The Kala Computer & Technology Center provides computer-training courses to an average of 1500 refugees in Kala Camp every year. The twelve computers and one printer are powered by five solar panels and one generator. One Computer Instructor and a core of skilled volunteers teach separate courses in French, Swahili and English for men and women on how to use programs including Microsoft Word, Excel, Access, and PowerPoint. In exchange for donating their time and skills, the volunteer instructors get additional training from the Computer Instructor in higher-level programs and procedures. The skills gained by refugees in Kala have already proven crucial in helping repatriated refugees to find employment upon their return to the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).
Given their insufficient employment opportunities and limited ability to find education opportunities outside camp grounds, refugees in Kala are particularly disadvantaged when it comes to developing job skills relevant to an increasingly high-tech global economy. The Kala Computer & Technology Center equips refugees with the skills they will need to be competitive for new jobs in the DRC.
As the only computer learning center in Kala, the Computer Center is open for enrollment to all youth and adults living in Kala Refugee Camp. Serving an average of 750 people per year, the project has already provided computer training to nearly 15% of the Kala Camp community. The skills participants gain prove immensely valuable for finding jobs in the DRC, and for enhancing the human capital in their war-torn home communities.
• Providing daily computer lessons in Microsoft Word, Excel, Access, PowerPoint, and Paint
• Offering beginning and advanced computer courses taught in Swahili, French and English
• To reach at least 15% of Kala Camp adults through computer-training courses every year
• To prepare people for gainful employment upon their return to the DRC
• To train future computer teachers
*Because of budget constraints, FORGE has temporarily scaled back the scope of many of its projects. The project descriptions and budgets seen here describe the project's typical operations, and might therefor not reflect the current situation on the ground. Once sufficient funding is secured for each project, its operations will be expanded back to those reflected in this description and budget.