Open Lab Project
The awarenet Open Lab project gives our local community - and all visitors from outside - access to our two computer labs at the Joza Youth Hub in Makhanda.
The idea behind the Open Lab is simple and straightforward; let’s open our technological resources such as computers and the internet for free use to everyone in the community!
In the townships areas of Makhanda few people have direct access to computers with high-speed internet - often a crucial need in today’s information society.
Lab supervisors are available in the computer labs to guide those who are newbies to computers or to give tips on what websites to use; in addition they regulate the often large traffic of people into the computer labs.
The large majority of users of the Open Lab are children and youth in school-going age who use the computers to do homework or school projects. Other learners, particularly younger ones, like to have fun playing games after they are done with school and homework. Through such play these children who don’t have access to computers at home get valuable ICT skills.
Adult users of the lab often use the computers and internet for job searches and applications; checking their email, reading news or applying for university and colleges.
The Open Lab also provides offline content primarily aimed at school children, including educational videos in a variety of subjects, audiobooks, e-books and educational games.
Opening its doors for the first time in 2017, the Open Lab has seen a continuous growth since then. In 2023, Awarenet registered more than 11300 user sessions taking place at the Hub. Given that the average user session is around 1.5 hours that means we have provided around 17000 free hours on the internet to the community!
