Sarah Barber, consultant, has just returned in November from nine months in Malawi working for the charity Computers for African Schools (CFAS).

CFAS is a registered charity committed to improving educational opportunity in Africa. It is based in the UK with local branches in Malawi, Zambia, Zimbabwe and Tanzania. CFAS supplies refurbished, working computers, donated by firms and other computer users in the UK to schools in Southern Africa.

In Malawi, CFMS has now donated to over 100 schools in all regions of Malawi and intend to keep processing in excess of 1500 computers a year. In the last six months we trained over 100 teachers, repaired computers at a number of schools and community organizations and visited schools all over the country to review their use of computers and inspect their readiness for the receipt of donations.

During my placement I worked with all aspects of the charity but particularly on:

• Improving internal processes of the organization such as the governance structure, preparing registration documentation, reporting to Board and donor members, and sorting out tax issues
• Revising procedures for donating and inspecting schools to ensure that all recipients meet our criteria for donation (such as having a secure, dust-free and ventilated computer lab)
• Implementing accounting and financial management procedures and determining how the organization will become financially sustainable
• Liasing with key stakeholders including securing additional donors of computers, which were shipped and donated to schools
• Reviewing and developing training materials, organizing training sessions (including a session for over 30 teachers from 15 schools with accommodation, food and included) and planning future training developments
• Managing the inevitable HR issues including hiring new staff, monitoring existing staff and volunteers and training staff in new procedures and skills
• Visiting the Zambian and Zanzibar schemes to share best practice and compare the various CFAS organizations.

And the results?

There is no doubt the organization is contributing significantly to the development of ICT in Malawi. When you can visit schools, watch lessons in progress, and see the MSCE (Malawi GCSE equivalent) results for schools that you know would never have access to computers without the CFAS donation you can’t help but be proud. There is still a lot of work to do and Malawi is along way behind the rest of the world, and even the rest of Africa, when it comes to technology but it is a start.

For me personally, it was a great experience. I learnt a lot about working in a country with an entirely different culture and an entirely different set of problems, but was lucky enough to have local staff committed to the organization and developing ICT.

And outside of work? I had a great time. I spent many weekend climbing the nearby Mulanje Mountain (now my favourite place in the world), running around Blantyre townships, lazing on the beaches of Lake Malawi, safari watching at Liwonde national park, and enjoying the local Malawi Gin (but not so much the local porridge-like Chibuku beer!). I loved the country, loved the people, and despite the inevitable troubles of traveling in Africa (being arrested, car breakdowns, lack of technology, power cuts, water cuts,…) its most definitely worth it!