Working with ICT in Uganda

Can you remember the time when there were no computers at home? Well, I do :-) I was born in 1983 and learned to type on an old-fashioned typewriter. I was 17 when had my first computer lessons in school and experienced the shift to the so-called Information Age at close quarters: The historic period characterized by the rapid shift to an economy primarily based upon information technology

A couple of years later and I am in Uganda to work as an ICT specialist (ICT = Information, Communication and Technology).
My task is to identify IT and communication gaps and possibly close them.

Everyone needs IT knowledge
Even though I have worked for a big IT company in the past, I don't consider myself an IT expert. I am more into communication and marketing.

And yet, that's how everybody introduces me: Iris (or Maria), the IT specialist. This leads to the fact that people constantly approach me to fix their computer, phone or ask me questions about networks, VPN connections, coding or other computer programs I have never heard of.

But in the country of the blind the one-eyed man is king.


30 years after entering the information-age computers are still not common in Uganda 

The need for IT knowledge in Uganda is huge. According to the Uganda National Household Survey (2016/2017) using a computer is no regular activity of Uganda's population.

I am here now for 11 weeks and I have currently been assigned to work for 3 different projects.
One of them is at the Uprise Foundation | Timeline Vocational Training Center -  A foundation, that aims to improve the lives of vulnerable children and their households by providing quality education, protection, access to good health and sustainable livelihood programs. 

Teaching challenges in Uganda
Once a week I go there and teach IT skills for 3 hours. It is part of their timetable. The students are between 18 and 25 years old and will be tailors, electricians, and mechanics when they have finished their training. We do Microsoft Word, Excel, and Powerpoint and despite having done endless basic exercises, they struggle every week to change the color of a font. 

Typing is another issue. They use 2 fingers instead of 10 and we start every lesson with some typing exercises, but since they don't own a computer, they cannot practice at home. It is a very slow learning process.

And then there is the issue with the equipment. We have 2 computers and 2 laptops for 7 students. 

Unfortunately, 1 monitor is half broken and the screen is constantly green. Keyboards have been donated and come with German or Chinese keys. Most of the cables have a defective contact and work only randomly.

Last but not least: powercuts also affect the school and if there is no electricity - there is no IT lesson.


But computer skills can be defined as important skills in today’s world. People who don't develop technological expertise will be left behind in the digital revolution. 

This is one of the messages I keep telling my students. It might not be their favorite subject, but the importance is high and the potential huge.

Provisory IT classroom

Some of my students