Following multiple delays due to shipping congestion, our latest container of computer equipment finally arrived in Lusaka on Saturday 4th December. This container was eagerly awaited by the Camara Zambia team and schools across Zambia; our team worked over the weekend to check the computers and add our local educational content. By Tuesday 7th, the team had over 100 units ready for dispatch to schools and was on the road to Kasama, almost 900km from Lusaka, and to Copperbelt province, around 350km from Lusaka, to ensure the computers were installed in schools before they closed for the holidays on 10th December. A great end to the year for our Zambia team!
2021 is coming to an end in style for Camara Education Kenya, with the arrival of a container containing 500 computers at our office in Mombasa. Following a thorough check of the contents by our local technical staff, the computers will be delivered to thirty schools across four counties: Kilifi, Makueni, Kajiado and Uasin-Gishu. This roll-out forms part of our Stem Steps Project in association with Dell Technologies.
Field officers from our technical department will be carrying out the installations; networking the computers, installing locally appropriate curriculum material, and training educators in basic maintenance. Alongside this, teachers and school leaders will receive training in how best to incorporate ICT into their everyday teaching practice.
Kenya Vision 2030 is the long-term development blueprint for the country and is motivated by a collective aspiration for a better society by the year 2030. The aim of Kenya Vision 2030 is to create “a globally competitive and prosperous country with a high quality of life by 2030”. It aims to transform Kenya into “a newly-industrializing, middle-income country providing a high quality of life to all its citizens in a clean and secure environment”.
Education and training are among the principal catalysts towards realization of the social aims of Vision 2030 – creating an equitable and just society based on democratic ideals. Education is a basic right under the constitution, and technical training and vocational education will play a crucial role in transforming the country to a middle-income economy.
Camara Education Kenya, with its partners, well-wishers and sponsors, has been playing a crucial part in ensuring that the government of Kenya, through the Ministry of Education, is meeting its targets on the use of ICT by providing computer hardware, software, maintenance and training to institutions across the country. Since 2008, we have supported over 1200 schools and learning institutions. In 2022, Camara is aiming to raise the bar and reach yet more schools and students thanks to our partnership with Dell Technologies, who are providing funds and equipment for Kenyan schools.
Camara Education Kenya works alongside the Ministry of Education, Dell Technologies and other key agencies and partners to deliver 21st-century ICT skills and align with the competency-based curriculum initiatives put in place by the Kenyan Government. The Ministry of Education has vetted our teacher training content and has also partnered with us to train teachers. As an organization, we support the Kenyan Vision 2030 initiative.
Camara Education Kenya has for years been providing opportunities for interns from various educational institutions across the country. University and college students taking courses related to information technology get vital practical experience, helping them into employment.
This year, 17 interns spent three months working out of our office in Mombasa, under the watchful eyes of instructors Teddy Gwadiva and Peter Keah. One of them, Lucky Moiben, explained:
”I applied for the internship program at Camara Kenya’s offices in Mombasa. After going through the orientation program, we were inducted into real situations, solving and troubleshooting problems with computer hardware, software and maintenance. I gained a lot of hands-on skills, which I had just read about in theory while I was at campus. Here I could learn in a real situation, taking a problematic computer and restoring it to its normal function. I was also introduced to Linux, open-source software which was new to me since I was used to the Microsoft Windows operating system. I particularly appreciated the good relationship between staff and interns. The staff were welcoming and always ready to assist where an intern needs help.”
Nixon Ngonyo, also from Mt. Kenya University Mombasa branch, added:
”At the university I had done the theory part of the course, but here I was introduced to the real world of information technology. The past three months at Camara hub has been a tremendous experience which will stick with me for life. I joined hungry for knowledge, and fortunately I was received and coached by well-trained and experienced instructors. I can vividly recall one day when the whole staff joined us for an E-Waste collection exercise. The way they interacted with the interns was amazing. At the beginning every intern thought it would be a tough challenge, but the involvement and good humour of the staff meant that by the end of the day everyone was happy and satisfied. I look forward to finding a place of work with a working environment similar to Camara Kenya.”
The latest Green Elephant environmental podcast focuses on Camara Education, with our very own Danny Walls and Anita McWilliams being interviewed by host, Mike Saville. You can listen in here.
In the podcast, Danny and Anita discuss our work in Africa, Camara’s impact and how your old PCs can bring transformational change to the lives of some of the world’s most disadvantaged young people.
Camara exists because we believe the world would be a better place if all young people were empowered through innovative education to create the life they want to lead. In the process, we can help achieve your organisation’s environmental footprint and corporate responsibility goals.
We believe that prolonging the life of computer equipment through refurbishment and reuse is a vital step towards sustainability and protecting the natural environment. We collect surplus IT equipment from businesses and process it to the highest international environmental and data-security standards. And then we use refurbished computers to set up IT labs in African schools, load them with locally appropriate educational content, and train teachers and local staff to use and maintain them.
Camara is proud to be launching a new website which more fully reflects the work we do in Africa and our new secure partnerships for handling IT equipment. Please check it out: you’ll find stories and videos outlining our operations, along with comprehensive explanations of how we operate.
These are some testimonies from students and teachers that didn’t make it onto the main website:
“My name is Ruth Shimels. I have been a student at Abenezer Academy in Gelan, in the Oromia region of Ethiopia, starting from kindergarten. Currently, I am in grade 8 and 15 years old. Last year when I was in grade 7 our school started giving us the IT class for the first time and it was a new experience and we found it very exciting. Previously, we were taking IT class on paper and it was not easy for us to understand computers in general, let alone to work out how to use them. Now, thanks to Camara, we are learning IT with real computers. I can honestly say that these Camara computers have helped me on my maths skills now that I get to practice more. And I can access different exams from the past so that I can practice to improve my scores. I believe my future is brighter and I want to become an architect when I grow up.”
Ellensdale Primary is a school located in the rural area of Chongwe District, Zambia. Mr Banda Alick, a Computer Studies teacher, assesses Camara’s impact:
“Before we received the Camara equipment, we only had three computers in the school which we were using to teach all the students. We had a ratio of 20 students to one computer. After receiving 40 computers from Camara, the ratio has reduced to one student per computer. This has made my teaching easier. My classes have become more interesting as all students participate when I am teaching and they are very excited to go to the computer lab. There has been significant improvement in performance due to increased access and usage of computers.”
“My Name is Hiwot Alemu. I am a grade 10 student at St John Baptist de la Salle School in Ethiopia and I am 16 years old. So far the computers that we are using are very helpful and we are using them to improve our academic performance. I have used a computer before but these are way better than any I have previously been able to access. It’s easy for me to do my assignments now. I study Biology, Physics and Chemistry with the support of the videos which made it so easy to learn and not to forget.”
Camara and our ITAD partners are fully open for IT collections, and ready to work with you to ensure Covid-secure processes. As workplaces open up and adapt to the new realities of hybrid working, we are here to help your organisation’s transition, and to reuse any surplus IT equipment for a fabulous cause. Reusing end-of-life IT equipment through Camara reduces waste and contributes to your organisation’s sustainability targets. We use this equipment to help create a world where even the most disadvantaged have access to technology. So please contact us if you have any kit that could help transform the lives of children in Africa.
Not all of you may be aware that in response to increased concerns over security and sustainability, we reviewed our processes and have had new systems in place for over a year now. Our independent warehouses in Dublin and London have closed, and instead we have formed partnerships with market-leading ITAD companies to ensure best-in-class data security while continuing to offer sustainable re-use of your IT assets and best-practice e-waste management. The end result is greater security for you, while we concentrate on our strengths of working with our donors and funders to deliver education technology to disadvantaged students.
Happy International Day of Education! Here at Camara Education, we believe that poverty is unacceptable in the 21st century and that one of the most efficient ways to reduce poverty is by providing education to young people in underprivileged communities. The power of education leads to opportunity – the opportunity to learn, grow and succeed.
On December 3, 2018, the United Nations pronounced that January 24 be celebrated as the International Day of Education. This amendment comes as a part of the United Nations plan to improve sustainable development by 2030. The central idea of the plan is to acknowledge that extreme poverty is a global issue that cannot go unrecognised. By declaring January 24 the International Day of Education, the United Nations is supporting the fact that improving education is key to alleviating poverty.
We are beyond excited to celebrate a cause that is at the core of our mission: to transform education using technology to empower disadvantaged students.
In the past 15+ years, Camara has given educational opportunities to over 3.5 million young people in disadvantaged communities across Europe and Africa by providing them with access to technology and the Camara Learning Studio (CLS). We have trained over 55,000 teachers to educate these students on technology usage through the Camara Learning Academy. We have installed 150,000 computers in over 10,500 different schools.
We hope to see a day when there are equal education opportunities for all people.
We are delighted to report that in April we signed a new partnership agreement with the Ethiopian Ministry of Education (MoE).
Some details of the new agreement are as follows:
Camara Education will continue its collaboration with the Ethiopian MoE for a further three years. This new project incorporates the lessons learned from the previous two federal level projects and the pilot project in the Silte Zone with greater focus on learner outcomes.
Through this new project, Camara Education aims to:
Train 5,040 educators;
Install 21,000 computers in 840 schools and;
Impact 690,000 learners.
Pictured are our Ethiopian Country Manager Biniam Yayehyirad along with 2 officials from the MoE.
