eNgoma Micro Cloud

While the rest of the world has adjusted to a covid plagued society, Africa still has major hurdles to navigate before it can provide access to learning platforms, the connectivity challenges include Insufficient bandwidth, No internet connection, Connection failures. Additionally the high of schools and variation in infrastructure makes it difficult for the government to deploy solutions especially in places that need them most, usually the poor comunities. eNgoma proposes a hybrid e-learning solution with local storage capable of deployment in schools irrespective of internet infrastructure. Cached educational materials would allow students in schools with intermittent or no internet connectivity to have a simulated cloud e-learning solution. With inbuilt grading and analytics, students would have access to high-quality learning materials, continue advancing their learning, and access to a wider a richer multi-media educational experience  Lack of internet would cease to be a barrier for poor communities to learn during covid.

eLearning is built on the premise that learners have access to reliable internet access, in Zambia, only about 24% of the population has access to reliable and consistent connectivity. Connect exists but being able to package this content and then deliver it via the internet is a challenge and a costly undertaking.  Our solution addresses both core problems, 1. Internet access and 2. Packaging of content. Using the eNgoam cloud, not only can we set up a virtual Wi-Fi hotspot, but we will link the hotspot to an educational portal with modules of learning materials,  secure access, progress tracking, and rich dashboard analytics.

Covid has changed the way the world operates, e-learning has become an integral tool in the provision of continued education and the ability for the eNgoma cloud to work both as a cloud platform in areas where people have reliable internet as well as work offline in places of no or unreliable internet ensures all communities can continue to access learning materials and that no poor children are left behind. The imbalances being caused by covid means some communities are suffering because solutions and infrastructure were not ready to combat the pandemic.

The eNgoma Micro-Cloud creates a rich learning environment that provides a local content repository and powerful e-Learning tools. Teachers and students connect via Wi-Fi to the local micro-cloud and they have access to a complete cloud-based learning environment. If content as texts, subject media, guides, tests, and other resources are cached on the micro-cloud, they are always available regardless of ’upstream’ network connectivity.

Students can access global education resources and rich learning content, such as videos, quizzes, podcasts, and learning games, even if the school does not always have an upstream connection to the internet. They can also have access—to any student device, such as a notebook, tablet, or smartphone. With the eNgoma Micro-Cloud teachers are able to follow state-of-the-art teaching methods and leverage leading curriculum, by providing a wide range of learning materials and promoting flexibility and differentiation in the learning methods. They can easily plan lessons, saving time to deliver an education that works with each student’s unique needs. The progress of the students can be tested in real-time and analyzed to help them learn better. Filter & Control Internet access by profile, controlling which sites can be accessed while enabling a closed-loop education environment.

The solution currently has been deployed in communities that are ravaged by teen pregnancies and sexually transmitted diseases. by loading content that promotes safe sex and family planning, using videos in local languages, we have been able to share life-saving information to a segment of the population that is most at risk. The solution is intended to extend beyond this group of people and be deployed in community centers where the majority of young people frequent to access services and engage in social skills training. These are often societies with high poverty rates,  minimal education opportunities, and high crime rates.  With the covid pandemic, this solution can further serve as a tool for teachers in government schools to provide extra educational content for children as well as expose teachers to new methods of teaching and monitoring student progress.   

the eNgoma Micro cloud allows all young learners to have access to quality, safe, and equitable learning environments but ensuring that communities with internet access can access the cloud-based e-learning solutions while ensuring that those in poor communities are not left behind and have access to cached e-learing environment as close to their homes and possible. The Covod pandemic has the potential to increase the gap between the rich and poor and while resources are being channelled to health systems, our poor communities need solutions that ensure they  learn new ways of learning and continue to learn.

In the copperbelt province of Zambia, there is a town called Ndola and one community called Masala. It has a population of close to 20,000 people. Working with an international NGO, we need to deploy a learning platfrom in a community that had no power in some parts but simulate an internet experience to the users.  We deployed the eNgoma Micro Cloud and loaded the local device with local language vidoes on family planning methods of young people.  This portal is now serving an average of 400 youths a week. Our client pays us for the analytics on a monthly basics.  The youth can download and share videos among peers exploiting the sharing culture among youth to spread behaviourial change messaging.  The lack of power or internet has not disadvantaged this community as we have been to offer a solution coupled with a solar power solution.

The Covid pandemic has necessitated innovation and in Africa, an opportunity has presented itself to bridge the digital divide by taking advantage of a more receptive atmosphere for new technologies. The eNgoma Micro Cloud offers more than just an e-learning platform, it equally serves as a secure content filtered internet gateway for communities that have no internet access. The content filtered internet enables children to access the internet that is child friendly.

The ability to provide content providers a platform to share educational content also presents a sustainable model in that partnerships can be forged with institutions that have struggled to get content into unconnected communities. 

Lastly, this innovative approach works irrespective of internet availability and the power requirements also allow the solution to be deployed in areas where there is no power. By using low-cost tablets, a complete solution is provided for children in disadvantaged communities to access learning platforms, rich content in formats that present remedies for even children with learning disabilities.

The eNgoma micro cloud is a low cost, easy to maintain, sustainable solution for communities with connectivity challenges and enables children in low income communities to have learning opportunties.

We are currently serving one community in Ndola, Zambia with a youth family planning e-learning program. Our current reach is 1000 youth. In the next year, want to grow to 10 sites with a reach of 10,000 youths and ultimately in 5 years, we want to be in all 10 provinces and in 100 sites with a reach of 100,000 youth activitely taking e-learning courses.

We are a platform provider and will always be the core aspect of our business. We work with NGOs who have KPIs that need to be meant using various modes of intervention. The eNgoma micro cloud will serve as another conduit for reaching their KPIs. An example of the KPIs we are helping meet with our partners are

• Number of youth aged ( range) accessing video content on micro cloud
• Number of youth participating in online surveys and test
• Number of youth completing at least one course on course X

Using our dashboard and its rich analytics provisions, we are able to help our partners keep track of their KPIs in real time.

Our team comprises 4 full-time staff and 5 interns. We want to grow a strong mentorship programme that will allow kids straight out of college to gain industry experience while we also harness new creative talent.

Our team has a wealth of experience working in the technology space and recent achievements as runners-up in the Viva tech x FastTrackTech Challenge is a testimony of our growing reputation. We have grown our business to provide solutions for large NGOs in Zambia including GIZ, USAID, JSI, Marie Stoppes and the Ministry of Health in Zambia. Our team lea, Chilufya Musosha is an ICT experts with work experience in many African countries and has served on advisory roles for the Zambian goverment. His co founder, Chanda Mutoni is a season expert in the money markets having served as CEO for stock brokers Zambia for close to 10 years. Our experience working in poor communities under our Wi-Fi projects have over the years has given us a first hand appreciation of the challenges the communities face in not only acccessing the internet but accessin learning opportunities.

Our team has always been about creating opportunities, we want to create a team that takes on diversity not only of mind but skills as well as gender. The eNgoma leadership has worked in my diverse institutions and appreciated that in diversity there is strength. eNgoma is and will always be a nondiscriminatory environment where we help every team member bring out their best.

We are applying for this grant to allow the eNgoma micro cloud solution to be scaled up to 10 communities. Using our current model with Marie Stoppes , we want to extend the platform to allow the enrollment of additional youth on sexual reproductive health and subsequently on board other partners to offer e-learning services on a variety of subjects to a diverse population especially among the differently-abled and disadvantaged in our communities.

Aside from the selected options, we are looking for NGO partners that share our vision of extending our solutions to communities in Zambia. These would preferably have a presence in Zambia and an appreciation of the challenges faced on extending online content to unconnected communities.

WE are looking to partner with organizations promoting learning in Zambia. These organisations would already have the content or we can help package the information and then use our platform to deploy in their prefered catchment areas. Organisations focused on youth and early learning, those focused on health, governance, financial inclusion and climate change are attractive as these are major challenges in our country.

Zambia has one the highest number of refugees in Africa. These communities are usually at the peripheral of society, children have little or no access to education, mental health associated with the trauma of displacement is high. By deploying resources such as the internet and access to learning opportunities, can serve as means of accelerating adjustment into new environments and equally provide an opportunity for new skills.