For Enterprises

In the autumn of 2019, Mondo, the local board of education and the village’s development association KoCDA opened the first computer classroom of Kongo village, where the students of the area’s 13 schools can come and learn computer skills. In most North Ghana schools, computer classes are still taught mostly using chalk and blackboard, since even though the school curriculum includes computer classes starting from the elementary school level, the schools have no computers. The village centre’s computer classroom has about 20 computers, but students still have to share each one with another four-five classmates.

Shianda village in Western Kenya is home to a local organisation, People Against Poverty (PAPO), which has organised a small (10–15 workstations) IT education centre to improve the computer skills of the teachers and students of the area’s schools, and provide youth who have graduated school practical knowledge and digital competences to enter the university.

How can you help?

Both computer classrooms need support to purchase equipment.

• The cost of a used computer that is in good condition is about 200 euros in Ghana/Kenya. We currently need at least 10 computers for each classroom.
• The Ghana computer classroom does not have a modem and stabiliser, costing about 400 euros.
• In terms of a more long-term project, we want to purchase solar panels for the centre’s roof in order to guarantee a more stable electric supply, the cost of a simple solution starts from 1,000 euros.

Also watch this video of the Estonian volunteer Janek Samberg who supported the functioning of an IT classroom in Ghana.

Starting from 2017, Mondo has developed its digital competence programme, the main purpose of which is the reduction of the digital gap and provision of digital skills to vulnerable target groups, especially refugee youth. The digital competence programme includes a digital literacy course that is a truly practical package. It teaches the basics of computers and smartphones, main security rules of Internet use, content creation, mobile phone photography, web-based cooperation measures, information search and basic understanding of design thinking. Classes focus mainly on phones, as they are available in most parts of the world. Digital competence and further education courses are organised in Uganda, Jordan, Syria, Kenya, Ukraine, Georgia, Yemen and Burma.

How can you help?

• Internet costs—data communication is significantly more expensive in East Africa than what we are used to in Estonia. The estimated Internet costs needed for a group of 200 students to complete the programme are about 1,400 euros.
• Smartphones—we use cheaper smartphones in classes, which still have a certain guaranteed capacity and a high-quality camera. The price of a single phone is about 100 euros. We always purchase the phones for the learning centre, not distribute them to the participants.
• Micro-scholarships to outstanding youth who participated in the programme for enterprise development or obtaining additional training amount to 100 euros per person.

Fatima Zahra girls’ school in Afghanistan

For the last ten years, the Fatima Zahra school has been operating with the support of the Estonian state, and with the hope of making it into the nationally supported schools programme. In spite of Taliban’s rise to power, the school has continued to function and over 250 children attend school from grade 1 to 6, taught by 10 female teachers. The development cooperation projects of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Estonia in Afghanistan have been stopped, but as long as this girls’ school is able to function, Mondo would like to continue to support them. The annual costs of managing the school are about 10,000 euros.

Shan minority’s children’s boarding school in Burma

Mondo supports the primary and secondary education of Shan children, since education is completely inaccessible to the majority of the children in this distant mountainous area. Only 40% of Shan children receive primary education and only 15–20% have an opportunity to study further. Thanks to Mondo, at least 10 Shan children can attend school at Namlan and live at the local boarding house each year (the cost of one student per school year is 300 euros).