Kamukama changing lives through digital skills training

With the country and entire world being in the digital or information age, it is essential for every Ugandan to have digital skills.

However, like other developing countries, the digital literacy levels in the country are very low, especially in the rural and marginal-urban areas.

Currently, just 48 percent of people in Uganda are using the internet, according to the Uganda Communications Commission (UCC).

“Every Ugandan needs digital skills because physical boundaries have been broken by Covid-19. Work right now is on remote, meetings are virtual, news is online, and it is not about to change,” Ms Asiya Kamukama says.

This, the 36-year-old Kamukama says, triggered her desire in 2007, even before she graduated from university, to start taking digital skills and tools to people, especially youth and communities.

To ensure that digital skills are taken to the people, Ms Kamukama and her colleague, the late Eric Morrow hatched an idea under which they took computers to schools. They subsequently founded Maendeleo Foundation, a local non-government organization with its headquarters in Mukono Town.

To kick off their plan, through a person in Western Uganda, two schools were identified and each received a donation of five desktops as well as a solar power to provide power since they had no electricity.

However, Ms Kamukama says, to their dismay, the schools locked up the computers in a store because they lacked computer teachers.

“Besides, the school administration feared that when the computers are given to learners to use, they would break down yet they didn’t have funds to repair them,” Ms Kamukama, a graduate of Development Economics from Makerere University says.

This prompted her and Morrow to start training the teachers and a community Information Communication Technology person so that they could continue supporting the school and community.

However, having realized that their goals were not being met as the computers were not being utilized, she designed another project dubbed, “The Mobile Solar Computer Classroom Project”

Under this ongoing project, the mother of one explains that they take digital tools and teachers to schools and communities and everything required to conduct a computer class and then offer trainings to teachers, learners and community members.

“In this project, after the training, all the equipment such as computers, internet devices, solar systems are taken back to our office,” she says.

 She says there was an ongoing two-year programme, where they partner with schools in Buikwe, Busolwe, Masaka districts and West Nile sub region to conduct weekly digital classes throughout the school term.

This programme has unfortunately been suspended because of the closure of schools due to Covid-19 pandemic.

Before the closure of schools, they were working with 10 schools among them Kabimbiri C/U, Kiyunga C/U, St. John’s Education Centre, Good Hope P/S and Merita P/S.

“Under this programme, we have reached over 70,000 people,” she says, adding “Am able to do this through funding and partnerships,” she says.

Achievements

Ms Kamukama’s work has won her a number of awards. For instance, the Mobile Solar Classroom project won the 2014 Seed awards because it is sustainable development impact.

While in 2017, she won the Fire awards in the social inclusion category for taking digital skills and internet to remote communities.

Challenges

Ms Kamukama says her biggest challenge is lack of funds to buy equipment such as computers, transport to areas where she works as well as maintenance costs of vehicles.

She adds that the low literacy levels in the communities hampers training of some people in ICT skills since some level of literacy like ability to read and comprehend are needed in the training on the side of learners.

 But despite the challenges, Ms Kamukama says she wants to strengthen Maendeleo skills academy to give job-ready skills to youth, especially those badly hit by covid-19 such as teenage mothers.

About Kamukama

Born in Wagala village in Nagojje sub-county, she went to St Matia Mulumba catholic primary school in Kireka for her primary education and then Mt. St Mary’s Namagunga for O and A level education.

She graduated in 2009 from MAkerere University with Bachelor’s degree in Development Economics. She is a mother of one.