Charlie Chabveka shares with us some of the realities of working in such a challenging environment. "With the current economy meltdown in Zimbabwe and an exchange rate of 1:20 to the USD$ (at the time of interview), this has led to many uncertain turn out of events so it’s difficult to plan on what will happen tomorrow or even anticipate the next few hours. In every town and city you go to there are queues everywhere, as people are looking for either fuel, money or water. Load shedding (power cuts) that lasts for 18 hours a day and only comes back at 10 pm, has affected the economy resulting in very little production."

"Why do I do what I do? There is nothing that brings the most joy other than working with children, seeing the children smile, some crying tears of joy when they realise that we believe in their future and believe in them. The most interesting thing about my job, is imparting the little knowledge that I have acquired, for the benefit of the next person and their community. Learning from the other communities and getting to understand the day to day life of the children and teachers makes it even more interesting." 

Thanks to the generosity of our supporters through this year’s Big Give Christmas Challenge, IT Schools Africa raised £12,836 to fund an
e-Learning lab for students in Malawi in just 7 days.
​We were delighted to have taken part in the UK’s biggest match funding campaign and every donation was important to us. The Big Give’s record-breaking campaign, which ran from 03-10 December 2019, generated over £15 million in vital funding for good causes across the country, matching donations pound for pound until the funding pot was empty. ​Entrepreneur and philanthropist Sir Alec Reed CBE, founder of The Big Give, says: 
“The public’s generosity to this year’s Christmas Challenge has been phenomenal. It demonstrates just how much the public values the work of UK charities and the services they provide. 
“Match funding has proved yet again to be an incredibly powerful incentive to give, enabling the public to maximise their impact on good causes.”

"Giving students access to IT helps them reach their education destination and allows them to fulfil their dreams." Boni Chipembere, Programme Manager.
  
Thank you for your generosity and ongoing support.

We are delighted to be taking part in the Big Give Christmas Challenge 2019. For one week only, online donations raised for our digital literacy project for students in Malawi, will be DOUBLED as part of a match funding campaign. 
Save the date: 12pm 3rd December - 12pm 10th December. The campaign offers supporters the opportunity to double their donations during this week. For example, an online donation of £100 is doubled to £200. If Gift Aid is claimed, the donation could be worth £225. Donations are doubled whilst matching funds last.

​There are extreme levels of low computer literacy in Malawi as most schools are yet to introduce basic computer literacy into their curriculum. Our vision is for all students where we work in Africa to benefit from fully functioning e-Learning technology to provide access to further education and improved opportunities for employment. 
We are raising money to install a world class e-Learning lab at a secondary school in Malawi. We have provided 25 computer labs to schools most in need in the country. 
​Together we can transform lives through access to quality IT education.

We are building an IT lab for a disabled school in the country's second city, Blantyre. The lab will be the first of its kind in the township of Bangwe. The school is run by brother and sister Rex and Fatima Salima, who are both disabled themselves. The school promotes disabled young people’s right to education and aims to facilitate inclusion in all aspects of life.

Disabled children and young adults struggle in Malawi to even gain a formal education, digital facilities are scant and schools that do have such facilities are largely inaccessible to people with disabilities. 

Digital skills are in high demand and a digital education can provide disabled people with valuable skills and knowledge that can help empower them to secure better paid jobs or to start their own businesses.

We are very proud to be approaching our 15th anniversary of transforming lives through access to e-Learning and making a difference to the lives of the students. This will be a very special year to reflect and celebrate on the impact both in Africa and in our local community. Plans are underway to mark this milestone in the history of the charity. Please stay tuned!

​Some teachers will use resources on the computers for their classes which greatly improves the quality of lessons, however, this takes time as the schools have to get used to integrating computers into different subjects.
​
The benefit of these computers is significant and without ITSA many of the students would be computer illiterate, preventing them from being able to access almost all well-paying jobs."
​Tarquinn, volunteer in Malawi 

Kohler Co Global IT leadership team chose IT Schools Africa as their company volunteering partner. The team worked together with IT Schools Africa to refurbish and rebuild over 80 PCs that were donated by Kohler Co. These computers will be sustainably reused in African schools helping students to advance their education in a modern digital world.

“It was a truly inspirational event at ITSA. Well-done to the team “
Paul Ryan Chief Information Officer Kohler Co 

“The Kohler Co Global IT Leadership team thoroughly enjoyed the challenge of refurbishing computers for IT Schools Africa during a company volunteering day. The event ended up being very competitive and great fun, and concluded with the completion of over 80 refurbished Kohler Co computers for donation that will make the their way to help educate less privileged children in schools in Africa.” Simon Ashley Manager - IT Operations & Infrastructure EMEA

If you would like to find out more about company volunteering please email contact@itschoolsafrica.org 

We are proud to have completed our 25th e-Learning lab in collaboration with the Tag Rugby Trust (TRT). This is our second IT lab project in Zimbabwe, providing IT access and digital skills training to vulnerable young girls in Harare. The lab has been installed at a specially built centre for girls at the Harare Sports Club. The centre, built by Tag Rugby Trust has computers and laptops for young girls who participate in Tag’s programmes as well as for the local community to use.

The project will deliver a significant improvement in both the quality and increased quantity of IT teaching for the densely populated area providing:
Scheduled classroom style training sessions, bookable individual sessions, safe internet usage, teacher training and training programmes on general IT usage. 
We expect to see an increase in the number of users accessing employment/education/training courses. 

Speaking on behalf of Muddy Boots, Andy Nash, Infrastructure Manager  commented, “Donating to IT Schools Africa made perfect sense for us as a software company, there’s a huge correlation between both organisations. We’re just thrilled that we’ve been able to help contribute towards transforming students' education in Africa with technology that we can often take for granted.”

We would love to hear from you if you are able to fundraise for IT Schools Africa contact@itschoolsafrica.org 

We are opening a digital learning centre, TECH (Teach Education Cheltenham) in Leckhampton, Cheltenham, as part of our 2021 goals to increase the number of people gaining access to digital skills and services. TECH Connect will support any groups or individuals that want to learn, or improve their IT knowledge in an informal and relaxed environment.

We are a member of Digital Unite’s Digital Champions Network, a proven foundation for delivering meaningful digital participation. Using their resources, we will provide a range of online courses designed to help people develop their personal digital skills and confidence in using a computer or mobile device.
You can learn:

• Basic computer skills including using a mobile device (laptop/tablet/smart phone)
• Using the Internet
• Accessing online services
• Keeping in touch with family using emails and online messaging
• Improve your confidence and motivation to learn new skills