With so many foreign aid organizations helping Africa, how does Connecting Congo plan to stand out and make a difference?
Connecting Congo plans on starting up Internet learning centers that will be self-sustaining. We believe that giving communities ownership and responsibility over their own opportunities is essential to the success of Connecting Congo. We do the following to ensure that our organization develops Internet learning centers that are self-sustaining:
- Train volunteers and staff in the local communities to troubleshoot problems (technology, customer service, business logistics)
- Organize Community Volunteers to take part in the process of building, maintaining, cleaning, organizing, etc.
- Provide tools for success instead of making communities depends on continuous donations and funding.
- Make change WITH the community instead of to the community
Start-up and Step-in Funds
Connecting Congo will be there to help with start-up costs to create the momentum for a successful internet learning center, including:
- Satellite for Internet
- First 6 months of electrical power
- Building costs
- Basic supplies: tables, chairs, etc.
- Training supplies
- Laptops
- Computer Parts (cords, cameras, speakers, spare parts, printers, etc.)
Once the internet learning center is up and running with qualified staff and volunteers, it will be the responsibility of the community and the locals to earn enough money to fund the internet learning center on an ongoing business. Connecting Congo plans to be an ongoing support and resource for each of the Internet Learning Centers, and will be happy to step-in and help out to fund things that can't be completed at the local level (i.e. a specific computer part can only be found abroad).
Connecting Congo also plans to provide sufficient and ongoing training to staff and volunteers.
If you are interested in traveling to Congo to volunteer your time and expertise, please contact us!
