By supporting programs that integrate IT skills with real-life job and business training, Microsoft Unlimited Potential is helping people across Kenya stake a claim in their country's economy.
Kenya is a nation with diverse people, a rich history, and abundant natural resources. Yet for many Kenyans, hope is a scarce commodity. In areas both rural and urban, many people lack opportunities for education, work, and a chance for a better life. Through Unlimited Potential, Microsoft is working in communities to help Kenya's leaders create a skilled workforce and a more competitive economy.
It Takes a Village
Ugunja is a rural village of fewer than 1,000 people near the Ugandan border. In 1988, the Ugunja Community Resource Center (UCRC) began providing area residents with information and training to help promote economic empowerment and sustainable development. The center took an unusual approach: Instead of offering training only to young people or some other group, it offered training to all residents regardless of age, gender, or physical ability. Now, almost two decades later, the center partners with dozens of other nonprofit organizations to offer a wide range of programs, including microfinance for small businesses, training in geographic information systems implemented through a community mapping project, education and support for sustainable agriculture, and a library. All programs emphasize networking and "training the trainer" as a way to extend the community's know-how.
In 2006, the UCRC received an Unlimited Potential grant to provide free IT access and training at seven community technology centers in the area. About 2,000 people are expected to be trained at the centers in the first year, and about 12,000 will be trained over three years. Like most UCRC programs, training reaches across disciplines and demographics. Young people are learning to repair computers. Area loggers have integrated software applications with their knowledge of forestry. One woman is using Microsoft Office to help increase production in her egg business. And a 70-year-old man has declared his intention to start a software company.
In a Slum, Opportunity Blooms
Kabira is one of the bleakest slums in Nairobi. It's also a place where technical knowledge and entrepreneurship are flowering, thanks in part to the Informal Sector Business Institute (ISBI), recipient of a 2006 Unlimited Potential grant. With a focus mainly on young people, ISBI operates a computer center where trainees learn IT skills in the course of business education.
It doesn't take long to find ISBI grads in Kabira. Lillian, 21, had never used a computer before enrolling in an ISBI course. Today, she runs her own cyber café, where she trains others and makes computers available to her patrons for a fee. Rosaline and another neighborhood resident use the Internet to market an innovative product: sandals made from discarded tires. And Richard, who took an IT and business skills workshop through ISBI, expanded his garbage collection business to include landscaping, custodial services, and recycling. He now uses a computer to manage his employees and his customer accounts. Lillian, Rosaline, and Richard have all stayed in Kabira, but they are combining their business and technical skills to transcend their surroundings.
To date, Unlimited Potential has contributed more than US$388,000 to IT skills training efforts in Kenya. Microsoft is working with Kenya's ministry of youth to find other ways to make a difference in Kabira and across the country.
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