OKOA
initiated the establishment of computer training in 2007 immediately after the
formation and registration of the organization. The objectives of this program
are:
To
support youths in the society with affordable or rather free computer skills so
as to enable them begin their own initiatives in their own communities upon
completion of the courses. They will be able to earn a living and support their
siblings and hence poverty will reduce.
To
generate income to the organization so as to achieve the organization’s goals
Where we work
OKOA computer
community college is located in Kiminini town near Kitale town in rift valley province
of Kenya. We enroll students from five surrounding districts including:
Bungoma, Trans-Nzoia west, Trans-Nzoia east kakamega, Webuye and MT Elgon
districts
The
IT program offer computer packages to the learners who are certified upon
successful completion of courses. The learner is first introduced to basic
computer features including hardware, software and management information
systems. Once the leaner is acquainted with the basic, will begin advanced
computer lessons in: Operating system courses
- Operating systems for windows (XP,
2000, ME)
- Operating system for DOS
Microsoft office applications
- Ms word 2003 and 2007
- Ms excel 2003 and 2007
- Ms PowerPoint 2003 and 2007
- Ms Publisher 2003 and 2007
- Ms Outlook 2003 and 2007
- Ms InfoPath 2003 and 2007
Desktop publishing applications
- Ms Publisher 2003 and 2007
- Adobe PageMaker 7.0
Graphic design
- Real draw
- Adobe Photoshop
Accounting
software
Other courses we are offering
- Internet and e-mail
- Professional web designing (HTML,
CSS, PHP)
- We also offer basic computer repair
and maintenance to our advanced students
So far this program has proved successful,
63 orphans have already benefited from the program and other 77 youths also
benefited. Most of the beneficiaries are working or proceeding with further
education studies.
The little money raised from the
computer training courses has made the organization sustain its life and
implementation of the activities
Remote community centres can now
access and utilize the internet resources. Young girls and boys who have
completed high school and they could not afford to join college due to poverty,
can now better their career through the online courses which is rather free or
affordable
The graduates from our community
colleges can now secure employment opportunities. Orphans who are family heads
can now manage to provide for their siblings because are working.
The organization itself has greatly benefited
from the IT program. The internet have been the major source of information including
learning resources that have helped the organization improve the capacity of
its staff and volunteers
Despite
the progress attained, the program has suffered setbacks arising from:
Lack
of enough computers and human resources have made quite hard for the program to
meet the high demand for the IT education services. More than four students are sharing one computer. And because OKOA
is a charity organization, a lot of orphans and vulnerable youths are coming in
for support
High
levels of poverty in the communities we operate have minimized community
contribution towards the IT intervention. As a result, the organization is bearing a large burden in the whole
process. Poverty in these communities is mainly due to death of many people
from HIV/AIDS which have largely demobilized
development resources.
OKOA
is planning to initiate online computer courses so as to reach as many targets
as possible. The online course selection process shall be designed to reach
both orphans and non-orphans
Once
there are enough resources (computers) the college shall begin offering
national and international exams to the learners
IT
in Kenya so far is still concentrated urban centres, in order to effectively
reach the remote people with information technology services, the program plans
to initiate mobile computer training program (MCTP)
We
are politely requesting well wishers, individuals, and organizations,
institutions to willingly support us to expand the IT program and achieve the
objective of reducing poverty among our people. Individuals and organization
can support through:
- Equipment
donation ( computer hardware, computer systems)
- Software
donation (programming languages, operating systems-any)
- Learning
materials donations (books, manuals and tutorials)
- Monetary
support ( for us to buy more computers and pay for staff)
- Volunteer
with us (offer free trainings once in a given time or fulltime for a given
time)
- Grants
(to expand the college)
For more information about this program, or how you can
participate please click contact us to send us a message.
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