Meet Alice Hagenimana, A Member of the Innovator Club in Nyarugenge District
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
Alice is a young woman who is passionate about digital literacy and bridging the digital gap between men and women in Rwanda.
In her everyday she is involved in different activities that aim to support young women in her local community and does her best to learn as much as she can to enhance her skills in technology so that she can share knowledge with others.
Alice has many talents and she uses them to support and consult with a variety of organizations. It is Alice’s hope that she can soon go back to school and specialize in business and ICT.
Alice’s desire to learn technology has led her to join trainings organized by Dot Rwanda, in collaboration with Mozilla, and became a member of the Young Innovator Club, the first citizen club that was launched during the nationwide plan for building digital skills in Rwanda.
While Alice has only been part of her local club for four months, says she has learned a great deal as it relates to her personal and professional development. On a club meeting day, she arrives at the center 30 minutes before the starting time and she does research on her assigned topic and on requests for support from her colleagues. The club meeting starts by a prayer and they take 10 minutes to discuss on the agenda of the day and then take time to learn in details after which they take another 10 minutes to taste their designed innovation. At the end they take 20 minutes to plan for the next meeting and they designate the facilitator of the day because every member is given an opportunity to organize and chair a meeting.
“We have learnt the use of ICT in details, advantages and challenges, how to use it to make cost effective and timely transactions, get information from internet etc. Being a member of a club has improved my team working skills. I now can combine my skills with my colleagues and make good use of it. It is also an opportunity to share experience and learn from each other’s success stories and failures.”
How she will use skills gained from club
“There are many people who lack digital skills in my country some don’t even know how to use of their smartphones. So I am planning to implement a club that works as an NGO to help people gain skills and then those trained will also train others so we have a mutual supporting chain in that way I will be developing my skills while helping my society as well. ”
She will also use the knowledge she gained to market her business and services using technology. In her club, they learn different technologies including web design and social media. Alice is planning to design a website to create awareness and she will also use WhatsApp and Facebook to reach out to as many people as she can.
Alice is encouraging other members of her community to join clubs and benefit from the many advantages available ranging from capacity building to business opportunities.
“I would advise my colleagues also to join clubs because there a lot to gain from there. It is a good networking opportunity and a way of learning to work in a team and improving self-confidence. In clubs people complete each other, whatever you cannot do on your own you get a hand from a more skilled club member.”
Alice is very grateful to Mozilla and Dot Rwanda for supporting citizen clubs and looks forward to seeing other learners like herself continue to develop innovative projects that can be implemented and transforming to the lives of local community members.
