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Since its launch in July 2022, Elimu Technology Centre (or the Elimu Centre), a Rudi International project, has had a significant impact on disadvantaged populations in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). As of July 2023, the Elimu Center has provided digital skills and a certificate of completion of training to 218 beneficiaries out of the 224 initially planned, a success rate of 97%. Through access to training and an Internet connection, the Elimu Center helps empower students, teachers and professionals in the communities around the Lac Vert neighborhood in Goma, providing them with practical and entrepreneurial skills that will afford them a competitive edge in the job market.

The First Year in Numbers 

The students who are beneficiaries of the Rudi Education program formed the first group of Elimu Center trainees. During their holidays in July and August 2022, they benefited from training in basic computing skills including modules on MS Windows, MS Word, MS Excel, MS PowerPoint and Introduction to the Internet. A total of 57 of them started the training, but only 42 students were able to complete it and qualify for a certificate, including 16 girls and 26 boys aged 13 to 21. As part of their extracurricular activities, these fellows were treated to practical sessions, nearly 2 times a week, throughout the school year that ended in July 2023.

Muhindo, one of the students, a high school finalist preparing for college, said: “After this training, I was able to save money. I had to pay someone to help me type my internship report; now I have learned to do it alone through this training and I have the privilege of using the Center’s computers for that. Thank you very much to Rudi International for the scholarship supporting my schooling but also for the opportunity to learn computing“.

Teachers from surrounding secondary schools made up the second category of beneficiaries. A total of 22 teachers, including 4 women and 18 men, joined the other categories to benefit from these training sessions. Some are IT teachers, they have taken advantage of this opportunity to perfect their knowledge through practice, now that they have access to a computer and a stable Internet connection at our facilities.

One of them, Kamori, a Math teacher, testified: “As a teacher, I find that computer knowledge is very important, because it allows me to update and enrich the content of my classes through Internet research. I thank Rudi International and encourage other teachers to seize this opportunity.“

Another teacher, Sadiki said: “I salute the availability of Internet connection at the Centre, the experience and expertise of our trainers. I thank Rudi International for having found the inspiration to set up this initiative which aims to train teachers in the use of computers because it is a shame, in this century, to find oneself without any knowledge of the computer tool. Thank you so much for thinking of us.”

The other category consisted of students from a few surrounding high schools. As the Elimu Center does not have the capacity to take all the students from these schools, in collaboration with the leaders of the partner schools, we considered those who stand out through their high academic achievement, a way to motivate them to keep up the good work. A total of 26 students, including 9 girls and 17 boys, participated in these training sessions. The Elimu Center was also used as a computer lab where some Computer Science teachers came with their students to give them the opportunity to actually touch a real computer, thus turning their classroom theory into practice.

The professional category consisted of young college graduates, secondary schools or employees of NGOs, private and public companies who needed training or upgrading of skills in order to improve their employability. During this first year, 47 people, including 10 women and 37 men, attended our basic computer training. Many have had ideas to start small businesses in the IT field as soon as they would have the opportunity to acquire a computer of their own.

A Centre Close to the People and their Glorious History

For each training session of nearly two hours each per day, there was a maximum of nearly 15 participants, allowing everyone to have access to a computer to follow the teaching and practice alone. All our beneficiaries were encouraged to visit the Centre, even after the end of their session, in order to practice and benefit from the available Internet connection. On average, each session lasted 2 months, after which came the graduation ceremony where their certificate of participation was presented to them.

The Elimu Centre stands out for its unique approach in the learning process of naming each class to honor the great names in African and world history. Each promotion had to decide on the name, giving a particular meaning and identity to their group, thus allowing them to keep in touch with each other by identifying themselves by that name. That’s why we graduated classes bearing the names like: Génération Patrice Emery Lumumba, Génération Mamadou Ndala, Génération Kwame Nkrumah, Génération Nelson Mandela, Génération Diego Cao, Génération Etienne Tshisekedi, Génération Laurent Désiré Kabila, Génération Martin Luther King, Génération Thomas Sankara and Génération Léopold Sedar Senghor. A search engine like Google was leveraged so that learners understood and read each character’s story before choosing it.

The community living around the Elimu Center benefited from the presence of this Center because, for the first time, a technological center was established there, allowing them to have access to the same privileges as other inhabitants living in the heart of the city of Goma. The Elimu Center has also strengthened Rudi International’s profile as an organization that has been working in this part of the city for more than 10 years through its various programs and projects.

Palpable Results Despite Serious Challenges

Beyond its undisputed success in its first year, the Elimu Technology Center has experienced some challenges. These challenges have allowed the staff team to strategically adapt in order to meet the real needs of this community. 

We can mention some of the strategic adjustments and also some of the challenges we faced:

• At launch, it was planned that beneficiaries could make a small financial contribution, which led to a rather timid start for the first five months, until we were forced to eliminate this condition and make access to our programs free;
• Many beneficiaries faced the challenge of a long distance between their workplace, their school and the Centre, which meant that some did not finish the session and were forced to drop out during training since they had no means of transportation to get to the Centre;
• For most students and teachers, it was necessary to go straight from school to the Centre without stopping home for lunch. With all the fatigue and hunger because they did not have something to eat, they were very weak during some sessions, but this did not affect their determination to pursue their goal.

Conclusion 

These trainings have enabled many disadvantaged people to acquire essential digital skills, which improves their job prospects and educational opportunities, strengthening their potential and ability to succeed in the ever-changing digital world. The Elimu Center continues to play an important role in developing digital skills in the DRC and improving access to technology for disadvantaged populations. 

The Elimu Center, established in June 2022 through a one-year initial funding from the Association for Progressive Communication (APC), is part of the initiatives of Rudi International, a Congolese organization that works, among other things, at the intersection of technology and human rights, with a commitment to training, research and advocacy in the digital sector. Rudi International has also been working in the field of education through its Rudi Education program, offering scholarships to underprivileged children in the DRC since 2012.

Rudi International would like to thank the APC for making it possible to set up this Centre through the grant and calls on other partners who wish to support it so that it does not close its doors now that the initial grant has come to an end.

To follow closely the achievements of the Elimu Center, please click on the dedicated website, Facebook and Twitter pages!