Program:
Education- TechKids, TechTeens, TechCommunities, TechEnhancements, Yes, Youth Can!
- Budget:
-
$150,000
- Category:
-
Education
- Population Served:
-
Females, all ages or age unspecified
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Males, all ages or age unspecified
Program Description:
YTF's core technology programs are TechKids, TechTeens, TechCommunities and TechEnhancements. TechKids and TechTeens are programs that cater to youth, ages 8 to 17 helping them to create an interest in technology as a tool for learning. TechCommunities works to help participants start to think about how they can use technology not just in their careers, but as employers and entrepreneurs of their own micro-enterprises.
Program Long-Term Success:
YTF has sustained these core programs over the last decade. These programs are replicated in regions where YTF works; U.S., Uganda, Cameroon, Kenya and Nigeria.
Yes, Youth Can! is an award-winning grassroots program designed by YTF to overcome the marginalization of youth in mainstream political processes. Yes, Youth Can! supports a personal commitment to and a vision for democracy n Africa. The program combines workshops, youth-led activities and information and communications technologies to enhance theoretical knowledge and deepen youths' understanding of activism, civic participation and the tenets of democracy.
Program Short-Term Success:
85% of the participants in the TechTeens program go on to continue their higher education in the University as opposed to going into a trade without completing their education.
100,000 youth were positively impacted by Yes, Youth Can! leading up to the first ever free and fair Presidential and Gubernatorial election in Nigeria.
Program Success Monitored by:
Retention and graduation rates - currently at 100% across all programs.
Program Success Examples:
A recent graduate of the TechCommunities program used the technology skills she acquired at YTF to design her own wedding invitations.
The National Endowment of Democracy (NED), primary funder for Yes, Youth Can! has extended the grant for another year due to the success of the program in year 1.
Program:
Agriculture - Agric-P.O.W.E.R
- Budget:
-
$100,000
- Category:
-
Food, Agriculture & Nutrition
- Population Served:
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Female Adults
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Female Aging/Elderly/Senior Citizens
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Young Adults (20-25 years) -- currently not in use
Program Description:
Agric P.O.W.E.R, Agricultural Platform Offering Women Empowerment Resources, is a grassroots program that employs young people as agricultural information workers providing rural women farmers with efficient, effective and appropriate technology, training and information to enhance their farming practices.
Program Long-Term Success:
Agric-P.O.W.E.R. will deliver services and information to the demographic that is at the very bottom of the economic pyramid, rural women, while providing employment for youth and an opportunity for them to redeem their interest in agriculture.
Program Short-Term Success:
Since announcing Agric P.O.W.E.R. in January 2011, YTF has received international attention for this program and has earned the partnership of Literacy Bridge and the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture.
Program Success Monitored by:
The ability of Agric-P.O.W.E.R. to meet project objectives defined as to (1). Ensure equitable access to productive resources and extension services. (2). Encourage a more participatory approach in improved agriculture by women farmers and (3). Design customized implementation strategies that incorporate the socio-cultural characteristics of the beneficiaries.
Program Success Examples:
Agric P.O.W.E.R. was launched by YTF in January 2011. At this time, it is too premature to report on program success.
Program:
Auxiliary Program - LearNations
- Budget:
-
$50,000
- Category:
-
Education
- Population Served:
-
Children and Youth (infants - 19 years.)
Program Description:
LearNations is a cross-cultural global communication program for youth aimed at enhancing their educational experience and at the same time bridging communities. Youth participants learn to use technology as a means to extend their learning and develop an interest in other cultures while learning more about issues that are important to them, their families and local communities.
Program Long-Term Success:
LearNations is a hands-on, project based learning approach to development. Rather than begin with technology, LearNations starts with an understanding of social and economic issues and then leverages technology to help research the problems, produce and disseminate educational material and implement solutions. Youth are the stakeholders of this project. They decide what topic is important to them, based on issues that matter the most to them in their community. These issues may include, but are not limited to:
- Science & Health: HIV/AIDS awareness, water purification and water-borne illnesses,
birth and population control, bio-medicine. - Civic responsibility: voting rights, women in public office, rural empowerment, recycling, women’s rights advocacy/female empowerment.
- Social Studies: climate, geography, ecosystem, alternative energy, history and arts.
- Education: technology, school systems and curriculum.
- Community Building: small business, economics, employment, migration.
Program Short-Term Success:
LearNations gives each child a voice regardless of age, gender, social class, community, and background. The goal of LearNations is to deliver a participatory learning methodology for education that uses project-based applied learning with digital media and interactive learning technologies. Youth research and discuss a topic, selected by them, and then apply their learning to collaborate digitally with their international peers.
Program Success Monitored by:
Retention and graduation rates.
Program Success Examples:
Over 640 students have participated to date. YTF has developed partnerships with South Olmsted Academy (Louisville, KY), St. Anthony's Elementary School (Long Beach, CA) and InterAmerican School (Quetzaltenango, Guatemala).
Program:
Entrepreneurship - Women's Economic Empowerment Program
- Budget:
-
$50,000
- Category:
-
Community Development
- Population Served:
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Female Adults
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Poor/Economically Disadvantaged, Indigent, General
Program Description:
- To provide an ICT based women business guide, which will provide information to women who are running small-scale businesses, planning to grow or set up new businesses in the Niger Delta region of Nigeria.
- To increase the business knowledge of women in rural communities, provide support on how to apply the knowledge and enable women in rural communities have an important edge in today’s competitive global markets.
- To provide practical information to women on conflict management, managing groups, marketing skills, fundraising skills, advocacy and decision-making, business planning, HIV/AIDS and gender within the of local governance.
Program Long-Term Success:
· 1200 rural women were trained on entrepreneurship techniques for their small scale businesses; including agriculture, aquaculture and trading. The training was conducted in a group setting and participants were taught the basics of operating the computer to locate the content.
· WEEP introduced the women to technology and demonstrated how technology used appropriately can help identify business prospects and opportunities.
· WEEP facilitated advocacy meetings that sensitized community leaders, women groups and community based organizations to begin having a dialogue on issues affecting women and development.
Program Short-Term Success:
Funded by UNIFE and UNDP (Human Security Fund).
Program Success Monitored by:
- Project based on thorough assessments of information needs and technological capacities are most likely to have the most impact on users.
- Appropriate selection of technologies increases access for the user and enhances the potential for knowledge-sharing.
- Cooperative partnerships help ensure the viability of ICT programs.
- Gender issues need proactive consideration in the planning, budgeting, training, and development of ICT projects.
Program Success Examples:
The Women's Economic Empowerment Program facilitates a community-based capacity for organized production, increasing opportunities for income generation, job creation, development of social welfare and poverty alleviation. WEEP coordinates entrepreneurship training for rural women in areas of business management and in developing new distribution and marketing partnerships.
Program:
Health - Young Scientists and Health Tele-Academy
- Budget:
-
$50,000
- Category:
-
Science & Technology
- Population Served:
-
Female Youth/Adolescents (14 - 19 years)
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Male Youth/Adolescents (14 - 19 years)
Program Description:
The goal of the Young Scientists and Health Tele-Academy is to teach youth to use technology tools to collect and analyze data, document and disseminate information on current health, education and economic realities in their communities. At the same time, youth will develop an increased awareness and respect for national and cultural distinctions through collaborative, interdisciplinary, project-based learning.
Programme activities will include computer and Internet training, online education, science research and group collaboration exercises.
Program Long-Term Success:
Youth acquire the following five skills through their participation. The acquisition of these skills will be measured pre and post training. These skills are not taught during the academic school day and youth will have the opportunity to extend their learning from the classroom to real-world applications after school.
- Technology: Students will acquire basic computer skills in Microsoft Word, PowerPoint and Excel. They will also learn how to do research on the Internet and download information and graphics for their science business plans.
- Science: The courses will require youth to conduct extensive online research to learn about their subject matter and develop a science business plan. The information would not be spelled out for the youth; rather they will learn how to discover it for themselves.
- Work Products: The culmination of each session will be the production of a science business plan by the youth.
- Presentations: The science business plans are an additional measurement of the youth’s skill acquisition. At the end of each session, the youth will present their plans to representatives from the local World Health Organization (WHO) office and before a panel including professionals in the health industry, teachers, medical practitioners and their peers.
- Communication Skills: There will be an increase in the verbal and written communication skills in youth participants. This is as a result of collaborative efforts each week with other youth and educators as part of the program. Youth will also learn to appreciate other cultures through project collaboration with youth in other community technology centers in the United States and in other parts of Africa.
Program Short-Term Success:
The Young Scientist and Health Tele-Academy promotes a learning based model where youth participants learn to use technology as a means to extend their learning and develop an interest in science and technology while dealing with an issue that is important to their families and local communities.
Program Success Monitored by:
The observation that:
1. Youth are able to work with YTF and other organizations to influence policy and mobilize public and private educational institutions to integrate and implement a sex and health education curriculum in local schools.
2. Youth begin to take an active and specific role in education, advocacy for prevention, cure and support in their communities through the establishment of youth groups and community programs.
3. Youth can demonstrate at least a 75% increase in his/her technology skills as measured by a technology proficiency test administered at the onset and conclusion of the program.
Program Success Examples:
Program recognized by the Stockholm Challenge and funded by the World Bank Small Grants Program.