Last year, Learn Foundation came to the limelight in the Bangladeshi media when Microsoft selected the NGO as its partner in for its (Microsoft) Unlimited Potential (UP), a community initiative of Microsoft that aims to help underserved young people and adults across the globe overcome the "digital divide" by imparting them technology skills. To write a cover story for a computer magazine, I went to visit the project of Learn Foundation (Sunamgang) which is in situated in the North-Eastern corner of . It is a very poor and underdeveloped area with lots of lakes and marshy land. For 3-4 months of the year, most of the places are under water and boat is the only form of communication for the villagers. Illiteracy and unemployment both are high in this area.
Local and International media like BBC, Asia News TV program, ETV and BTV have given coverage to the activities of this NGO. Academicians and researches from Media Lab of Massachusetts Institute of Technology (M.I.T) and Oxford University Student Exchange Program under Travel Aid have cooperated with Learn Foundation.
Recently I took an interview of Imran Rasheed, Executive Director of Learn Foundation through email. Excerpts from the interview are given below:
SouthAsiaBiz: How could you think of the idea of introducing Internet and computer technology to the people living in remote rural areas?
Imran Rasheed: With so much talk of urbanization, still majority of the population in Bangladesh, live in the villages. Many of us tend to forget that they are very hardworking and posses the same talent like city people. The only thing missing from their lives is opportunity and high quality information access. People live in rural areas with zero infrastructure- so the need for ICT is universal. They need to know the price of their products, about agriculture, health services, legal redress, education and they need to communicate with relatives living in nearby villages or abroad. They need cheap ICT infrastructure which cannot be provided by cellular. Only Wireless LAN provides affordable universal voice and data access.
Imran Rasheed: Our major aim is to create a symbiotic Process between wireless networks, education and Livelihood contents so that network growth is organic and is sustained Rural business. Network funds education for its own growth and educated Community would demand the network.
Major activities are:
Spreading Internet Service to village markets, schools and homes
Converting Rural telephone Shops (RTS) into Community Technology Learning Centers ( CTLC)
Training RTS owners in the use of Internet Applications and how to become small village based ISPs to spread wireless Internet to adjacent villages.
MICROSOFT UP project in 3 LEARN Centers & 5 RTS centers to impart Microsoft certifications at very nominal costs to 2000 rural youths every year. Every wireless nodes imparts ICT education to ten 5 year old village kids so that they can find employment and higher education access through the network. We have already seen a lot of enthusiasm among the common people and we are optimistic that this project will contribute in increasing ICT use in the rural areas of . I would say information.
Imparting quality educations to selected children from extreme poor families in our KID centre
Providing computer training to the students in the rural areas so that they can find employment
SouthAsiaBiz: Last year, you were selected by Microsoft as its partner for Unlimited Potential (UP). Please elaborate some more about it.
Imran Rasheed: Under the first UP project in Bangladesh, Microsoft is supporting community ICT training to more than 2,800 disadvantaged youth every year and facilitate information access at the grassroots-level. Microsoft's contribution includes US$ 90,000 in cash grants, software, training curriculum and certifications for rural communities.
The Program will impart technology training ranging from basic computer literacy skills to use of advanced business productivity applications to 2800 rural youths every year. MICROSOFT UP project is implemented in 3 LEARN Centers & 5 RTS centers to impart Microsoft certifications at very nominal costs to 2800 rural youths every year.
Imparting quality educations to selected children from extreme poor families in our KID centre is another important component of our project activity.
SouthAsiaBiz: Do you think that considering the fact that Bangladesh is one of the poorest countries in the world, internet and computer can be a viable business activity in the rural areas?
Imran Rasheed :Yes it is. One cannot eat ICT. But you have to understand the needs of the village people instead of imposing a business model on them. They know how to survive and do their business better than us. We try to research those needs by looking at their day to day transactions and figuring out what role information or lack of it plays in those transactions and how to deliver those information, in the right place in the right time most cost effectively. Wireless LAN provides that infrastructure over a scalable business model. One may ask, which comes first ? Food or Information ?
SouthAsiaBiz: You provided computer training to many students. How are they doing after completion of their training?
Imran Rasheed : Many of our students got employment in the ICT industry in . It is not that they are earning a fortune but they were more than happy to receive a training by which they could get jobs. They are working with the network also and expanding it village by village. They are teaching ICT to other students. It’s a cascade. It will snowball into a social and economic transformation in the villages. Wait and see.
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the activities of this NGO is very well. it is working in a remote area of sunamgonj district. thanks Mr Imaran Rashid for this kinds of works.
Posted by: animesh | September 11, 2007 7:23 AM | Permalink to Comment