Participants at this week's UK/Nigeria online meeting were eager to share feedback following Dadamac's successful 5th anniversary celebrations of Teachers Teachers from BarCampAfrica.
It was agreed by both teams that the day had proved both enjoyable and productive.
Our friends in Nigeria expressed their delight at the quality of the contacts that they made and already plans are being discussed to move forward the debates about open software and equipment for the new Community Communication Centre. In fact it was online at BarCampAfrica that John Dada was able to tell us the exciting news that their CCC had just been evaluated and Fantsuam were told it is the best they've seen in Nigeria. No surprise to us here in the UK Dadamac team!
No-computer computer course
Another exciting and unexpected development was that one of the original participants of the Teachers Talking programme is now in earnest discussions with Fantsuam to help her run a course at her school. Fantsuam itself is at the edge of connectivity and this teacher's school is in a small village 60kms away. Despite having no computers, she is willing to raise her pupils' awareness of technology - and the possibilities it offers - by looking at implementing a 'no-computer computer course'. A member of the Nigerian team hopes to visit her school this week and we are all eagerly looking forward to the feedback at next week's meeting.
Rural reality
As the meeting progressed we had a few minor frustrations with the technology due to a time delay. Pam and I were slightly perturbed when John apologised for being slightly late for the meeting as he had " three children at risk". Our past experience of these situations is that they are often, literally, matters of life and death. It is not uncommon for John to be called away to deal with instances of children accused of witchcraft or involved in medical emergencies. Hopefully, today this was not the case, but these are some of the many daily challenges facing communities in rural Nigeria. Luckily the Byanloco community has a progressive and dedicated team at Fantsuam to whom they can turn for help. It never ceases to astound me what the Fantsuam Team has already accomplished. Think what they might achieve if properly resourced and funded!