Rural Internet Kiosks for Information Empowerment in Webuye

The Information Empowerment for Webuye Constituency project envisions an empowered community with access to Information and Communications Technologies (ICT) for everyone.

Information and communications technologies have the power to change the way we practice both business and development throughout the world. The digital divide, defined by a lack of access to information for a specific population, symbolizes the largest difference between developed and developing countries: the opportunity to obtain and utilize information. The digital divide runs much deeper than hardware and software. The real heart of the digital divide is that those without access to information resources often suffer needlessly while the solutions to their problems are floating in the air.

The House of Compassion (community based organization) strategic plan identifies three pillars in improving the lives of people in Webuye: Infrastructure, Social development, and Economic development. ICTs are one of the few ways of addressing all of these issues at once. In order to take advantages of ICT, it is necessary to install the necessary equipment, provide access to the Internet, and ensure proper skills training. To be effective, House of Compassion and Voices of Africa for Sustainable Development (VOA4SD) will partner with a variety of organizations and individuals including local members of the Government of Kenya, Intersat Africa Ltd, as well as with community based organizations and self help groups. The groups selected for implementation all serve orphans and vulnerable children in their communities and are in need of a sustainable income to support their endeavors.

Background Information/ Statement of Problem

Webuye constituency is a primarily agricultural community with 80% of the community engaged in farming. The population of the area is over 200,000 people with few industries since the closing of Pan Paper. Throughout the area there are small marketplaces growing to serve the needs of the people. Market areas are becoming more urbanized and urban population growth is high as has been evidenced by the growth of Webuye town. In order to develop the constituency in a sustainable way it is necessary to raise the educational levels and critical thinking skills. The poverty of the people and the lack of infrastructure such as electricity and libraries stunts their mental growth. With the additional problems such as high child malnutrition, high maternal mortality, and a lack of water resources, the constituency is in need of information empowerment.

No information and communication technology programs have been built in Webuye despite the need for information in the community. Voices of Africa for Sustainable Development (VOA4SD) began the first rural ICT project in the area in Sirisia constituency at Mbambe Rural Resource Management Programme, an agricultural community based organization, in 2006. A baseline survey was done in the community with the expected results that most of the population has not had access to ICTs with the exception of the diffusion of the mobile phone. VOA4SD has worked with a variety of organizations by delivering the necessary information for project development through Sirisia and Webuye constituencies. As an organization, we understand the area and the needs of the people. We have completed and continue to manage a successful ICT project in the area. From the data found from this pilot project, we are ready to scale up the ICT programs in the Webuye constituency.

There have been a number of studies done throughout the developing world about the impact of ICTs in development. It has been shown that ICT projects that are not owned by the community with significant buy-in often fail. This project has been designed to utilize pre-existing community based organizations in a grassroots approach to development. The partnership between Voices of Africa and the local government will ensure that concrete change is seen on the ground.

This project is unique in two ways: its focus on active participation and community leadership and the new technologies being deployed. Active community participation and community leadership is vital to sustainable rural development. To maximize impact, the projects must be community run with the assistance of trained volunteers. Our volunteers have been specifically trained not to run the project themselves, but to work with the community to build their self sufficiency. Secondly, the new technologies such as green solar energy and affordable satellite Internet access would have been unthinkable even 2 years ago. These new technologies allow for the diffusion of ICTs in locations not previously possible such as rural Webuye.

The central point of failure for most projects is the lack of proper training and monitoring and evaluation. The posting of volunteers in the rural environment in direct connect with the community and the access to local training at the Information Empowerment Center at a very low cost ensures those who have a desire to learn have the ability to be properly trained. Volunteers will also be responsible for the consistent monitoring and periodic evaluation. Monitoring will be done through surveys and electronically through computer usage monitoring software. The combination of software and field studies will be able to accurately assess the impact of the project.

The Rural Internet Kiosk (RIK) is an independent self contained solar powered kiosk featuring three industrial design computer terminals a manned administrator terminal, and broadband wireless Internet connectivity. RIK has been designed to help bridge the digital divide and concentrates on connecting rural areas where there is high percentage of the population who have no access to ICT infrastructure.

Material poverty, poor health, low levels of sanitation, low levels of education, lack of access to government services, and lack of access to finance are the core issues found in the community. These issues are all addressed through information and communications. Information poverty is a widespread social problem throughout developing countries. The Rural Internet Kiosk and Information Empowerment Centers provide the following development solutions: E-commerce, E-health, E-government, E-banking, E-learning, Relief services, Local content creation, Skills training, Employment opportunities, Independent local media, and Knowledge diffusion from the North to the South and from the South to the North. With access to ICT and the Internet the people can determine for themselves what type of development they want to pursue in their communities.

Project Details

Goals and Objectives

Goals

To empower the communities in Webuye to take control of their own development through information and education

To use the Internet as a tool for the people of Webuye

To foster mutually beneficial international relationships and bridge the digital divide

To provide sustainable solutions to the Millennium Development Goals through ICT

To work in collaboration with women and youth to create income generation activities

To give communities the educational tools for development in the following critical areas:

Environmentally sustainable development
Health
Income generation
Agriculture

Objectives

Decrease poverty in the constituency by 35% over the next 3 years
Decrease infant and child mortality in the constituency by 25% over the next 3 years
Increase local employment or income generating self employment by 50% over the next 5 years
Deliver access to ICTs and the Internet to 80% of the population within walking distance in 2 years
Provide ICT educational services to 50% of the population at least once within 1 year
75% of the population within 2 years
90% of the population within 3 years

Clientle

Community Groups

Webuye has one non governmental organization, 34 community based organizations, and 512 youth groups, women's groups and self help groups. These groups are created by the people for their own development. After visiting over 40 groups we have seen that each one would be better able to generate income and achieve their objectives with access to communication and technology. With the Internet, these groups can create their own websites, write about their communities, ask for help, build businesses, and seek continuing education include University education.

Group ownership of the Rural Internet Kiosk is the most effective way to serve the community as the groups are composed of the community members themselves. The groups have been formed as a way to solve problems in the community such as poverty. Members of the groups are often respected members of the community. With this respect, comes the power to be key players in the diffusion of knowledge. If the elders in a community and those with respect support the endeavor it will quickly have impact.

Women

Our research from a baseline survey of over 150 women in rural Sirisia constituency shows that very few rural women (2%) have ever touched a computer or know of the existence of the Internet (less than 1%). A full 95% of the women said that they were interested in learning new things. In the 200 women surveyed, 100% said that education was very important to their community. The three areas that the women identified as needing education were income generation, health, and agriculture.

Children

The entire system of education from young child to adult benefits from the utilization of computers with particular emphasis on the Internet. In step with that mindset, educational software from basic to advanced level as well as the most common productivity software should be widely taught with an aim of creating a computer literate community. As children learn very easily they will become teachers for the adults. If computers and the Internet are introduced in nursery and primary education, the children's skills can be on par with the developed world. This will increase the ability to gain employment and begin enterprises.

Youth

The youth population in SSA do not have the adequate access to information and education to be engaged in gainful employment. In SSA the quality of rural primary education tends to be low with few resources divided by an ever growing population. For example 60% of the population of Kenya are between the ages of 15 and 351. The growing youth population comprises 61% of the unemployed population. And of the 13 million youth, only 50% are expected to be in gainful economic activities in the formal, informal & public sectors while the rest remain unemployed. Youth who would previously been employed in agriculture are finding less arable land available as families properties have been subdivided and sold. Those are are able to attain land are also in need of education to maximize their crop yield and create alternative income generation capacities to shield themselves against crop failure.
With access to information and education the youth have access to opportunities.

Methods

Webuye website

There is little tangible information on the web about the Webuye constituency. A web search returns few pertinent results and a large percentage refer to the previous Member of Parliament, Mr. Kombo. In order to increase interest and tourism, a Webuye website should be developed. Most international donors and tourists plan their actions through web searches. If there is nothing available online, then in the international arena, the location does not exist.

Listing of schools, projects, information for tourists
Upload content to VOA website

Mapping Webuye via Geographic Information Systems (GIS)

Part of the website should contain maps with main roads and small roads in the villages. Local business should be put onto the web for easy location on mobile information devices such as mobile phones and Blackberry devices. This project would require volunteers/ community members to use GPS devices to capture way points and add to Internet database.

Rural Internet Kiosks for community education

8 RIKs to begin in Webuye
One site per location

Groups to use RIK as an income generation activity
Each RIK employs two local people
Groups visited expressed the need for education

Please see RIK documentation including website www.ruralinternetkiosks.com

Evaluation Plan

At the time of installation of each location a volunteer researcher will be sent to collect baseline data from the community and to engage local stakeholders in a SWOT analysis. The baseline will gather data on the socio-economic conditions of the area, the previous access to technology and the Internet, and the perceived potential usage of the Internet.

Six months after the baseline study is performed a second study to ascertain the level of change n the community will be performed. The same socio-economic indicators will be utilized and the new skills of the community will be measured. At the end of one year a program evaluation study will be done.

The results of the evaluation study will be utilized in new physical and program design for the RIKs. The RIKs will constantly gather data about the usage of the software installed and websites visited and will thus give us critical data on the Information needs of the people. This data will be utilized to deliver better services.

This entry was submitted under the business category. I would like to explain the underlying buisness model because I believe it is quite unique. It is a social enterprise business model which seeks to redistribute resources so that everyone benefits.

The rural community benefits most due to the social, cultural, and economics impacts. As they are the owners and operators of the kiosk they stand to make a sizable income. A portion of the profits goes to the operators, a portion goes to the community's agricultural initiaves, and a portion is contributed to HIV orphans and vulnerable children. All of these expenditures go to build the local economy.

Voices of Africa for Sustainable Development is a non-governmental organization. Our objective is to bring access to information to every village in Sub Saharan Africa. While this is a lofty goal, we seek to bridge the digital divide and to be an international agent of change. We benefit through the implementation of our work. We partner with different organizations such as the US PeaceCorps to bring in volunteers to work on the ground with the people to train them to use the computers and the internet. The volunteers benefit from being involved in a sustainable project that leads to a new prospective in life. The volunteers who are on the ground are committed to development and can learn and grow through the process. With the kiosks, they are able to record their experiences and share them with their friends and family internationally.

Intersat Africa Ltd is the creator and manufacturer of the Rural Internet Kiosk. The company sells the RIK at cost to promote rural satellite internet connectivity. While they do not profit from the manufacture, they do profit from the internet service delivery.

The local government is another partner which benefits from the project. With the local economy growing they are better able to serve the people and the poverty levels are reduced.

The international community benefits from the increased number of users with dynamic perspectives from different cultures and societies.

The media benefits from direct contact with the rural and remote communities whose voices are seldom heard. Better media coverage and representation of the minority voices in the world may lead to better representation of the people.

It is a win win win win win situation. Everyone comes out smiling which is extremely rare in either the development or business worlds.