Bringing Technology to Rural schools in Zimbabwe

Thank you so much for your continued support of this project. This project is at the heart of our organization and is our strategy for bridging the digital divide that exists between urban and rural schools in Zimbabwe. Rural schools in Zimbabwe are struggling to stay afloat on finite budgets. The majority of the schools dont have electricity and they cannot afford computers and the internet. Lack of basic infrastructure makes rural schools less attractive to most teachers. Unlike urban schools which have teachers with computer skills and have integrated ICT in their curriculum, most rural teachers have no computer skills. As a result rural schools are lagging behind as they are not able to harness computer technology for the purpose of teaching and learning. This ICT gap is creating a digital divide that is severely disadvantaging community development in the underserved rural areas as the teachers and students lack the necessary ICT skills to enable them to participate in today’s highly digitalized world.

After high school, over 70% of rural students drop out of school due to poverty and they end up going to the urban areas to look for jobs yet they are ill-prepared to enter the work force because they have no skills; unlike their urban counter parts who have computer skills. The ultimate goal of this project is to provide the students with the skills essential for the 21st century that will increase their employability skills and place them on a level playing field to better compete for jobs.

To address this digital divide, we have been offering basic computer training workshops to teachers in Rimbi village. We adopted the train-the-trainer first approach in order to build the technological capacity of rural teachers. Because of your help we have seen dramatic improvements with twenty five teachers gaining basic computer skills and Microsoft Office experience. We also brought internet connectivity to Rimbi High school and donated laptops to teachers. Here is what one of the teachers who attended the capacity building workshops had to say:

In His Own Words From Muhehi
"We benefited a lot from the computer literacy workshops. I am one of the recipients of the laptops donated by the Tekeshe Foundation. I am very thankful for the program. I am now enrolled in a Masters program. I wanted you to know that the computer literacy workshops you provided helpled me so much throughout my first degree."

Phase I of the ICT project was a big success! To date 25 teachers attended the computer literacy workshops.  We are now in phase II. During this phase, The Tekeshe Foundation aims to establish an ICT hub in Rimbi village that will serve as a community technology center where teachers, students and the entire community can learn ICT skills and have access to computers & the internet.

 As you can see from the attached pictures, we have started offering basic computer training through our Youth Program.

2017 - 2018 Goals and Objectives:

• Establish an ICT community center equipped with 25 computers 
• Install VSAT satellite dish with 1Mbps and 60 GB data allowance and have internet connectivity at Rimbi community ICT center 
• 500 students from 5 schools are able to search for information on the internet by end of May 2018
• Increase in students’ academic performance as a result of their access to the internet and its vast educational benefits
• 100 teachers come to the center to use the internet 

Budget Break Down

25 HP 500B (Refurbished)Computers @ $350 each $8,750.00
VSAT Satellite Installation                                              $886.00
Internet Service - $136 per month for 12 months         $1632.00
TOTAL                                                                       $11,268.00

Thank you so much for making a difference in the lives of rural teachers and students!

Best wishes,

Thelma