With a vision of ending the education gap in Uganda, telecommunications company Roke Telkom has announced a partnership with Hello World to build fourteen solar-powered, outdoor, internet-connected hubs across Uganda.
“With sustainable, affordable, world-class education technology we can end the education deficit in Uganda once and for all,” said Katrin McMilliam, Hello World Hubs CEO, in a press release. “We believe at Hello World that we hav
e the perfect partnership with Ugandan-owned Roke Telkom to reach every child who currently goes without an education in Uganda.”
In a YouTube video announcing the partnership, McMilliam explained how the nonprofit fully shifts ownership of the Hello Hub to the community by empowering them during the installation process.
“We don’t build Hello Hubs,” she says. “We partner with the community, and we teach them how to build their Hello Hub, all of it. From the solar paneling, to the server; they put the cement in; they learn how to do wiring and put in a grounding rod. In this way, the community makes an investment with Hello World and Roke Telekom in their Hello Hub.”
According to Hello World, every Hello Hub is WiFi-enabled, and its usage is free.
Ugandan-based Roke Telekom expressed its enthusiasm for the effort.
“Hello World is doing exciting things with kids in Uganda and Roke Telecom is happy to be their partner in extending the internet to communities that are underserved by the internet,” said Roger Sekaziga, CEO of Roke Telkom. “Roke Telecom is one of the local ISPs in Uganda and we are happy to be associated with Hello World in the their work to help close the digital divide."
The effects of the Hello Hubs are already being felt by the people of Uganda, including Manzi David.
“What I think will be good from the hub is that I will be able to apply for scholarships,” David said. “The reason I need [a] scholarship is because here in Africa there are no schools that teach what I want to study. My dream is to become an engineer. Now I think my dreams are going to come true; with the help of free internet I will apply easily. It will help people with shopping and the internet can help you to get a job. Also, we will save money- we used to spend money charging and buying megabytes but now it is easy. We believe with Hello World we have a new vision.”
Willis Krinna was abducted by the DRC in 2014. He escaped to Uganda, and recently learned that one of his sisters is in the U.S. He credited the Hello Hubs project with helping him keep in touch with his family overseas.
“Communication brings new hope,” Krinna said, “so I am thankful to Hello World for their initiative.”
For McMilliam, the initial 14 hubs that are in place around Uganda now represent just the beginning.
“For the internet experience to be a success we need it to be truly world-wide (only 56% of the global population have internet access) and Democratic,” McMilliam wrote in an email. “Through community-built Hello Hubs we can start to provide a bulwark against corporate and political forces that corrupt the Internet for their own gain, and at the expense of its newest and least-powerful users.”
