Connecting the Unconnected: Teaching Digital Skills in the Tabagwe Sector
This article is part of a series of posts featuring individuals across Rwanda who are learning digital skills as we develop a digitally literate country. Read more about the work Mozilla and Digital Opportunity Trust are doing in Rwanda here
Tabagwe Sector is located in a remote area of Rwanda in Nyagatare District close to the Border of Rwanda and Uganda. Being in an isolated place has made it very hard for individuals to access services — to do so they would have to pay a motorcycle driver to travel several Kilometers to get to the District office located in the town of Nyagatare where they can be served and charged a high fee for the service. As such, individuals find it frustrating to access country-wide services and don’t often travel to the office or other areas unless completely necessary.
In a recent trip I took to the Sector I was thrilled to be greeted with a warm welcome from people who defied the challenges of isolation and decided to use all means at their reach to learn, be informed and become connected to the word by means of technology.
Intambwe club has been running for four months and they meet at the cell office of Nkoma. On a typical club meeting day, they take time to review the previous lessons learnt and then discuss their collaborative projects. The club members are so excited about the knowledge they have acquired from the club. Members have learnt how to use internet, social media and the Irembo e-service platform. The digital e-service platform is much easier and cost effective for them to get access to services as it saves them from travelling far distances to access services and complete necessary tasks. Using the internet and social media has had a large impact on their livelihood, allowing them to connect to other people in different areas and learn information they would otherwise not have access to.
Marcel is one of the Intambwe club members and is a farmer by profession; he owns a cow, chicken and sheep. He has been in club since November 2017 and from there he has learned a lot about technology. By attending the club regularly he has learnt how to pay taxes online, how to manage a mobile phone, protect his phone and get protection from his phone, paying health insurance fees, saving and withdrawing money using technology , etc. He has also learnt how to search for information and learn how to do smart farming where he uses information from internet to follow the best practices and improve his farming production with little investment.
Marcel says, “being in club has helped me to be a professional farmer. Before the club I did not know how to take care of my cattle, such as which medicines to administer but now when I need guidance, I just go to umuganura website and browse all the information I need about pets diseases symptoms and medicines and it is so helpful.”
Umuganura.com is a Rwandan web based knowledge sharing system where people across the country share different information about agriculture, farming, cooking, health, finance and business. Intambwe club regularly includes teaching on how to use, leverage and embed practices from the Umuganura site. The club is also using their new knowledge from the site to start their own Pigs rearing project with the aim of making money and supporting members financially. When the pigs reproduce they will be able to sell them and buy smartphones for members. Pigs will also help them to get fertilizer to use in their fields.
Marcel is not the only member of Intambwe Club who is pleased about being in a Mozilla club, Jean Baptiste who repairs cars for a living has spent three months in the club but is amazed at the transformation it has brought in his life. He says that “Before the club, every time I needed a typed document I had to go look for someone to do it for me and pay for the services, but I can now do it by myself and I have been able to register for a driving license test online by myself.”
Intambwe Club members are very thankful to the Ministry of information Technology and Communication, Dot Rwanda and Mozilla for allowing opportunities to connect and learn because these trainings have opened their minds by allowing them to be informed through regular interaction with the internet and social media. Learning clubs came as a solution to their problems and they look forward to learn more and be part of the great network of all citizen clubs in Rwanda.
