2009
ST Foundation has focus as always on its Digital Unify (DU) program in 2009 in order to maximize its impact, leaving aside any support to other initiatives in order to respect the given budget restrictions.
The past twelve months have been extremely profitable for DU, with over 25’000 trainees completing the Informatics and Computer Basics course (ICB) since the beginning of the year, bringing the total number of DU beneficiaries to 81’000. A remarkable five sessions of trainers’ trainings have been organized thanks to the strong commitment of ST volunteers, brining the total number of trainers to 1’400. Following the approval of two new initiatives in Burundi and France in November 2008, the two countries have joined DU in 2009, bringing the number of DU countries to 18.
Report Summary
- Digital Unify Program 2009 Results and Update
- DU Milestones
- DU in Pictures
Digital Unify Program 2009 Results and Update
DU Progress Since Beginning of Program:
Morocco once more reached the highest number of beneficiaries, followed by Senegal and Sierra Leone.
DU Milestones for 2009
include:
- DU Sierra Leone kicks off in Q1, after an ICBF session is organized in Freetown in January. The program reaches an astounding 3000 trainees at the end of Q4, in the four labs of in Fourah Bay College, Annie Walsh School, Albert Academy and FAWE Fort Street School scoring higher than 150% of yearly target (400 trainees per lab);
- The newest additions to the DU family, Burundi and France, start deploying the course after trainers are briefed about the program and the ICB course by ST volunteers in March and September 2009. The projects have been launched in cooperation with the NGOs WITAR and CARITAS-Secours Catholique respectively;
- Trainers of the Moroccan Ministry of Interior receive ICBF training in Rabat, in the context of ST Foundation’s partnership with the Moroccan Ministry of Interior, signed in February 2008. Four new labs are opened in Moroccan towns of Goulmim, Laayoune, Missour and Meknes bringing the total number of DU centers in the country to 28;
- DU Italy volunteers begin deploying DU at Bollate prison, close to ST sites in Agrate and Castelletto, which turns out to be a challenging albeit enriching experience for everyone involved;
- Three new labs are approved and installed in India in 2009 in three schools situated in the rural towns of Porsa, Bahdrabad and Orissa, thereby bringing digital literacy to
students who would otherwise have no access to the PCs. The total number of DU labs in the country is now ten; - The DU project in Senegal enters its second year with excellent results (4’800 students have been trained since the beginning of the program in Summer 2008) and continuous support from local authorities. An ICBF training has been organized in Dakar in August 2009 in order to train the teachers for the new labs which currently being equipped. During this phase, twelve computer centers, which have been established in cooperation with local communities in urban and rural areas across the country, will be added to the existing six.
- Following the growing need for consistency and update concerning DU training aid, ST volunteers around the world have created an ICB Manuals Update Team in cooperation with the Foundation’s staff. The purpose of its work will be to review the DU basic informatics course and to collaboratively create a uniform, updated standard to be used in DU labs worldwide.
DU India, September 2009