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| In Gauteng, some of the most neglected townships are concentrated in the East Rand and one of these communities is the Dikhatole community. Very few education and training organisations have the courage to enter the East Rand township areas in order to implement development programmes. |
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10 000 families |
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Approximately 40% of the population are children under 18 |
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Population: Xhosa 40%, Zulu 40%, Coloured 20% |
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Approximately 25% are over 55 years-old |
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Approximately 40% are illiterate |
| The community of Dikhatole wants its members to acquire technological skills. This would render them employable and would raise their earning capacity, open up opportunities and lead to a higher standard of living as well as lead to improved communication channels between Government and the community. |
| "The vision is to transform the community from a developing community to a community that is connected to the world". |
Through the Digital Community Centre initiative, HP, with the help of its partners, opened a centre comprising three separate computer rooms outfitted with computers, workstations and peripherals.
In addition a “train the trainer” centre is set up at ORT South Africa involving some 20 HP workstations and peripheral equipments.
The targeted population benefiting from these programmes and who can most impact the growth of the community are: |
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Disadvantaged out-of-school youth |
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Teachers from local primary and secondary schools |
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Entrepreneurs and general public (especially women) |
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Government officials working within the community |
One computer room was also opened at Dikhatole Primary School equipped with networked computers. Teachers follow specific classes and they can now train Dikhatole pupils.
As of today, equipment and cash grant with a total value of USD 260,000 consisting of 90 PCs, 5 servers and 20 peripherals and project management fee over 3 years. |
| "During the course of the programme which will be run during three years, some 4180 people will be trained". |
World ORT is one of the largest, non-profit organisations in the field of vocational and technology training, with a network of nearly 800 educational units throughout the world (over 50 countries).
ORT South Africa provides services such as placement, training of trainers and ongoing support. In the DikhatoleDigitalVillage initiative, they provide: |
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Project management, technical support and coordination of funding sources |
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Access to qualify lifelong learning (adult, community and further education) |
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Quality services to unemployed people and assist in job creation and placement |
Macsteel is a large steel company, situated in Driehoek, adjacent to Dikhatole which provided fully refurbished and secure premises including facilities such as training rooms and offices.
Dikhatole community representatives whose role is to: |
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Assist in identifying suitable project leaders and trainers |
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Promote the concept of lifelong learning in the community |
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Seek to expand resources that will improve
access to the training programmes |
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Participate in the development and strengthening of members of the community |
| Microsoft SA who donated software for servers, workstations and networks. |
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