[kictanet] East African Organization Receives International Library Award

[warigia bowman]

Hongera James!

On Fri, Aug 19, 2011 at 10:52 PM, Alice Munyua <alice at apc.org> wrote:

>  Congratulations James and your team at ALIN for this well deserved award
> ----------------------------------
>
> *East African Organization Receives International Library Award For
> Creating Knowledge Centers in Rural Areas*
>
> *$1 million Access to Learning Award recognizes Arid Lands Information
> Network for providing access to information and technology in hard-to-reach
> communities*
>
> SEATTLE – The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation today presented its 2011
> Access to Learning Award of $1 million to the Arid Lands Information Network
> (ALIN), which provides knowledge and information through a variety of
> innovative channels in remote communities throughout Kenya, Uganda, and
> Tanzania. Members of these communities use the technology and other tools at
> ALIN’s Knowledge Centers to gain information to improve their health,
> increase their incomes, and better their lives. Microsoft, a partner of the
> foundation in its efforts to help public libraries connect people  with
> relevant technology and skills, will provide ALIN with a donation of over
> US$270,000 worth of software and technology training curriculum to help the
> organization serve the local community.
>
> ALIN’s 12 Knowledge Centers—known as Maarifa Centers—focus on providing
> practical information, particularly in the area of agricultural development.
> The vast majority of people in these regions are small-scale farmers who
> need information about issues such as drought, pests, and finding markets
> for their crops. The centers offer information geared toward the
> communities’ specific needs.
>
> “We understand that each community we serve is different, and each
> individual we serve is different,” said James Nguo, director of ALIN. “Some
> communities need information about water harvesting, while others are
> dealing with a particular kind of pest. We’ve also found that while some
> people have taken to the computers and technology, others prefer live
> demonstrations or lectures in their native language.”
>
> In addition to providing agricultural information to farmers, Maarifa
> Centers address health issues such as HIV/AIDS and malaria, ways to improve
> people’s daily lives such as how to create an energy efficient biogas stove,
> and administrative requirements such as applying for an official identity
> card or getting tax exempt status. Some people have used the centers to
> create groups for the disabled, earn advanced degrees online, or create
> thriving small businesses.
>
> “Thousands of people in these remote communities of Eastern Africa are
> improving their lives through the information available at these centers,”
> said Deborah Jacobs, director of the Global Libraries initiative for the
> Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, at an award ceremony in San Juan, Puerto
> Rico. “All knowledge workers can learn from this inventive model of
> delivering targeted, customized information.”
>
> All Maarifa Centers offer free access to computers and the Internet and
> provide free training in how to use them. Because there is only one paid
> staff member at each center, ALIN relies on volunteer facilitators to help
> provide core services. These volunteers receive training in a variety of key
> areas, including computer skills, good farming practices, treatment of
> medical conditions, and communications skills, which they use to educate
> others in their communities.
>
> For example, ALIN and the staff of the Kyuso Maarifa Center formed a group
> of seven farmers to participate in a pilot project that sent them to other
> parts of the country where they could learn techniques to deal with their
> extremely dry, arid climate. When the farmers returned to Kyuso, they
> implemented those techniques and were able to significantly improve their
> yields. The farmers worked with the staff of the Maarifa Center to pass
> these innovations on to others, through demonstrations, field days, videos,
> podcasts, and articles in ALIN’s Baobab magazine. One community pastor even
> preached about the new techniques in church.
>
> “From Baobab and from the information here in our Maarifa Center, I got to
> know about water harvesting. I came to know more about good agricultural
> practices from other areas,” said Ali Hassan Mulei, one of the seven farmers
> who participated in the pilot project. “During the dry seasons you get
> nothing from the farm. But I prepare the land during the dry season. I get
> some cash from my business, go to the farm, make terraces, make structures
> for water harvesting, and I wait for the rainy season to come.”
>
> The foundation's annual Access to Learning Award recognizes the innovative
> efforts of libraries and similar organizations outside the United States in
> providing free access to computers and the Internet. It is awarded by the
> foundation’s Global Libraries initiative, which works to open the world of
> knowledge, information, and opportunity to help improve the lives of
> millions of people.
>
> ALIN will use its award to expand its network of Knowledge Centers, upgrade
> its hardware and software, increase the number of computers available to its
> users, and expand on the training and education provided to its community
> knowledge facilitators. ALIN also hopes to create an innovation center to
> advance ideas in information and communication technology.
>
> ###
>
> *Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation*
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> United States, it seeks to ensure that all people—especially those with the
> fewest resources—have access to the opportunities they need to succeed in
> school and life. Based in Seattle, Washington, the foundation is led by CEO
> Jeff Raikes and Co-chair William H. Gates Sr., under the direction of Bill
> and Melinda Gates and Warren Buffett. Learn more at
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>
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