Disconnected continent

While the Internet has become an integral part of the Western world, it has only just arrived in Africa. In the United States and northern Europe, an average of

According to official statistics, the future of connectivity in African countries is bright. The number of telephone lines is growing at a rate of 10 percent per year, and all of the main lines in Botswana and Rwanda are digital, compared to just under half of all lines in the United States. Cellular phone service, limited to six African countries a decade ago, is available in 42 countries today. Columbia Technology's Africa-One project is expected to complete an optical fiber network for the entire continent this year at a cost of US$1.6 billion.

Support from other private corporations looks promising as well. In cooperation with the Harvard Center for International Development, commercial technology giants such as Sun Microsystems, AOL-Time Warner, and Hewlett-Packard have pledged US$10 million over the next two years toward technology designed to improve the quality of life in 12 developing nations. With figures like these, it is easy to gloss over the real problems in the implementation of this vast network.

WorldTeacher: Namibia

In July 2001, 1 stepped into a fully equipped computer lab at the teacher resource center in Ongwediva, northern Namibia, beginning my part in a project to help spread computer and Internet literacy to the developing world as a WorldTeach volunteer. With video cameras, CD burners, and highspeed connections, the lab could easily have been in the United States. Although this teacher resource center in Ongwediva is state-of-the-art, it must serve the technological needs of all of northern Namibia. Because of large distances between towns, a lack of vehicles, and limited awareness, many teachers do not exploit this resource to the fullest extent possible.

WorldTeach is designed to eliminate these problems. The 16-teacher contingency traveled to Namibia to teach computer and Internet literacy to students at various primary and secondary schools throughout the country. An experiment of sorts, it was the first time that a program of this magnitude had been implemented in the developing world. A partnership with Schoolnet, an England-based company that equips schools with computers and technical support, made the project possible: Schoolnet provided the network, WorldTeach provided the teachers. After a period of training, each WorldTeacher was sent to a Schoolnet-- sponsored site where he or she gave lessons on computer and Internet use.

Various development reports and meetings in the past few years have pointed to the explosive potential of information technology in Africa. Statistics on the increasing numbers of telephone lines, Internet Service Providers, and Internet connections have shed light on the vast potential of expanding markets and opportunities in this sector. Expectations are not reality, however. From my viewpoint on the ground in Namibia, I found the actual situation to be much more complex than the large companies and idealistic groups wishing to help these countries would like to pretend.

The enormous project at hand faces many glitches that must be smoothed out before the Internet can become a regular and integral part of the Namibian culture. One difficulty has been financial. Although the first school I visited in Edundja had a special budget allotted for the use of the Internet, it simply was not enough to sustain the program after I had left. I was there five days a week for three weeks, leaving the dial-up connections on all day in the hopes of getting as many students as possible to explore cyberspace. I taught the eighth, ninth, and tenth graders how to open email accounts, how to search the web, and even how to make their own website. The phone bill amassed during this time proved too hefty for the administration to allow Internet use to continue after my departure. At my second school in Uis, I made sure to use the Internet more sparingly. Even so, this school was poorer than the first and the Internet did not thrive there either.

Another issue tied closely to the monetary situation is technical support and resources. Both of the schools in which I taught had many technical problems with the computers. With problems ranging from missing files to insufficient memory, the computers needed to be maintained and fixed on a regular basis, an expensive and time-consuming proposition. When students and teachers have not had a chance to familiarize themselves with computers, they can potentially damage them. Some problems are relatively small and can be fixed quickly and easily, but when the caretakers responsible for the computers do not understand even the basics of troubleshooting, salvageable computers are left to gather dust. Because the teachers and students do not want to break the computers, they are often reluctant to use them without supervision from an expert. At both schools, the teachers were initially very nervous about touching the keyboard. They wanted and needed someone to help them navigate through this technological endeavor.

Once the teachers and students overcame their initial hesitations, they were very enthusiastic about the possibilities of how the Internet could serve them. I attended the students' other classes to see what was being taught, and I supplemented their lessons with extra information and media from the Internet. The students were enthralled by an animation of blood flow in the heart after learning about blood cells in their biology class. The teachers were excited to find lesson plans and activity ideas online and wanted to learn more about this teaching tool.

Barriers to Change

Despite the initial interest of the teachers and students, the situation soon returned to the status quo. The allotted time of three weeks spent at each school was just not enough to change everyone's thinking and integrate the Internet into the education of Namibian students. That transformation would have required many more resources and a concerted effort over a longer period of time. Admitting the Internet into their community entails a recognition of the outside world. The Internet is an innovation of global proportions, but to introduce the ideas behind it to someone who has never worked on a computer before is quite a formidable task.

Even if the students were to understand the power and potential of the Internet, it would not do them much good in the short run. In the rural areas, socio-economic problems prevented students from making the most of their education. Only the rich can attend the University of Namibia or the Namibian Polytechnic University. Many young girls drop out of school due to teenage pregnancy. Parents often want their children at home, tending to the oxen and harvesting the mahangu, a crop used to make the porridge Namibians eat daily. When even the best students end up working as cashiers in the local markets after graduation, the benefits of a good education can be hard to see. Students cannot understand the link between studying hard and a bright future.

Political shortcomings also obstruct the integration of the Internet into society. The Namibian government does not have computers for all of its offices and workers. It is difficult to see how a government can fully embrace the technological movement when it does not understand how to use the Internet in its own affairs. The few schools with computers obtain them from nongovernmental organizations. Without a push from the government for these types of programs, technology cannot be fully integrated into schools and communities. The government is responsible for phone lines, roads, and the other infrastructure vital to the fledgling Internet movement. It alone has the power to break up the monopoly of Telecom, the only communications company in the country, which would make dial-up Internet access much more affordable. In a place where the public treasury is a precious resource that must be parceled out based on national priorities, the Internet takes a back seat to more immediately pressing matters such as controlling the AIDS epidemic.

The programs that are implemented at the local level must be thoroughly researched and carefully planned while leaving enough flexibility to adapt to special conditions. The 2001 WorldTeach program was structured for breadth rather than depth in its first year. To make sure as many schools as possible were connected during one short summer, each teacher covered two schools in a six-week period. The schools spanned the geographic and demographic spectrum from urban areas where students were aware of the Internet and possessed basic computer skills to the deepest rural parts of Namibia where students had never seen a computer. Because each school was different, each WorldTeacher had to adapt lessons to the environment and resources that were available. My first school at Edundja in the north had a lab of 23 computers that students used on a weekly basis. It required a completely different teaching approach than my second school in Uis, which had three computers, only one of which could access the Internet.

Another factor that should have been considered in the implementation of the program was the different schedules of the schools. Toward the end of the summer, the students were studying for their trimester exams. Trying to fit another class into their schedules was a daunting task, especially given only three weeks at each school. I worked closely with the principals and maximized my time at each school by staying after class and working with the teachers in small groups. The age of students was another factor that affected teaching styles. WorldTeachers placed in primary schools could not teach things the same way as WorldTeachers placed in secondary schools taught them. Even in secondary schools, ages ranged from 13 to 21.

Financing the Future

Because money is the single most important factor in bringing the Internet to the African continent, securing funding will be vital to developing technology there. Already, advances are being made at an extraordinary rate. The Africa Bureau of the United Nations Development Programme has already agreed to a US$6 million fund to improve Internet connectivity in Africa with a project called the Internet Initiative for Africa. The United Nations has also announced the beginning of a US$11.5 million program called Harnessing Information Technology for Development, which provides funding for various information and communications technology (ICT) projects throughout Africa.

As a result of this push for ICT, the number of Internet users in Africa will soon rise to four million, according to Mike Jensen, an independent Internet development researcher. With Eritrea finally getting permanent Internet connectivity in 2001, every country on the continent has some degree of Internet access. In 1996, only 11 countries were connected. I personally saw how Internet use grew more common as I moved from rural towns to the Namibian capital of Windhoek. Benefiting from the influx of capital and technology investment by the United Nations, Namibia is poised to make good on the promise of Internet growth.

Jensen's report on African technological advances also discusses the launching of another program to spur technological growth. The United Nations Economic, Social and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) has recently established the Creating Learning Networks for African Teachers project to connect teachers to the Internet and to assist teaching colleges in using ICTs in literacy and other education programs. The project has already been implemented in Zimbabwe, is being initiated in Senegal, and will eventually reach 20 countries with further outside support.

Along with the US$10 million donation to digital-divide initiatives, the private sector is contributing to the technological growth of Africa in many capacities. Hewlett-Packard has begun a global technology outreach program that has spurred the economic growth of countries such as Senegal and Ghana. Its new project, dubbed "HP e-inclusion," is expanding the possibilities for Internet technology in these countries. Other ICT companies, if not directly involved, are advising countries on how to best integrate technology into their development processes. Academics and executives from top ICT companies met with South African President Thabo Mbeki in October 2001 to begin this process. This was the first meeting of Mbeki's International Task Force on Information, Society, and Development, which was set up to advise him on how South Africa can develop its ICT capacity to promote investment, economic growth, and job creation. "The private sector must respond to the goals, objectives, programs, and mission as defined by the government and its people," said Hewlett-Packard CEO Carly Fiorina, who attended the conference. "In responding to the programs we see an opportunity not only to do well, but also an opportunity to do good."

This historic meeting in South Africa has opened the way for the rest of the continent. With more companies looking to diversify into new markets, Africa is looking attractive to investors. As nations that gained independence in recent decades have grown into fledgling democracies, they have solidified property rights laws and done much to improve the business environment. While the overall outlook may appear positive, many issues could thwart the development of this technological revolution. At the level of ideas, concepts, and statistics, the Internet enjoys enthusiastic support, but it is the practical matters that will determine the pace of technological advancement.