Hi, I have been away for quite some time and guess what – I have been back in South Africa for the first time after almost two years.
First thing to say: It was fantastic and everything runs smoothly without me (on site) and turns out to develop very well! 🙂
VSA News:
* The VSA is going to move into their office in the Joza Youth Hub in June 2014. The Hub looks great and we are looking forward to put the its computer lab to good use. As a start, we are going to work with learners from schools, who do not have their own compute lab. For that, we will revive our cooperation with Upstart and then take it from there. During the awarenet Open Day, we got quite a few schools interested.
* With the help of eKhaya ICT, we will install awarenet on the server in the computer lab and our own antenna on the Joza Hub roof to be able to synchronize awarenet instances and to offer the learners all opportunities that come with the programme and its partners (e.g. Kahn Academy / KaLite).
* We also looked at long term projects: Together with the Rotary Club Pirna (Germany) and the Rotary Club Grahamstown, we will apply for funding to develop a teacher curriculum for awarenet. This project could possibly start next year with a pilot. We have been given permission to train teachers at the Joza Hub.
* I have interviewed staff and volunteers about their expectations and experiences. The short movies will hopefully attract more volunteers and also some funding. I am going to start working with the footage next week. Watch out!