Enabling access for 2012 KCPE and KCSE results

It was not 'business as usual' for 2012 KCPE  and KCSE students around Nguruman as they flocked to the Maarifa centre not to have their usual daily computer classes, but to have access to their results soon after their release by Ministry of Education. Excitement and fear was clearly seen on their faces they scrolled through National Examination Council website not sure about their fate.

The KCPE students and their class teacher had visited the Maarifa centre sometimes last year (New technology for KCPE candidates) to learn how to use computers for communication and soon after their exam, majority of them enrolled for free computer training offered at Nguruman  Maarifa centre.

Some 2012 KCPE & KCSE students during  ICT training session

Rose vivian, a former student at Entasopia primary was very excited to check her results online and had this to say... "I am excited to see my results on-line.. I didn't imagine this could be possible until I succeeded. we  appreciate the ICT training and internet connection  which has made the access possible."

Soon after the form four results were announced, the students were anxious to have their results and flocked at the Maarifa centre to have free on-line access. George Lomunyak, an ICT student at the maarifa centre and former student at Peterson memorial secondary school was glad to have his results and could not hide his joy as he received a printout of the same.

George after receiving a print out of his KCSE results

This is what he had to say... "I am glad to have accessed my KCSE results at Nguruman Maarifa centre and I am taking this print out to my parents at home to see what I scored since I couldn't access it at school as they had closed for mid term and my parents are anxious to see details of the results... I encourage youths around Nguruman to tap the opportunity and get trained on ICT skills..." he added.

Youths and ICT trainees secure Jobs

To many youths around Nguruman and its' environ, the Maarifa centre has been the backbone of their successive job applications since majority of them are either ICT training graduands, or have been sharpening their skills learned elsewhere at the Maarifa centre.

 During the recent IEBC bio-metric voter registration, Eight out of the twelve clerks who were manning the BVR kits in Shompole and Olkiramatian knew about the jobs advert and applied for them at the Maarifa centre while the remaining four did in Nairobi.

The young clerks in the remote Nguruman area expressed their joy and appreciation to ALIN to have facilitated access to information which enabled them apply for the posts on-line without having to travel to Nairobi about 45 km through the rocky road to Magadi and 86 km potholes road to Kiserian. 

Elizabeth Mintoi, a second year Business Information Technology (BIT) student at Mount Kenya university (MKU) said  that, the centre was an eye opener and motivated her to choose her career.

"I got interested in IT when I regularly begun using the centre where I learned that it's something every body can do... I therefore decided to go and pursue my career..." said Elizabeth. "... I have also successfully applied for IEBC jobs at the centre where I used some of the money to pay for my school fees" she added.

BVR clerks at Olkiramatian registering voters during a community event. Photo by Koinet

John chaure, a youth and a IT student said that he has successfully applied for jobs and does his practice at  the centre.

"I have been able to apply for jobs through the Maarifa centre, latest being the IEBC Biometric voter registration where I worked as a registration clerk. I have also been doing practice  for my college courses at the Maarifa centre..." said Jonh.

Joshua Kisemei, a journalism student at Maseno University and a volunteer at the centre says that he feels motivated when he sees any body from his community yearning for the skills since its the direction the world is moving. 

He has been working as a field assistant for TYPSA, a European engineering consulting company  contracted  by the Kenyan government to do feasibility study on detailed design of water resources related project along Ewaso ngiro south river basin, a job he secured through the maarifa centre.

"I feel motivated to fight for the rights of my community members... if every community member can understand social media platforms including blogs,  then discussing matters affecting them can be easy.. this can be achieved if everyone is ICT compliant... I encourage every one around Nguruman to tap the resources we have... thanks to ALIN for free training and access to information ." said Joshua.

Naomy Tonkey, a volunteer and a ICT graduand at the centre was not hesitant to testify how the centre has been an eye opener and how she has been able to secure different jobs with different institutions within Nguruman due to her competence in computers and other virtues, skills she learned at the Maarifa centre. 

"I have been a volunteer for more than five years and I have learned a lot of virtues and skills which have enabled me to secure different job positions.... I have worked with Patterson memorial secondary school as a secretary, with IEBC as a clerk and a presiding officer and currently with Yellow house construction company as a secretary.. Thanks to ALIN for the facility and ICT training..." Said Naomy.

James Mangoya, a student at Masai technical has also successfully applied for jobs through the Maarifa centre. He has been doing further studies at the centre as well.

"I have worked with IEBC several times, a job I applied through the Maarifa centre. I have also been trained on Excel and power point, areas I needed support and this has improved my computer skills. As a result, I have been able to do and send my assignments with ease..." said James.

Deaf and Dumb... but ICT compliant

Disability is not inability for a boy who is 'dumb and deaf' and who has passion for ICT. 'Zakayo' as they call him is a young boy aged around 10 years and who has unique talents for he quickly learns from  little sign language that Nguruman community members try when they want to communicate with him.

Zakayo has been a regular visitor at the Maarifa centre and all he had to do is to give a broad smile as he reads through books or looks at users working with the computers, either browsing or typing their documents. His passion for ICT called for an action by the Maarifa centre team  who helped him learn how to use computers.

Zakayo typing a document at the Maarifa centre

"It took some time to learn how to communicate with him but eventually we managed to train him...." said Kelvin Koinet, computer trainer. .... "Zakayo can play computer games, type documents and also view video clips without help..." he added. His unique talents surprises every one and his skills even motivates other community members to register for ICT classes offered for free at the Maarifa centre.

Zakayo training his friend how use a computer..

 He also likes to share his new skills with his play and school mates. He is also a student at Entasopia primary school (Special needs section) and his teachers praise him for being an obedient student. The boy depends on well wishers for his daily upkeep including the basic needs.

Practical answers, a solution to Technical Enquiries

Practical Answers is an online technical information service that provides resourceful information on appropriate small-scale technologies that are easy to replicate and can be used to improve the lives of people living in poverty. The service was initiated by Practical Action an NGO that works in over 40 developing countries and uses appropriate technology to challenge poverty. 

The resources range from energy, food and Agriculture,water and sanitation,disaster reduction, Climate Change, Markets, transport, new technologies, waste management, infrastructure, reconstruction and urban poverty. These technologies can be easily replicated. 

A technical enquiry platform has also been developed to cater for extra information that one may need regarding the technologies or any other field. An online enquiry form is available on practical answers website where users fill in  a form with the contact details and the technical enquiry. The requested practical information is therefore send to the enquirer via email, SMS or call back. 

These forms are also available at the Maarifa Centres and one can get one-on-one response to technical enquiries. 

For more information, visit  Practical Answers website or their Knowledge-base.

New wind energy for Nguruman Maarifa centre

Nguruman Maarifa centre runs running on solar energy to power computers since its establishment way back in 2005. The journey has not been so easy since whenever there was less sunshine, then power put put from solar energy was low inhibiting smooth operations of the centre. In 2010, a power back-up generator was bought to address the power needs of the centre that also offered communities social entertainment and opportunity to follow the world cup games that were held in south Africa.

Community members recognized the efforts put in place by ALIN to ensure there is continued access to information and that no community member would visit the centre and go unattended to.

"We have been keen to ensure that no community member goes without accessing information by reporting the challenges on time. We thank ALIN and the technical team for ensuring that all our requests are addressed..." said Mr. kasifu, the advisory committee chairman.

ALIN technical team kept in touch with the staff on the ground to follow up on progress while they engaged other professionals for a permanent solution to the problem. A visit by Focus Energy technical staff gave a sign of relief to the ALIN field team. Focus Energy Solutions is a company that installs and distributes renewable energy souces like wind and solar to commmunities.

"When I saw the wind power technician, I saw it as the best option to address power issues once and for all ..." said Kelvin Koinet, in charge of ICT training.

The wind turbine is meant to boost the solar system during cloudy days when there is usually a lot of wind. The new source of energy is integrated to the existing solar energy giving a solar-wind hybrid system with more energy output. The system came amidst campaigns by different stakeholders and lobby groups to persuade community members to embrace renewable energy technologies and help mitigate climate change.

Focus Energy technitian assembling wind turbine.  photo by Lucky Martins

News on the wind power system spread widely and Community members came in large numbers to see the technology which is new to the area with majority visiting the site on Sunday.

"We are amazed by the technology and thank ALIN for bringing it closer to us.. I have only been hearing that wind can generate power but I haven't seen the system..." said one old man on site.

Community members could not hide their joy as they praised the initiative taken by ALIN to ensure that, they get continued quality Maarifa centre services.

"I am now happy that, I will not be using a generator during training since it's not reliable, economical and is noisy thus affecting concentration by my students... it also runs on petrol and pollutes the air!... Thanks to ALIN for the action taken..." said Kelvin Koinet amid a broad smile..


"We are happy to have the system on site since it will be easy for us to show the community how they can tap the renewable energy opportunities within their reach... we are also glad to have continued power supply since this will enable us access information at all times and tap the power to our offices nearby... Thanks to ALIN for the initiative..." said Mr. Mathu, Agricultural environment officer.

"I feel motivated to use the facility to my maximum... I appreciate efforts that ALIN has put in place to address the power issue..." Said Emmanuel Chichi, a student and a regular Maarifa centre user.

Installed wind turbine at the Maarifa centre compound. Photo by Samuel Nzioka

As part of awareness creation to communities on renewable energy resources,  the Nguruman Maarifa centre demonstrates use of solar and biogas systems by communities, the additional wind energy resource is a boost to the many options available that can be used in remote areas. The centre plans  to start demonstrations on affordable solar lanterns as an alternative lighting system for communities.

Nguruman maarifa centre in collaboration with Africa Solar Designs a company that promotes low cost solar lelectric systems will elect one community member to be trained on renewable energy sources  later this month at masai mara. This will be in bid with ALIN's concern for community involvement in community development projects and also capacity building the community members on maintenance and repair so they can be able to tackle technical challenges accompaning the technologies.

Farmers advised to form marketing groups for better market prices

For a long period, farmers  within Nguruman irrigation scheme have been selling their farm produce to middle men who offer low prices for their produce. This has been a recurring occurance for quite a long time and this has drawn attention of stakeholders working around Nguruman probing intervention of Horticultural Crops Development Authority (HCDA). 

Joint efforts between ministry of Agriculture officers (MOA) and ALIN staff came as a wake up call to farmers who showed interest to have access to better marketing strategies. A meeting was then called to identify brokers and on-farm buyers who were given a notice present their business licence to HCDA staff for verification. the news came as a relief to farmers as they were taken through gross margin analysis.

Farmers being taken through gross margin analysis Exercise at MOA grounds. Photo by Samuel Nzioka

The exercise was participatory and farmers were divided in groups according to the crop they produce where they discussed the cost of all inputs divide by the total production per acreage. The costs gave them the least buying price they should accept for their farm produce. To their surprise, they found out that they had been selling their produce at a loss. For instance, the cost of producing one carton of okra (Asian vegetable) was Kshs 128.00 and they have been selling a carton at Ksh, 100 or even sometimes at 80.00.

Divisional Agricultural Extension Officer (DAEO) Mr. Bainito Atonya advised the farmers to form marketing groups which will sign a contract with the exporters and supervised by MOA and HCDA to ensure that terms of the contract are not breached. Farmers were also advised to abide to the terms by ensuring they produce as per the agreement. The MOA and HCDA agreed to impose tough sanctions to brokers and exporters who will be found exploiting farmers an offence that will mean cancellation of their licence.

Addressing the meeting, the DAEO encouraged the farmers to make use of information material available at the Maarifa in order to embrace modern technology and learn the best practices other farmers are using in other parts of the world.  

Reaching out to Nguruman community

Nguruman Maarifa centre has been on the fore front to ensure that Nguruman community members have hands on with modern technologies and information as other people within the urban setting. Despite the challenges the community members are facing, majority are determined and willing embrace new technologies and information disseminated.

With the majority of people living within Maarifa centre vicinity being reached, Nguruman Maarifa centre embarked on an outreach programme in order to reach out to people within other locations. Olkiramatian market day marks the day when traders, buyers and all other members from other location within and beyond Magadi division meet to trade or even have a drink as they chat in  groups. 

Traders watching a video during one of the past visits

The market day held on Wednesday every week is the main meeting point for traders and customers around the location and beyond. We have have seen people from within and far enrol for ICT training being offered at the Maarifa centre and others coming for general enquiries as a result of the visits. Community members who have received on-site services like Internet access welcomed the initiative citing that It will go far to address community information needs. Animal production video shows got the most interest since majority of the community members are pastoralists

The video below was produced during one of the visits.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tp2BzIjSWAw