Winning Photo

One to Many (Zambia)

There was only one computer to share among four classes and 300 children. The teachers learned how to incorporate the programmes into their lessons and to work with the students in small groups. The children in this rural village near Ndola, Zambia, were fascinated by the technology, images and new learning tools. Here, Kennedy Sinkali is teaching them phonics and they are all very eager to participate. One computer for an entire school; imagine the possibilities if they had more! It has changed their teaching styles and created new opportunities for the kids. And as a donor it has also changed my life, seeing how such a small thing can have such a great influence!

Photographer: Natasha Bomba

Click here to see the winner at the photo exhibition in Lusaka

 Runner-up

Karine – A Disabled Business Woman, Not a Beggar (Cameroon)

Karine is a survivor of polio and lives in the city of Douala, Cameroon. Instead of begging, she sells phone credit to make her living. We at HITIP, a non-profit, community-based organisation that seeks to improve the quality of life for people with disabilities in Africa, met Karine in October 2009.

Photographer: Jenny Sanborn

 3rd place

Exploring Our Universe (Uganda)

Thandi, filled with excitement, rushed into her Grade R classroom exclaiming, "Aunty Sandi, I see a rainbow around the sun!" Her teacher, Aunty Sandi, showed Thandi how to use the mobile phone camera and told her to go outside and take a photograph of what she observed. I followed Thandi, now followed by a band of interested fellow explorers, and was able to capture this authentic moment of just how ICT enriches the lives of children in Africa. Another poignant aspect of this story is that Thandi stutters when she speaks. But not this time! She spoke clearly as she told her teacher what she had seen. A confident young scientist in the making! 

Photographer: Mary Ann Hood

4th place

Camera Phone – Keeping Distant Families in Touch! (Uganda)

In this photo, my mother (red dress) is showing relatives we were visiting in their distant village a video of my nieces and nephew on her mobile phone; she had recorded it in our home town a few days earlier. It served as visual documentation for her explanation of how the children have grown and how they look now. Video is a very powerful tool in Uganda, along with mobile phones, which have become a vital device. However, not everyone can afford even a basic mobile phone, let alone a sophisticated one. 

Photographer: Ssozi Javie

5th place

Mukunyu Rural Information Centre (Uganda)

At the Rural Information Centre in Mukunyu, Uganda, community members can watch videos on health and education issues, as well as on best agricultural practices and the prevention of pests and disease. These screenings complement peasant farmers’ weekly meetings, in which they share information on several aspects of farming, health and marketing.

People identify with what is shown and take the message seriously. We have locally made videos on managing pests and other diseases which blight our agricultural crops, such as banana wilt, pineapple wilt, vanilla crop disease, etc. We also screen films on HIV and malaria-related issues, as well as films about care for pregnant women and young and breastfeeding mothers. These videos follow the methodology of CINEDUC (Cinema Education), which makes watching videos participatory and educative. They have been procured with support from the Dutch organisation Hivos and are available in over twenty rural information centres in the Rwenzori region.

On the day I took the photo, a video was being shown outside, because it was an open day for everyone in the village. Otherwise, farmers watch these films inside an information centre building constructed by the Mutiba Farmers foundation. The two men standing to the left of the photo are facilitators who are consulting a book on the video and encouraging the audience to discuss the topic. The old man in the foreground was curious about our arrival on a motor cycle and my act of taking photos.

Photographer: John Silco

6th place

Dissemination to Rural Communities through Radio (Uganda)

Owing to a lack of skills, high costs and limited access to ICTs, staff at Kubere Information Centre in Apac district, Northern Uganda, were holding face-to-face meetings (while listening to recorded speeches/ideas over the radio) with rural community members who do not have an opportunity to listen to live radio talk shows broadcast on "Radio Apac", a local community radio. 

Photographer: Maureen Agena

7th place

Learner-Initiated Clay Keyboard (Uganda)

This photograph illustrates the use of a clay keyboard as an innovative learning technology for literacy skills. It is part of an inter-generational literacy programme organised by an NGO which aims to improve literacy skills and therefore help attain sustainable livelihoods in rural areas. The initiative is based on imitating computer skills and has helped resource-constrained rural learners to acquire literacy skills in Arua district, where computers are still rare. Learners are now easily able to recognise letters, form words and apply them to real computers, as demonstrated by the old man in the picture. This is crucial in Uganda, where most children now leave primary level without acquiring the required reading and writing skills.

Photographer: Willy Ngaka

8th place

New Employment Opportunities with ICT (Ivory Coast)

The spread of technological tools in West Africa has created a demand for technicians and IT experts such as the young man in this picture. He makes a living by repairing computers on a backstreet in Grand Bassam, Ivory Coast.

The talented local artists of the town also benefit from ICTs. Civil war and political instability have prevented tourists from travelling to this previously high-class tourism and artisanal centre, and the artists have difficulty selling their creations. Kachile (which means ‘change’ in the local language) is a social venture dedicated to alleviating poverty and raising environmental awareness in West Africa and was founded in January 2009 in Grand Bassam. Kachile works with these artists and connects them to the digital world. The organisation has introduced e-commerce to bring the beautiful art to new customers around the world (http://kachile.livejournal.com/).

Photographer: Anja Teschner

9th place

Staying in Touch (Senegal)

I don't know who invented it, but this technique for energy transfer has changed my life tremendously. I live and work in Dakar and my family is in a nomad encampment in Niger. This mobile phone and the way it is recharged makes it possible for my family and me to stay in touch. There is no energy source in the encampment except for the batteries, which they buy during the monthly supply trip to Agadez, a city located some hundred kilometres away and which can be reached only after a 3 or 4-day donkey ride. 

Photographer: Ibrahim Aboubacar Hama

10th place

IT Kids (Kenya)

I work at Ugunja Community Resource Centre (UCRC – www.ugunja.org ), a rural-based NGO in Western Kenya. Despite the challenges we face, such as the limited number of computers or lack of quality kid-friendly software, we offer our community basic computer literacy education. Since adult training takes place during the week, we decided to give the kids an opportunity to learn about computers on the weekends. I sourced for kid-friendly software on the Internet and also installed a few games for them to play.
The kids in the picture are from Nyasanda Primary School, situated within the vicinity of Ugunja town, with no electricity and simple learning facilities like any other rural school in Africa. In the computer lab, these kids can draw, type their notes, browse the Internet and do things that the adults can do with computers. Most of them now even have plans to pursue careers in ICT.

Photographer: Cleopa Timon Otieno

The audience favourite is:

Techno-Bonding (Namibia)

This phone camera photo was taken at the medical clinic in Rehoboth, a small village in Namibia. Parents of the Rehoboth community commute to the capital, Windhoek, daily, leaving their children in the care of siblings. This is a risk, as juvenile delinquency is rife in the village. The savvy grandmother of little B. provides a solution and uses the generation gap as an advantage by asking her grandson for help in learning the new technology. She focuses on simple things like managing photos or saving text messages. This way, the younger generation appreciates her efforts. Their “techno-bonding” makes it easier to bridge the generation gap, earns her trust and may prevent possible future problems.

Photographer: Jens Schneider