Zanzalu Circle - 28/07
Challenge
Tanzania is grappling with a complex employment crisis driven by structural inefficiencies, a large informal sector, corruption, unpaid labour, economic barriers, unequal treatment towards locals. The local Circle identified education and vocational training as a big way to help people get ahead, particularly in core skills like technological literacy.
Project
One of the attendees who lives in Zanzibar brought a group of people who run a community center and school for children and young people in difficult situations (abuse at school, low resources, low access to opportunities). The school teaches English to children and young people, as well as offering them a safe place to play and be away from home. Every day from 7 to 9 PM. They also offer tour guidance training to the older members (up to 25 years old). The founder has a tour agency so he can help them get official papers to work regularly. They also offer certificates upon completion, to complement regular government education education.
They currently have a place donated by our Circle member (he shares his offices with them), aside from a rented building shared with a school. They have plans for buying the building - an expensive price would be around 23,000 USD - so they can make this a long term thing, with the goal of allowing students to stay there and escape unhealthy environments (the kids are asking them to stay but they can’t).
They also have a small library and a computer room. They have it stocked with old computers, tablets etc. Currently most computers are not working, the environment is harsh (dust, salt, humidity) and voltage controls needed to protect them from surges.
We identified this as a key issue that might have a big impact for kids, especially the younger groups from 7-12, as they have more time to learn, absorb and use these skills in the future.
Proposal
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Improve and update the computer room and create a ongoing program tailored for kids to learn the basics of computers, the internet and IT.
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Program: English, contact hours, play, able to find information on google, discover stuff etc. Benchmark and standards. Goal is being familiar with computers. Fundamental level, basic competence. Make sure it is safe from adult content and that they don’t fall down the YouTube rabbit hole.
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Set-up: Get 10 Raspberry Pi + screens and keyboards as a cheap solution (contact lady who is doing that work), for 1200 to 1800 USD.
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Have it work on Linux, with offline learning modules and setups to avoid internet downtime and associated electricity and internet costs.
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Find someone local (potentially student week participants) to train a supervisor in the core volunteers of the school. Find a trainer who is competent in the field of education.
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Find volunteers from IT student to have a monthly check in with the teachers to keep software and equipment running and up to date.
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Contact local lady running Raspberry Pi program in Zanzibar for advice, guidance (she is living in Fumba Town, contact from Eva)
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Set up a crypto based donation campaign to get donations from Zanzalu residents (BTC at all time highs!) and across our wider audiences. Costs vs impact are great.
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Optional: Small powerful computer with some LLM model that the teachers can use to ask for advice, help, etc.
Asks for specific Circle members (not listed for privacy reasons)
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Visit the place in the PM
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Determine the educational program
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Determine setup needs
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Set up + promote donation system
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Contact Nataly for pilot program
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Create video for donation campaign
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Write up plan and documentation
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Reach out to student leaders and other groups to support in setup and training
Follow Up
We will visit the school project later today and continue reporting on the updates based on the asks. This thread will be used for organizational purposes and discussing ideas.