Swayimane Computer Training

The vast unemployed and unemployable matriculates in the Swayimane and surrounding areas pose a threat to the well being of the society. This results from lack of mere job market related skills like computer skills and computer literacy. In urban schools this is not an issue since learners are equipped with such skills throughout their learning area in contrary to rural schools, whereby even educators has no basic computer skills.

The Zimele Team in July 2009 brought new computers for a computer training center in Swayimane. Previously, the nearest availailable computer training was in Pietermaritzburg. A round trip would typically run around R25.00, which is not practical for someone unemployed.

The computer training sessions started while the team was still in-country, with classes run by Ron Kwak and Sung Choi and students consisting of a mix of Zimele volunteers and community members. The impact of these lessions has been so rewarding. We sometimes take for granted to access to technology that we have, but our volunteers were walking on clouds!

Brandon, our Peace Corp volunteer, took over the training, scheduling classes every Thursday. Unfortunately, in December Brandon told us that the Peace Corp experience was not for him and that would be going back home.

It was at this point that I felt that we could not become too concerned about the future of hte computer training program. That if it were meant to be, that God would provide a solution better than that we could imagine. I suggested to Mildred that we had to hang in until the solution became apparent. We also had some time to consider possibilities since the upcoming renovations to the traing room would not be completed until later this year.

A couple months ago, Mildred phoned me and said God has provided in our need. Philani Lawrence, a young married father of one was inbetween jobs and was looking for an opportunity to return and give back to his community. Imagine our excitement when we found out that Philani holds a National Diploma in Human Resource Management with and extensive computer background.

Using a SITA (State Information Technology Agency) accredited training manual, Philani developed a three month course, ‘Basic Computer Skills.’ Students are graded on written exercises at each class with 50% of the final grade coming from a end-of-course written exam. At the end of the course, training certificates are granted to passing students.

Who is attending the course? Our current class includes 35 unemployed youth, divided into three sessions. One group meets on Tuesday, one on Thursday, and the final group meets on Sunday. Interest in the class has been so high that we have a waiting list for the next course in May.

There has been an astonishing demand and need for computing in Swayimane. By engaging folks like Philane that are willing to stay in the community and live with their families, we bring in role models who can be excellent agents of change.

I am now seeking funding for a salary for Philani to try to keep him in the community. It is not easy trying to find new sources of money, but I do believe that there are people commited to the computer training project and that we will eventually pull it off.

The Computer Training in Swayimane is yet another success story for Zimele. The project is owned by the community, managed by the community and an example of self-reliance and sustainability. Thank you Ron and the team for helping us to achieve this.