Gaining Perspective

Literacy and Internet Access in Developing Countries

I loved this week’s assignment. It got me thinking about things other than what is currently going on around me. Teachers are running at full capacity. Homeroom classes are now split into two rooms and the teacher is going back and forth between them. He or she is also teaching students remotely providing 90 minutes of face to face learning time per day. It is definitely a very interesting time to be a teacher! I am truly overwhelmed by the dedication of staff to meet the needs of the students.

Room To Read

I find that thinking of others during hard times can be a good way of gaining perspective. My research led me to learning about John Wood, a former executive from Microsoft and Room to Read, an international literacy nonprofit organization.

In a nutshell, I love what Room to Read is doing. “It builds bilingual libraries, schools, and computer labs in developing countries. The organization also collects donations of English-language books, publishes local-language books, and creates long-term scholarships for girls. Our programs serve as an essential lifeline to the world’s most vulnerable children.” ("Room to Read: Building Libraries, Schools, and Computer Labs in Developing Countries", 2020)

This charity has also identified another big problem when addressing literacy in developing nations, internet access. I’d also like to add that Northern Manitoba also suffers from this particular problem – perhaps a conversation for another assignment.

“To ensure that children in the most remote and low-income areas can continue learning, we’re prioritizing interventions that don’t depend on Internet connectivity – which is largely unavailable is the areas we serve – but human connectivity. Our staff are providing distance learning via channels that are most accessible to low-income children, including telephone, radio and TV broadcasts, and the distribution of hard copies of educational materials.” ("Room to Read", 2020)

I am going to explore this charity further. I believe that this is something that my school and division would consider supporting as increasing literacy goals is one of our top priorities.

Kenya and Kibera

About ten years ago, I was lucky to visit Kenya with my dad. This was an organized trip that gave us a taste of one part of Africa. We also visited a school during our trip. It was exactly how I had pictured schools in those areas.

 

     

At the end of our trip, we drove past Kibera. It is Nairobi’s largest neighbourhood and Africa’s largest slum. It is hard not to notice the poverty, lack of running water and sanitation with people jam-packed into make-shift dwellings.

Kibera, Nairobi, Kenya

I noticed how a lot of people were talking on cellphones. I found this to be an interesting juxtaposition considering most were barefoot wearing inadequate clothing. This had me wondering. Kiberians are clearly living on the margins of society, how can they afford a cellphone?

Bringing the Internet to Developing Countries

I read an interesting article about bringing the internet to developing countries. "Once people start using the Internet, they generally want to use it more, and so it becomes a higher financial priority for them. So, once [access is provided], then the market is in a stronger position to take over from there." (Kirkpatrick, 2020) It turns out that there are a lot of internet providers in Kenya and it is a competitive market.

TunapandaNET 

TunapandaNET community network is trying address the lack of access to wifi in Kibera. TunapandaNET is a low-cost community wireless network developed in 2015 by Tunapanda Institute to help the local youth access educational information. ("Kibera’s free internet: TunapandaNET community network | KICTANet Think Tank", 2020)

Tunapanda Institute, is a non-profit social enterprise whose goals are to:

• build a digital ecosystem in education enabling members to leverage on connectivity for sustainable livelihoods.
• offers training on technology, design and business
• empower fellow youths through peer to peer learning

I am going to further explore this charity as well. It’s relatively new, started in 2015, and it looking to address exactly what is outlined in this week’s assignment.

Bibliography

Kirkpatrick, K. (2020). Bringing the Internet to the (Developing) World. Retrieved 31 October 2020, from https://cacm.acm.org/magazines/2018/7/229046-bringing-the-internet-to-the-developing-world/fulltext

Room to Read: Building Libraries, Schools, and Computer Labs in Developing Countries. (2020). Retrieved 31 October 2020, from https://www.edutopia.org/global-education-libraries-developing-countries

Kibera’s free internet: TunapandaNET community network | KICTANet Think Tank. (2020). Retrieved 31 October 2020, from https://www.kictanet.or.ke/kiberas-free-internet-tunapandanet-community-network/

Stamping out poverty as well as books? How libraries can support development. (2020). Retrieved 31 October 2020, from https://www.theguardian.com/global-development-professionals-network/2013/mar/12/libraries-power-global-development#:~:text=There%20are%20over%20320%2C000%20public,their%20economic%20and%20social%20wellbeing.