Reed House Systems, TeleWeaver and the Siyakhula Living Lab in the German DIE ZEIT.

Dietrich von Richthofen, a German journalist, visited Grahamstown and the rural Eastern Cape in January 2011. After a series of long interviews with Ron Wertlen (eKhaya ICT and Reed House Systems CTO) and Anna Wertlen (Village Scribe Association), Sibukele Gumbo (Siyakhula Living Lab Management Unit) and Alfredo Terzoli (Rhodes University – Centre of Excellence) and Read more about Reed House Systems, TeleWeaver and the Siyakhula Living Lab in the German DIE ZEIT.[…]

awareNet now connected to twitter

We can proudly announce: Our social network awareNet is now connected to twitter! awareNet is now sending daily automated updates about certain activity to @VillageScribeSA. Please, follow us to see what’s going on in our social network for South African and other interested learners. Insights that are posted are completely anonymous to protect the privacy Read more about awareNet now connected to twitter[…]

awareNet-in-a-box

It’s been an exciting few months here at eKhaya ICT as we prepare to release awareNet-in-a-box. This is a social networking product for education, the goal of which is to turn any ordinary Windows computer into a social media hub, giving schools and communities access to communication, publishing and collaboration tools similar to those so Read more about awareNet-in-a-box[…]

Too many Grahamstown/Rhini schools threatened with closure

There is this sad, recurring trend of Grahamstown township schools being threatened with closure. This is even more unfortunate when you consider that the town holds a very important role in South African Black education. Nathaniel Nyaluza High School and Andrew Moyakhe Primary School are among the oldest schools in the Eastern Cape. It is Read more about Too many Grahamstown/Rhini schools threatened with closure[…]

Rhodes Community Engagement volunteers for VSA and awareNet

The VSA started a great collaboration with Rhodes’ Community Engagement. CE organised 10 volunteers who are going to work with us for the year 2011. We are very happy to welcome such a large group of motivated, young and active students. Thank you very much for your interest! The volunteers are going to join Thozi, Read more about Rhodes Community Engagement volunteers for VSA and awareNet[…]

“aware Yet?” Campaign to Raise Awareness of our Youth’s Plight

  South African youth is in general vastly un-appreciated, un-skilled and un-employed (**). Yet they are the future of our country and the hope for the nation!  Second rate schooling, apathy and lack of a master plan are the ingredients in this terrible recipe for disaster!   “aware Yet?” a campaign that the Village Scribe Read more about “aware Yet?” Campaign to Raise Awareness of our Youth’s Plight[…]

awareNet is improving on a daily basis!

awareNet is the VSA’s social networking software, developed together with eKhaya ICT. Think facebook and Wikipedia in one, especially designed for underprivileged schools in South Africa. The most exciting technical aspect is that even schools without Internet access or very low Internet quota can use it. Nevertheless, they can connect to any other school in Read more about awareNet is improving on a daily basis![…]

RLabs Rhini’s visit to the LLiSA Conference

RLabs is a partner of the VSA. I work for the VSA and also happen to be the chairperson of the Grahamstown branch of RLabs called RLabs Rhini. RLabs is a living lab that works to rehabilitate ex-gangsters and ex-drug dealers. Here in Grahamstown we are going to focus on peer pressure because many matriculants Read more about RLabs Rhini’s visit to the LLiSA Conference[…]