Mangyea JHS ICT Center – Mangyea Project

Together with the African Youth Guild (AYG), AI created an innovative project that simultaneously targets both junior high school students, and also the surrounding community members of Mangyea, Ghana.  Through our support, Mangyea Junior High School constructed a state-of-the-art Information and Communications Technology (ICT) Center which includes brand new computers.  Many take the Internet for granted when it is available at the fingertips, but as of the year 2016, only 40% of the world’s population has access to the Internet.  The SoCCs program in Mangyea serves not only to logistically place computers in the community, but also to spread computer literacy amongst members of all ages.  Having Internet access creates indisputable opportunities for advancement in education, professional careers, and gaining general access to cutting-edge information and news worldwide.  Through various SoCCs earnings items such as maintaining cleanliness of the village, recycling, creating youth sports teams, and attending education sessions, the community is encouraged to continue improvement in areas besides technology.  Participants can then redeem SoCCs for rewards such as school supplies, fees, and uniforms, computer usage at the ICT after hours, phone credits, and health and beauty maintenance services for women.

Over 3,500 Computers Contributed to Technology Initiatives Programs in Partnership with MSSRF

Over 3,500 used computers have been sent to VRCs/VKCs, and schools in India and the Philippines. VRCs and VKCs are computer-based knowledge centers with Internet connections that provide need-based static and dynamic information on farming, entitlements and health, and also aid in literacy programs. A set of VKCs operating in a region is connected with a ‘hub’ in the center as a nodal point managed by MSSRF, which receives generic information and adds value by converting it to locale-specific information in the local language. Need-based content creation is regularly done by assessing the needs of the local women and men who visit the center and getting feedback from them. Local village people, half of them women, are trained in operating the computers and hardware maintenance.