Information Technology and HIV-AIDS Prevention method

 Introduction:

The Restore Hope Information Technology Center (RHITC) is an organization offering a broad range of technology-related services that aim to allow all community members in the Dukwi refugee camp and surrounding Dukwi village to benefit from educational and economic opportunities created by information technologies. RHITC's mission is to bridge the technological gap between the greater Dukwi community with other outside communities. In doing so, RHITC seeks to not only provide practical skills training, but to also empower its community members with health and HIV/AIDS education through an innovative and interactive approach by incorporating health and HIV/AIDS education into all projects and materials produced by students.

The greater Dukwi area which RHITC serves is an ethnically diverse low-income community of approximately 6,000 inhabitants including the village and refugee camp. Although most residents of Dukwi village are Batswana, our overall community is unique as it is comprised of numerous nationalities with refugees representing 18 countries, the majority being from Angola, Namibia, Somalia, DRC Congo, Rwanda, Burundi, and Zimbabwe.

Technological improvements seen elsewhere in Botswana have not beneficially impacted our community due to the limited access of such resources to community members. A survey conducted by RHITC showed that only 0.5% Dukwi residents have computers in their home. There are extremely scarce technology resources and training opportunities available to the refugees and students of Dukwi's schools. Additionally, there are few jobs available for the population of Dukwi contributing to our status of having the lowest per-capita income in the country.

RHITC works to bring computer access and education and economic opportunity to all community members of Dukwi and its surrounding villages through a variety of programs:

• RHITC operates an after-school education program called "Community Kids". The Community Kids program offers art projects, physical activities, and computer-based academic tutoring to children age four and over.

• Our computer education program which is open to all ages teaches classes that range from basic instruction in introduction to computers to advanced courses in HTML and graphic design. Classes are run in partnership with community-based organizations and schools.

• RHTIC also supports a series of information businesses that employ local teens and young adults. RHITC creates the opportunity for the young people of Dukwi to be pioneers in the information revolution by teaching them technological skills that are in demand in today's economy and also by guiding them in marketing their skills to paying customers.

Community Partnerships

Dukwi refugee Camp Elementary School: This is the primary school in Dukwi refugee Camp. We work with their standard 4-7 students.
Dukwi village Primary School: This is the primary school in Dukwi village and we work with their standard 4-7 students.
Dukwi Community Junior Secondary School: This is the only junior school in Dukwi. We work with all students.
Other youths who want to learn computer skills: We provide computer classes to all community members age 5 to 30.

Proposed Project Description

Overall Goal: To educate Dukwi refugee camp community and the surrounding Dukwi village about HIV/AIDS through an innovative technological approach while also providing quality computer skills education.

Activities:

• Expansion youth-focused programs being operated by RHITC as part of a health and HIV/AIDS education program

• Creation of community-based IEC materials

• Training of community members on practical computer technology skills

School-based Programs: We will offer a series of computer courses meant to teach children how to use computers through creative projects geared toward health and HIV/AIDS education. The first quarter of the academic year focuses on an introduction to basic computers. The second quarter consists of introduction to applications like Microsoft Word, Kid Pix and HTML. The third course focuses on producing an HIV/AIDS project that will ultimately lead to the children presenting their project to peers in a public forum, therefore disseminating HIV/AIDS information while also culminating and reinforcing their new technology skills in a practical way.

Restore Hope Information Technology Center-based Programs: We wish to offer computer classes to teenagers that are interested in being a part of RHITC. The applications and skills taught in this program build upon basic computer skills and expand their technical expertise in desktop publishing, multimedia production and web page design. The structure for these more advanced classes is the same as that describe above. The focus, however, is on building skills that are marketable and able to generate income for teenagers. Materials produced by students in such courses will deal with HIV/AIDS issues and ultimately become community-based IEC materials. Therefore, all materials published by students will have HIV/AIDS messages to be distributed to their peers while also showcasing their computer publication skills. The webpage design component will allow students to reach a larger audience with the information they wish to disseminate and the quality skills they have attained through course work.

Multimedia Production (open to all ages): During the first 12 week phase of the multimedia program, we will concentrate on training our young people to use multimedia production tools. They will get hands-on experience using 3D graphics and animation software and digital video editing software. Also, they are going to be trained to use multimedia authoring software like Macromedia Sound Edit 16, Adobe Photoshop, and Adobe Illustrator. Our trainings consist of small projects to help them become familiar with the applications. Each project will be based on producing a multimedia presentation of health and HIV/AIDS topics. Our students will work on portfolios and create documentaries. The documentaries will focus on HIV/AIDS as well as health issues faced by members of Dukwi village and refugee camp. The purpose of such an activity is to reinforce the practical skills of computer training while also providing the students a creative outlet to express their views on HIV/AIDS issues with in a medium that can be shared with others and used as an education tool.

Project Evaluation
While the content varies from class to class, we will measure our success in achieving the programs' goals in the following ways:

• Attendance sheets for all classes: Attendance sheets will be compiled into weekly program reports.

• Class journals for all classes: Journals will be written by the instructor for each class and are sent to all staff. In addition, journals will be posted on the internet where they can be reviewed by staff, board members and funders

• Portfolio for each class: We will maintain a computer portfolio for each class, which includes finished products as well as other work generated during each class.

• Conducting regular quizzes: Students will be tested on basic class competencies.

• HIV/AIDS Knowledge, Skills and Attitudes Assessments: Pre and post tests will be given before and after every projects incorporating HIV/AIDS information. The same tests will be administered to audience members during presentations of multimedia productions to evaluate the effectiveness of the productions on disseminating HIV/AIDS information.