Nairobits wins World Summit award

By Bontle Moeng, ITWeb trainee journalist

Johannesburg, 08 Nov 2005

Nairobits, a digital design school based in Nairobi, Kenya, has won the 2005 World Summit Youth Award in the creative and culture category.

According to the youth award organisers, this category recognises "the most innovative online platform which highlights young people`s potential for producing creative content, promotes multilingualism and preserves indigenous knowledge".

"I believe that we won the award for our unique way of combining culture and creativity. We allow our students to explore their neighbourhood and their life experiences for cultural content. They then present their findings creatively, using ICT," says Anne Ikiara, GM of Nairobits.

Nairobits was started in 2000 by an Amsterdam-based organisation. It has since partnered with Mathare Youth Sports Association (MYSA), an organisation offering sports, community, self-help and leadership training programmes for the youth of the Mathare region.

Nairobits aims to teach youths and women from disadvantaged backgrounds ICT skills. The non-profit centre co-ordinates various projects and produces Web sites for clients. It has also developed a training method that combines art and ICT skills.

"The youth improve their lives by getting extra skills and use them to secure employment from the formal economy," says Ikiara.

Kenyan ICT adoption

While the rate of ICT adoption is accelerating in Kenya, disadvantaged women and youths living in the rural areas are being left behind, says Ikiara.

The government is implementing projects that expose more people to ICT but these are limited, Ikiara believes. "These are mainly confined to the formal education sector and affluent schools. There is an absence for the poor, the out of school youth and women who may not fit in the mainstream education," she says.

"ICT plays a revolutionary role to the whole of Kenya. ICT has become a factor that defines success in the economic, social and political arenas. It has become a critical tool for every day communication both in personal and business related transactions," says Ikiara.

"Next year, Nairobits intends to introduce computers to 20 disadvantaged schools."

Nairobits will feature at the World Summit on the Information Society in Tunisia from 16 to 18 November.