Guerba Computer Centre at VEPK
The Guerba Computer Centre was built with funds raised by 14 climbers on the first sponsored climb of Mount Kilimanjaro organised by Guerba World Travel Ltd (now Intrepid Guerba). The Computer Centre is on the ground floor of the charity’s building in Mshiri village.
Craig Collier from Bristol, UK, joined the Centre in January 2011 as its manager. Craig is volunteering his considerable expertise. Already he has re-networked the computers to a new internet provider which offers faster speeds at a lower cost than the old provider. The internet is still paid for per megabyte use (as broadband is not yet available in the area) but Craig has prevented unnecessary use on 'large' websites and so is preserving the cost and the speed. Craig is also giving computer tuition to various learners at different levels and abilities, and is assisting one young man with musical composition with computer software.
The Centre also has Acorn computers for primary school pupils. These have excellent, fun programs for mathematics, language, art and music.
In addition there is a second computer room used for training with a further eight computers and a digital projector. Local primary school teachers are being encouraged to learn about computers and the Centre offers special courses for them.
Craig is promoting the Centre to young people in the area by organising showings of DVDs which are specially chosen for their content and ease of understanding the English language.
