OLPCorps ArushaUniversity Tanzania
Project Title: OLPC Tanzania Centre for Learning and Media Technologies Pilot Project for Underprivileged Children. Shipping Address: ZEKWA TRADING COMPANY SEVEN UP BUILDING, SAKINA NAMANGA ROAD, ARUSHA, TANZANIA Tel. 255 – 754 372095 Laptops Requested: 100 Months: 8
Team Participants Team Leader, Mr. Zephaniah Kwayu an electrical engineer, Administrative Assistant - Ms. Rechel Lema a qualified English Medium teacher, Student Project Leaders are Mr. Christian Maimu computer science student at the University of Dar-es-salaam and Ms Marianna Renson, a business administration final year student at Arusha University. The students’ contacts will be availed shortly. One teacher and ten volunteer trainers will be drawn from the three institutions. Our Mission The Reconciliation Ministry Tanzania works with churches, schools and communities to the strengthen capacity of children especially the girl child to be masters of their own destiny. Through creating educational opportunities and initiatives for disadvantaged children, Reconciliation Ministry accelerates the necessary positive social change that improves the welfare of children. Our Rescue Project supports runaway Maasai girls escaping forced early marriages and Female Genital Mutilation by empowering them through skills development in vocational training programs. PROPOSAL Target group Our target group is underserved children aged 6 – 12 years mostly attending rural schools, in urban slums and orphanages. Family of the students selected to participate in this project will also be indirectly impacted by this project. The indirect impact has been explained in detail in an earlier section. Goals and Objectives • To provide learning opportunities for children and training opportunities teachers • To provide low cost access to information for news, weather, market price indices,
healthcare, preventive education against substances abuse and HIV/AIDS.
• Increase education through digital literacy and numeracy in the target community. • Provide learning tools to the underserved school in rural and slum areas. • Establish centre for the distribution of learning and media technologies in rural
Tanzania
• To contribute to the curriculum content and advocate for the inclusion of new learning
technologies.
Plan of Action Community advocacy will emphasize innovative learning and media technologies highlighting the potential benefits, ownership and sustainability of the project. The project team will lobby for the inclusion of the new technology in the educational curricula. The project will generate audio recordings, and written stories in both Kiswahili and English. Youth activities will be incorporated in the community newspapers and the local radio broadcast, community youth publications and HIV/AIDS network group newsletters. Training of Trainers (TOT): We have identified two students program leaders to be trained in Kigali in June. One teacher and 10 educators will be selected from each institution to attend a Training of Trainers (TOT) program. They will in turn train others as the project expands. Collaborative (group) learning methodology will be emphasized to benefit as many children as possible. Needs The future of Tanzania can be secured by investing in children’s education. Tanzania has a illiteracy level of nearly 60 per cent, high poverty levels in rural households. After 40 years of independence, Tanzania remains one of the 10 poorest countries in the world. The HIV/AIDS scourge has increased the misery of children by creating more orphans and other vulnerable children. Situation Analysis Many children aged between 06 and 13 years undergoing primary school education in rural Tanzania have no access to quality education and appropriate technology for learning. The reasons for this are poverty, a poorly performing economy, corruption and an inefficient education system. There are no opportunities digital literacy and numeracy. Proposed Timeline Month 1(June) - Student project leaders Training in Kigali + preparation Month 2 - Community advocacy and recruitment of participants Month 3 - Arrival of computers and installation Month 4 - Community advocacy + workshop Month 5 - Training of trainers Month 6 - Monitoring Month 7 - Evaluation Month 8 - (Impact study and) Reporting
Our local partners Participating institutions are: Children for Children Future (orphanage for street children), Olepolos Children’s Centre, Ngaramtoni orphanage (90% girls) and Ndoombo Orphan Centre Primary School, Duluti, Arusha.
The local partners will engage in project activities as well as ownership. Our local partners include churches, Ministry of Education, Municipal authority, private enterprises, foundations, NGOS and health networks. Monitoring and Evaluation The target community will be represented in the local project committee comprising leaders, teachers and the local administration. Reconciliation Ministry will carry out a continuous self evaluation system to monitor progress and choices available for future action. Reports will be relayed back to OLPC via email or posting updates on the website.