Access to Computers and Skills in Rural South Africa

By

Alyssa Morrison



The entire experience in Kwazulu-Natal was amazing and full of learning experiences. It was like nothing I had experience before and I was astounded by how different it was from Cape Town. I was impressed by the health clinic that was in a rural area, but am curious how such a small place could service such a huge population.

For me the most remarkable part of the entire excursion was when we went to the school to help out. A lot of people were painting a classroom, which was a tremendous help to the school. There was also a group of four people, and then five, that were going to help teach the educators how to use the new computers they had. Someone had generously donated around eleven new computers to this rural school, but unfortunately did not train these teachers on how to use them. My expectations were that we would come in and teach them how to do things on Microsoft and Excel and get them up and running. I had not even thought about the fact that most of these women had never even seen a computer before. Instead of jumping right in like I had thought I first had to teach them what a keyboard was and basic things on it, how to move the mouse and double click. It was more difficult then I had envisioned because I have been using computers for so long it is like second nature. I had to keep remembering that they did not know what I mean when I said ‘shift’ or ‘enter’.

The first woman I was teaching was getting very frustrated with the whole thing. She was a fast learner but was having trouble with the mouse. The man that was helping us kept teasing her about her typing, while it was meant in good fun, made her even more self-conscious. At one point she asked if she could leave the room and get some fresh air. It was so difficult to try and sit down and teach these women how to do all the things on computers at once. It was so much information for anyone to handle. It made it even more difficult that this woman did not speak English well and was also not used to my accent. The bell rang and the next group of teachers came in. I was feeling a bit frustrated from the one before but I was still eager to help in any way that I could.

The second woman that came in was much more excited to be learning about the computers. She picked up on typing and the mouse really quickly and then we started to work on Microsoft Word. I sincerely believe that this woman changed me in a profound way. She was so happy to learn how to type in math problems and sentences to make a worksheet. I taught her to save and found what she saved in ‘My Document’. When she found it and clicked on it without my help and found her document there she was so happy, in a way that I cannot even explain. I felt what every teacher must feel like when a student is excited about learning, but in a way I felt like this was more then that. I had done something for her that a lot of people could have done, but had not yet. When we discussed Altruism in the class the other day we were just discussing whether it existed or not. In that moment it seemed to me, why would you want it to? I helped someone out but got something so profound out of it that I could never imagine going in somewhere and helping him or her without getting any sort of benefit from it. This entire time I have been trying to decide how this ties into Public Health. I think that by teaching these women a new skill I was helping to empower them. They now know something that they can teach others, which by nature gives them more power. Whether this happens or not, empowerment can help them to make better health related decisions. They can feel more confident to make their partner used a condom, to take their kids to the health clinic, or even to leave an abusive relationship. By having computer skills, it opens them up to a whole new realm of knowledge that they have not had before. I am not saying they are now involved in a western way of thinking, but more like they can now adapt computer skills into what they are going to need the most. In this one morning I did not teach this woman the computer inside and out, but I have her the confidence she needed and the excitement to learn more about it.