ICT (Information and Communication Technologies) Initiative
The ICT initiative started at Thembalethu in 2003 with one satellite dish, a handful of donated personal computers and a region taking its first step towards technological modernity. Prior to 2003, the term “computer” was a foreign concept to the local community. The Internet was a concept only discussed in conversation and the true reality was one of a region slipping to the pitfalls of the Digital Divide.
Four years later, the ICT project at Thembalethu has reached and positively affected hundreds of youth and community members. The ICT project has empowered the youth and members of the region to interact with technology. Additionally, the ICT project has enabled Thembalethu to develop income-generating programs that sustain off financial means through both traditional revenue models and online revenue models.
In 2007, international donors provided two additional satellite dishes for Thembalethu’s various sectors. The satellite dishes enabled three isolated branches of Thembalethu to communicate with one another. Prior to the satellites being installed, communications were conducted by word-of-mouth in a region where transportation is unreliable with unpredictable bus-schedules. Now, with the additional satellite dishes, Thembalethu can maintain an open-stream of information over the Internet with its various projects throughout the Nkomazi Region.
Recently, Thembalethu’s youth has taken their local community newspaper, The Nkomazi Voice (www.nkomazivoice.com), to the Internet. The ICT project has made it possible for The Nkomazi Voice to be published for the online world to read. With a print readership of over 60,000, the youth are confident that world-wide audiences will enjoy their site as much as the local community. The thrill of the teens and adults reading their names on bylines and articles on the Internet is priceless.
The ICT project has also helped launch other income-generating projects, including www.WildlyAfricanCrafts.com which sells crafts designed from local recyclable goods. Currently, the website showcases various crafts that are sold at the Wildly African Craft Shop at Thembalethu. In the coming months, the ICT project will work with www.WildlyAfricanCrafts.com in setting up the infrastructure to sell and ship the local crafts online.
Looking for a real-life South African two-day trip? Thembalethu has developed a home-stay program where visitors live, dance, sing and eat like the locals. The ICT project has helped promote this income-generating project through developing the site www.AsambeniTourism.com
One lesson the ICT project has taught everyone – wherever you are in the world, youth love using computers. Whether they are downloading music, watching the latest YouTube video, or uploading the New York Times’ latest podcast, youth are captivated by the endless stream of information and entertainment available online.
The ICT project most importantly is saving lives. Children who would never get the attention of the outside world are now able to get diagnosed via the Internet. Volunteer doctors from diverse locations such as the United States and the Ukraine have helped to properly diagnose local residents and direct them to the proper facility to seek the help they need. This would have never been possible without the power of the Internet and the altruistic caring of oversea doctors.