GOOD WORKS
“A lot of youth attending the
church are from poor neighbourhoods and they need some type of motivation to stay away from the streets, stay away from violence. Many of those young people graduate from high school and university, but there are no jobs for them. That issue kept coming up every time I talked to them.”
-photos courtesy Computers Beyond Borders
LITTLE LEARNERS Top: Children line up outside E.P. Boko-Mpangala School during a visit by Guylain Matota (second adult from right) of Computers Beyond Borders. Bottom: Built of mud and thatch, classrooms at E.P. Boko-Mpangala are not computer ready. But if Computers Beyond Borders gets its way, a new computer training centre at the school will be built — and to modern standards.
FRANCIS KIASISUA, P.ENG.
MORE REACH
Classes will be held in the morning. In the afternoon, the training centre will transform into an Internet cafe, generating revenue for operations. The centre will also provide IT services, hardware repairs, and graphic design services to local businesses at a discounted rate, helping students develop job skills while earning money to fund CBB programs.
Mr. Kiasisua hopes some trainees become entrepreneurs, starting up their own graphic design or IT businesses. A technology shortage has created a large demand for graphic design services in Kinshasa. There’s also a need for computer repair services; because there’s no one to fix them, people often throw their broken computers away.
With 30 computers in place and new training sessions held every three months, the centre will initially be able to train 120 young adults per year, Mr. Kiasisua estimates. Computer boot camps for children on summer break will also be offered.
56 | PEG SUMMER 2016
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