SUMMARY OF THE PROJECT STATUS AND ACHIEVEMENT
All the activities run by the computer lab took place without disturbance and interruption for the month of November.
An additional of three classes for new repatriation were conducted as well during November. The first class had 40 students, the second had 11 students while the third had 14 students. These students were regular for classes. At least, the students learned the general and basic operation of a computer before they repatriated back to Congo and each student was also awarded with a certificate of attendance.
The regular classes also had good attendance of which three classes graduated. Three new classes commenced after three graduated. I (Carol) think that Christopher ( Computer Lab Coordinator) is now having a good grip of his work as he has very well managed to keep all the machines in good and proper working condition for the past two months without repairs. Both the Big and small Generators are in good condition and the functioning well.
SUBSTANTIAL PROBLEMS / ISSUES
It is somewhat difficult to teach returnees a lot about computer education as returnees register for going back to Congo at UNHCR office and get repatriated within few days. In addition to this point, it is raining so much in Kala mornings and afternoons such that people almost want to keep themselves close to their homes. Hope that the section leaders will help to inform people about the importance of attending many of the workshops offered at FORGE before they repatriate. This will help many people to repatriate with a variety of reintegration skills back to Congo.
Requests / Wishes
It will be good to have many of the short and intense classes for returnees next year if repatriation will continue so that many people will have an opportunity to learn the basic operation and functions of the computer before they return back to Congo seeing that technology is spreading quickly, therefore, all can be accorded an opportunity to learn computer education if possible to further computer education skills both to the refugee and returning population.
By Carol MaamboSUMMARY OF THE PROJECT STATUS AND ACHIEVEMENT
Similarly to what was reported in the previous month, the problem of power in the computer lab disturbed classes greatly during the month of September. Thought the activities took place, some of the classes had no chance to complete their class hours and could only study theoretically while others were just canceled.
The computers and other machines in the computer lab all worked in a good condition constantly.
i. INDICATORS AND STATISTICS
The fact of canceling classes most of the time caused some students to stop attending their computer lessons, some students felt discouraged when lessons were canceled occasionally. This factor decreased the statistics of different classes. Repatriation also attributes to this matter, for this reason, two classes for the secondary school pupils class and secondary pupils/primary school teachers class have been combined as a way of saving power.
There are 149 students currently enrolled.
CURRENT ENROLLMENT
There was no enrollment in September
ii. SUBSTANTIAL PROBLEMS AND ISSUES
Problems of power as the inverter broke which caused absenteeism of students.
iii. WISHES AND REQUESTS
Since Alyssa purchased a new inverter and printer, there are no major requests to be made. Supplies can be purchased from Kawambwa.
iv. Upcoming project activities event:
Three other classes will probably complete the computer lessons at the beginning of October thereafter, new classes will be enrolled.
By Carol MaamboSUMMARY OF THE PROJECT STATUS AND ACHIEVEMENT
The activities run by the computer lab took place without interruption. Students attended lessons regularly. Shortly, repart classes will start to give returnees an opportunity on basic operations of the computer. All the machines are working and are all in good condition e.g. Computers, and the big and the small generators.
i. SUBSTANTIAL PROBLEMS AND ISSUES
There were no problems during the month. All the activities went on smoothly.
ii. WISHES AND REQUESTS
The computer Lab has all its basic needs as of now
iii. Upcoming project activities event:
Three classes will graduate during the second week of November. Thereafter, two repatriation oriented classes will start to give returnees basic knowledge on computer operation. These classes will be in the range of 1-2 weeks.
(Note - This blog was written by the refugee Project Facilitator for this project. As English is not his first language, there may be some minor grammatical errors in his writing. Care was taken to clarify any passages that were confusing, while leaving most of the blog untouched in order to preserve his original tone.)
The computer Lab has initiated a program of practice in the morning time from 7:30 Am to 9:00 Am. This was to allow people or students who have completed the computer studies and those who are still learning to have an extra time of practicing what they have learnt so far since these students have no computers in their homes.
Many of them were so excited to have this initiative. As a result, about 146 participated to this program in the past weeks. Since 2005, 1686 students have been awarded with certificates.
(Note - This blog was written by the refugee Project Facilitator for this project. As English is not his first language, there may be some minor grammatical errors in his writing. Care was taken to clarify any passages that were confusing, while leaving most of the blog untouched in order to preserve his original tone.)
SUMMARY OF THE PROJECT STATUS AND ACHIEVEMENTSince the two inverters were damaged there is power shortage which has disturbed all the computer lab activities. Only one invert is now running all the activities in the computer lab. Attendance for classes became irregular, instead of two students per computer as it should be, it happened that more than two students were found on one computer. And again, instead of two days per week for each class, one day was cancelled so that each class could at least learn once per week. That caused a bit of discouragement to certain students who abandoned the lessons and therefore, the statistics of classes have now reduced. Since the classes do not take place as intended, they will lead to prolonged period of learning which is a drawback in terms of time. In addition to that, the repatriation exercise is also one of the factors that made the statistics of classes to decrease as some students were absent from lessons as their either went to say bye-bye to their neighbour who got repatriated or they were repatriated.
All the machines including the printer are in a good condition and are functioning well.
The Swahili community class and the Zambian class completed the computer lessons and sat for exams the past 2 weeks. The results were very good showing that they understood the lessons.
CLASS GRADUATION IN AUGUSTThe Swahili class and Zambian class.
CURRENT ENROLLMENTAfter replacement of new invertors . The computer lab will enroll for other classes so that the shortage of power problem gets normalized. This will be in two weeks time when Alyssa gets to Kala for her short visit.
SUBSTANTIAL PROBLEMS AND ISSUESPower shortage which lead to reduction of classes.
WISHES AND REQUESTSThere will be enrolment of the Swahili and Zambian class in the near future.
(Note - This blog was written by Christophe, the Project Facilitator for this project. As English is not his first language, there may be some minor grammatical errors in his writing. Care was taken to clarify any passages that were confusing, while leaving most of the blog untouched in order to preserve the Project Facilitator's original tone.)
This project is helping the Kala community to learn computer, the programs that are being taught are: introduction to the computer, Ms Windows, Ms Word, Ms Excel, Ms Paint and Printing. The previous month was an exciting month for the project; the first excitement is that of the things it received: four new computers, one stabilizer, HP photosmart 3183 all in one printer, four new batteries. These things made the community happy and will allow the project to continue improving. And we are happy that 22 students in the computer lab set for the exams and they are now graduated. New enrollment is currently taking place and more than 50 people will be enrolled for the coming classes.
We are grateful for every thing that FORGE is doing for the Kala community.
By Christophe
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