that there is an on-going need for this type of training. We continue to receive requests for this type of training on an on-going basis.

The August training session will be provided to youths and young adults at the Advocacy Initiative for Development (AID), a Develop Africa partner organization. AID Sierra Leone is a local non-governmental, organization that advocates for human rights and renders services for the holistic development of people and their communities.

The upcoming multi-day training session will include instruction and hands-on training on using a computer, word processing and spreadsheets (using Microsoft Word and Excel). Beneficiaries will be provided with and receive a printed manual. We have asked the participants to come with and will allocate adequate time for scenario-based questions, specific to their individual interests.

The need for this kind of training was voiced anew at the 5th International Conference on ICT development education and training in Lusaka in May 2010. Speaking at this conference, the President of Zambia, President Banda said “ICTs are a prerequisite to wealth creation and can help to improve the quality of life of people in underdeveloped countries.” - http://bit.ly/a0AD0Q

Thanks for being a partner with us and helping make this training possible. Together we are helping to improve the quality of life of these youths and young adults. What a powerful change opportunity!

We will provide you with an updated report, including photos after the training session in couple months. We welcome your feedback and suggestions on how we can increase our impact.

Links:

5th International Conference on ICT

Development Through Computer Training

Sylvester Renner — Wed, 16 Dec 2009 19:46:13 GMT

Sylvester visits YEDEM office in Freetown, Sierra Leone

Thanks to your support of this GlobalGiving project the Youth Empowerment for Development Movement (YEDEM) youth group have received funds towards purchasing of internet-related equipment and establishing of internet access at their new office. As a direct benefit of this, they are now able to receive training from online sources, apply for grants etc. The funds were presented to the leadership team by Sylvester Renner, Develop Africa President, during a site visit to YEDEM offices in Sierra Leone, this year.

The leadership team was very appreciative of the support provided by GlobalGiving donors and asked him to convey their gratitude to you – the donors and partners. Cornelius, a member of the leadership team explained that the training that the youths will receive in computer technology will contribute directly to their progress and development - and assist in the transformation of the nation. He emphasized that this training is important as computer-enlightened youths will be better equipped to obtain employment.

Previously, Develop Africa conducted a 2-day training session in Basic Computer Skills for YEDEM youths. A link to a video testimonial from one of the beneficiaries of a previous session is provided below. As the beneficiary states in the video, because of this training he has now received a good foundation in computer technology and is more confident in using a computer.

In 2010, we are planning to hold one or more training sessions and welcome your support that will help us impact many more lives. Please make a donation today or before the end of the year that would help us do so much more. We welcome your comments, suggestions and feedback. Should you have any suggestions on how we can expand our reach and obtain more support, please let us know.

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