Bringing Technology to Rural schools in Zimbabwe

Dear Friends,

We would like to express our sincere gratitude to you for your continued support of our Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) project. According to statistics, more than 2.5 billion people live in rural areas of developing countries where access to communication is severely limited.  Zimbabwe is no exception.  It has a population of over 12 million. More than 75% of the population of Zimbabwe lives in the rural areas. Unlike their urban counterparts, rural teachers, students, farmers, business owners, and health care providers work without access to technologies that can transform their lives and work in simple yet profound ways. This digital divide is disadvantaging a whole generation of children growing up in the rural areas.

Your donations make it possible for the Tekeshe Foundation to bridge the digital divide between rural and urban schools by providing rural teachers and students access to computer technology. Our goal in the initial phase of this project is to provide basic computer training to the teachers. Once the teachers have acquired the neccessary computer skills then we will focus on providing computer training to the students.

The ICT project is already having a positive impact. On September 27, 2013 we joined forces again with Mr. Justin Mupinda of CzWS to conduct our third ICT workshop at Rimbi High School. This was a three day hands on intensive computer training workshop. The first day of the workshop focused on computer basics. The next two days, the focus was on Microsoft Office applications, such as Microsoft Word and Excel. The workshop was a great success. As you can see in the pictures, the teachers were very eager to learn.  At the end of the workshop they had gained a better understanding of how to use a computer and their word processing skills were greatly enhanced as well.   Here is what one of the teachers said:

In her On Words, By One Of the Teachers
"One day I was trying to use Microsoft Word, but I didnt realize that after typing the text I had to save the document. I ended up losing all my work. After attending this workshop it became clear to me that after typing the document I had to click "Save" to save the document. This workshop really helped me understand how to use Microsoft Word"

Bringing ICT to rural schools in today's world which is technology driven will provide educational and economic opportunities, and ultimately improve the quality of life for rural teachers and students. The digital divide will be bridged resulting in new opportunities for students, teachers and the community as a whole.

Plans for 2013 - 2015
1. Provide internet access to both Rimbi High & Rimbi Primary schools. We are working with a company based in  Mutare, Zimbabwe called B-SAT Satellite Communications. B-SAT provides free equipment on all VSAT solutions for schools. We still need need to raise $2000 for the VSAT services. 
2. Provide computer training to 100 teachers by 2015
3. Provide computer training to 500 students by 2015

Thanks again for all your support!

Best Regards,

Thelma