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<title>East African Organization Receives International Library
Award</title>
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Congratulations James and your team at ALIN for this well deserved
award<br>
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<title>East African Organization Receives International Library
Award</title>
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<p> <strong>East African Organization Receives International
Library Award For Creating Knowledge Centers in Rural Areas</strong><br>
<br>
<em>$1 million Access to Learning Award recognizes Arid Lands
Information Network for providing access to information and
technology in hard-to-reach communities</em><br>
<br>
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.<br>
<br>
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.<br>
<br>
“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.”<br>
<br>
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.<br>
<br>
“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.”<br>
<br>
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.<br>
<br>
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.<br>
<br>
“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.”<br>
<br>
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.<br>
<br>
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.<br>
<br>
###<br>
<br>
<strong>Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation</strong><br>
Guided by the belief that every life has equal value, the Bill
& Melinda Gates Foundation works to help all people lead
healthy, productive lives. In developing countries, it focuses
on improving people’s health and giving them the chance to lift
themselves out of hunger and extreme poverty. In the 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
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<strong>Contact:</strong><br>
Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation<br>
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