Tag Archives: technology

Technical Innovations Improve Education in Africa & More

Technical Innovations Improve Education in Africa
The first high-speed Internet link between national research networks in Sub-Saharan Africa was launched last month when Zambia was linked up to South Africa by a cable passing through Zimbabwe. The link is expected to bring a wide variety of advantages and will be especially beneficial for the education sector and researchers in neighboring countries, who will now be able to link up to the network and participate in global e-learning opportunities. Read it here.

Boycotting Students Close University in Swaziland
Students protesting at Swaziland’s only state university have forced the university to close just eight days after the start of the semester. The boycott began over a dispute regarding scholarships the Swazi government was supposed to grant to students this year. Reports claim 700 people were granted places to study at Uniswa and other colleges in Swaziland but were denied scholarships. Read more here.

Senegal Makes Headway on Gender Equality
Senegal has been working through a historic shift of power that began last March, when the country’s 86-year-old president, Abdoulaye Wade, ceded electoral defeat to his popular rival Macky Sall. Not only has the country transitioned into a new president and new government, but now more women than ever are claiming their spot in public office. In fact, 64 of the 150 new representatives in the national assembly are women, a landmark step towards gender equality. Hawa Ba, Senegal officer at the Dakar-based Open Society Initiative for West Africa, says, “Having this record number of female parliamentarians is excellent not only for women in Senegal but in the entire sub-region.” Read more here.

Higher Education Rates Decline in Cuba
University enrollment in Cuba is down over 25 percent from last year, which has some officials worried. Many attribute the steep decline to the fact that Cuba is in the process of reforming their higher education system. The changes include tougher university entrance exams, encouragement for students to major in the agricultural and technical sciences, fewer enrollment places in the humanities, and more training outside of universities for technicians and skilled workers. Read it all here.

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Women’s Rights in Nigeria, Business Skills in Egypt & More

Women Refugee Teaches Business Skills in Egypt
Fatma Soleman is an inspiring entrepreneur in Cairo, Egypt. She fled from conflict in Ethiopia when she was 17 years old and has since been running a handicraft business to support herself and family. After partnering with a local NGO, Fatma now works to train other female refugees living in Cairo on business skills and various handicraft techniques. She even teaches her students how to approach stores throughout Cairo and find business opportunities at community bazaars. Read her story here.

Struggle Continues for Girls and Women in Tanzania
A recent four-day event in Arusha, Tanzania highlighted the plight of girls and women in the country, particularly those living in nomadic pastoralist communities. Things are especially difficult for females in the Northern Zone of Tanzania, including the Maasai, Meru, Barbaig, Iraqw (Mbulu) and Chagga communities. In these areas girls do not inherit property or land and their mothers do not have any say in the matter according to traditional laws. Activists joined together to discuss these issues, including violence against girls and women, education, and civil rights. Read it all here.

Iran’s Women Activists Say No to War
Human rights activists in Iran are voicing their concerns for the rights of girls and women in the shadow of war. A joint statement issued by more than 200 women’s rights activists and 15 political organizations, states that Iran is currently in a very dangerous situation with the peace and well-being of Iranians in the balance. The statement goes on to say, “The continuation of this situation, will cast a shadow of war and a militarized atmosphere over our country, exposing our people, women in particular, to further discrimination, various kinds of violence, poverty and adversity.” Read it all here.

Nigerian Lawmakers Split Over Property Rights for Women
Lawmakers in Nigeria’s State House of Assembly recently discussed a proposed bill to ensure women’s inheritance and ownership rights. Members were divided, with some opponents saying the issue is not relevant at this time and the bill should be dropped. Supporters of the bill argued that female children should have the same rights as males and should be able to inherit their parents’ property and wealth. The bill was sent to the Committee on Women Affairs where members will organize public hearings and report back to the House in a few weeks. Read all the details here.

US Department of State Expands Techwomen to Sub-Saharan Africa
The U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs announced that TechWomen, an international exchange program that uses technology to empower women and girls around the world, will expand to sub-Saharan Africa for the first time in 2013. The program, which was launched by Secretary Clinton in 2011, will pair up women from Cameroon, Kenya, Nigeria, Rwanda, Sierra Leone, South Africa and Zimbabwe with their American counterparts during a four week mentoring program in the United States. The American mentors will then travel to Africa to do follow-up with the women and conduct workshops and training in the technology sector. Read more here.

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How Tech Can Aid Education & More

Transforming the Lives of Marginalized Girls Through Technology
The voices of marginalized girls living in rural regions throughout the world are often never heard. A panel of experts at the UNICEF headquarters in New York recently discussed how to help aid organizations utilize technology to empower and support girls and women. Not only does technology have the power to bring people together, it also has the potential to break down harmful cultural traditions and practices. The panel called on donors to start small communication programs in order to develop long-term solutions. Read more here.

Rwandan Students Excel in National Exams
The Workforce Development Authority in Rwandan recently announced the results of last year’s A’Level Technical and Professional national exams of which over 90% of students passed. Many of the best performing districts were rural based, including Gisagara which scored at the top the list for the second year in a role. Girls made up approximately half of the students who passed the exam. Read more here.

Burkino Faso Launches Research Fund
The government of Burkino Faso has agreed to set up a fund dedicated to scientific research and innovation in order to help meet the country’s development needs. The country has struggled to fund research in the past and currently only allocates less than one percent of its gross domestic product to research and innovation. Read more here.

Fire in Peru Destroys $100 Million in School Supplies
Just a week after the school year began in Lima, Peru a fire has destroyed approximately 500,000 school books and 60,000 computers at the country’s main state educational warehouse. Officials say many of the books destroyed were in indigenous languages including Quechua and Ashaninka. The cause of the fire is currently under investigation. Read more here.

Malaysian Minister for Women, Family and Children Steps Down
After months of pressure from from the public, Shahrizat Abdul Jalil has decided to step down as Malaysia’s minister for women, family and children. Her decision comes after much controversy surrounding an alleged scandal involving the misuse of government funds in which her family is accused of using money meant for a cattle project on personal expenses. The minster denies any wrongdoing and claims her decision to resign was related to the accusations. Read more here.

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Sirleaf Inaugurated, New Guatemalan President & More

Liberian President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf Inauguarated for Second Term
Nobel Peace Prize Laureate Ellen Johnson Sirleaf was inaugurated today for her second term as president of Liberia, promising continued work on reconciliation in the war-torn country. Read more here.

Guatemala Elects New President
The new president of Guatemala, Otto Perez Molina, was recently sworn into office after his election victory in November. Molina, a former army general, has promised to bring profound change to Guatemala, including big efforts to restore security, reduce poverty and improve on child malnutrition. Read more here.

First Graduates at Oprah’s South African Girls’ School
In a region where most girls don’t graduate from high school, the Oprah Winfrey Leadership Academy for Girls is thrilled to celebrate its first graduation with 72 girls, all of which come from poor and disadvantaged families. All of the girls are headed on to university with hopes of changing the world. “When you invest in the leadership of girls you invest in a nation,” said Winfrey. Read it all here.

Maternal Health Challenges in Somalia
According to the World Health Organization, Somalia has one of the highest maternal mortality rates in the world. The recent famine has only made matters worse for expecting mothers, many of which are malnourished and living in resettlement camps. A lack of equipment and inadequate facilities have also made it extremely difficult for women to get the proper care they need throughout pregnancy and delivery. Read more here.

Indian Computer Tablet Could Shake Up Education
A new low-cost tablet selling for as little as £35 should allow Indians in rural areas to access the Internet on a regular basis. Read more here.

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Our Kisa Girls Get More Active Online!

A kisa schola on the computerWe have some exciting news to share from our tech-savvy scholars over at the Kisa Project.

AfricAid recently completed the installation of computer labs at two of Kisa partner schools in Tanzania. The first school, Enaboishu Secondary School, received a donation of 11 computers from the Ross Family Foundation. Enaboishu hired a full-time computer teacher who recently attended a two-week training by ViaAfrica and will be helping the scholars use the computers on a daily basis! The recent Kisa newsletter reports that the girls are “already proficient and very active online!”

The Kisa Scholars received their website training on July 9th with Kisa mentor Esther as their coach. They will now have access to the website and a better opportunity to communicate with sponsors!

We look forward to seeing the strides these girls will make with the internet at their fingertips!

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Kisa Project is Expanding to Enroll 50 More Girls in 2011!

Ashley with kids she's met in Tanzania while working on AfricAid projects.

As a She’s the First Researcher assigned to keep tabs on AfricAid, one of the Tanzania partners in our directory, I recently had my quarterly check-in with Ashley Shuyler, the founder of AfricAid and its innovative, technology-driven sponsorship program called the Kisa Project. She’s the First sponsors three Kisa Scholars — Elizabeth, Grace, and Happiness — through the proceeds of our 2010 GIRLS WHO ROCK concert, as well as from sales of our branded Flip Cams in the Flip for Good store.

Elizabeth, Grace, and Happiness send us personal updates, which we post to our blog monthly, so Ashley filled me in on the overarching changes we can expect to see from the Kisa Project.

The Tanzanian school year runs from April into February, so the 23 girls enrolled in the Kisa Project will be on ‘vacation’ in just a few short weeks. But when they return in April, they will have 50 new classmates!

The Kisa Project will have 80 girls enrolled in the next school year, nearly quadrupling the number from its pilot year. The program itself won’t be changing though. The girls will have the same awesome opportunities to combine learning in the classroom with leadership and computer training.

Along with an increase in class size, we can expect a relaunch of kisaproject.org, which will include more social  networking features.  Not only will there be more opportunities for sponsors to interact with the students, but the site will also serve as a platform for the girls to network with professional women and role models in Tanzania.

What you can do: There are still some girls in need of sponsoring at the Kisa Project, so we encourage you to consider this program as the beneficiary of your fundraisers, even if you cannot cover an entire year’s tuition ($1,000). Your partial donation will be combined with other donations from She’s the First supporters and have a huge impact!

Do you have any questions for AfricAid? Leave them below. We’ll ask Ashley!

p.s. Don’t forget Ashley also authored a children’s book about a girl’s sponsorship in Tanzania – check it out here.

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#LeadSTF with @cynthiahellen: Effective Storytelling through an Event – Embracing Technology – and Making Crazy Dreams Come True

Cynthia was our third speaker at the Summit.

Our afternoon at the She’s the First Leadership Summit continued with a presentation by She’s the First board member and GIRLS WHO ROCK co-founder Cynthia Hellen. Cynthia had just returned from a two-week trip to Peru, where she had also traveled this past summer when piloting the She’s the First 360 travel series with Tammy Tibbetts. This time, Cynthia was visiting her family in rural villages, and she showed us a photo of the shantytowns where people lived, the kind of environment into which she had been born. Cynthia and her hardworking parents who immigrated to the United States are a living example of how profoundly one can change his or her life if given an education.

Cynthia spoke to us about effective storytelling through events — how can you make fundraisers like GIRLS WHO ROCK not only be entertaining, but also get the message across about the girls you’re supporting, who live drastically different lives? (For example, at GIRLS WHO ROCK, we invited Ashley Shuyler, the founder of our beneficiary, AfricAid, to speak and show us photos of the girls in Tanzania before the show began.)

Cynthia touched upon the importance of using social media to raise awareness and build alliances. She concluded with an inspiring pep talk on how you can make even a crazy dream — like GIRLS WHO ROCK originally was, for a small group of young women who resolved to pull it off only two months before show night — come true. Just take it one step, one daily to-do list at a time. And never stop being curious; learn everything.

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Can Foursquare Help Our Fundraising?

Editor’s Note: Last night, Annemarie Dooling, a social media guru, travel blogger, and She’s the First sponsor – remember when she raised enough for a Haitian girl’s primary school education simply through Twitter? – attended a free NYC event about whether Foursquare can support your non-profit’s work.

Annemarie Dooling

Foursquare is a social networking site, like Facebook or Twitter, except it’s on your mobile device, and when you are in a certain place, you can “check in” and it detects your geographic location and announces it to your friends. You can see who else is “checked in” and you earn points and rewards in the process. If you go to the same place more frequently than anyone else, you become the “mayor.” So how can we use this technology in She’s the First fundraising? Take it away, Annemarie!

In the quiet penthouse of Planned Parenthood’s NYC headquarters, there were many questions circling the room. What’s the “game” of checking in to a soup kitchen? How do you create advocacy versus awareness? Who has pride of ownership of a mundane, laborious venue? But even though no one directly asked, the big question I heard was, “Is there room in location-based [social media] for non-profit?”

The 501 Tech- New York chapter had rallied some of the best minds in the not-for-profit world to hear thoughts on location-based services, the idea of check-ins, and receiving rewards for visiting different venues. Naveen Selvadurai, co-creator of Foursquare, and Shelley Bernstein, technology maven at the Brooklyn Museum, spoke first.

Naveen, both sharp and laid-back, presented a slideshow geared towards educating and inspiring new users on the basics around Foursquare. Naveen was careful to remind us that Foursquare is actually in the business of figuring out how we can become better at living in cities. This is a concept very relevant to many non-profits who struggle with space, time, energy, and reach issues that come from residing in metropolitan areas. How can we encourage people to get better at living in these urban hubs? Foursquare uses a game mechanism. Players are rewarded with titles and badges, but in reality, the reward is the community itself. “The better you are at your network, the better your network is.” The more you participate, the more those around you participate. It’s a message non-profits have lived around for decades, now in a friendly technological package.

Shelley’s slideshow highlighted some etiquette. Because of Foursquare’s ability to connect people to place, staff should never try to win mayorship of their own venue. Transparency among the community is important.

From flash mob parties dedicated to earning badges, to signs of solidarity among protest check-ins, the art of becoming a mayor is more than a game now–it’s about pride of community and pride of ownership. Venues across the board, from Central Park to local libraries, can now harness this by claiming their venue, keeping tabs on enthusiasts, and leading their community via the digital network.

After the presentations ended and the brilliant quotes of both parties were recorded into the Moleskin notebooks of New York’s non-profiteratti, questions flooded in.

What the 501 Tech group did last night, besides giving Naveen and Shelley a platform for promotion, was to air this issue. Gathering from last night’s discussion:

Why Should Your Non-Profit Join Foursquare: Because the world will continue to join these networks whether you do or not. Your venues are already being created by enthusiasts. Claiming and harnessing them for your own benefit is up to you.

How Do You Get Involved?: By starting slowly. Know your goals. Know the platform. Get to know the enthusiasts that already live there. Jumping in without listening is like throwing away good time and money.

When Do You Start?: Of course, there’s no time like the present. With platforms like Twitter and Facebook jumping on the location-based bandwagon, it’s obvious that some attention is growing in the arena to take pride in the venues you visit every day. More and more people are sending their own messages in conjunction with your brand’s name. Naveen predicts one million check-ins by the end of the week. If you don’t step in to take charge of your message now, then when?

Editor’s Note: So sounds like we should use Foursquare at our next event! Will you use it in your grassroots fundraising for sponsorships? Tell us your ideas in the comments!

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