Telecentres: are they translating?

A Malawi School Certificate of Education (MSCE) was not enough for 37-year-old Isaac Masiyano from Khudze Village, Traditional Authority (T/A) Kandulu in Mwanza, to live a happy life.

After years of failing to secure a job, he bought an analogue camera and taught himself photography. That was back in the mid 1990s and, at least, he could make a living out of it.

His job was not sophisticated. He would take pictures of people, especially at social gatherings, and then have them processed at a studio.

But with years—especially with the advent and proliferation of computers—new trends in the art of photography began to emerge.

“From around 2005, people were becoming more interested in digital photographs. Graphic designing and the preference for digital cameras almost got me out of business,” he says.

To remain relevant in the trade, Masiyano began visiting a friend at Mwanza Boma, about 10 kilometres away, to learn how to operate computers. In the process, not only did he learn how to use a digital camera and process the visuals on the computer but he also learnt graphic designing.

“I found myself getting back into business. To perfect my trade, in 2007, I bought a computer and I was able to work on it daily,” he says.

Since then, Masiyano could not just take pictures using a digital camera—something that eased the longevity of processing. He could also design postcards, for instance, weddings and birthday cards.

Although he agrees that his business has grown, Masiyano has not been short of challenges. He argues that his computer is old, as such, processing is slow. Again, he does not have a printer as a result, he still had to travel to Mwanza Boma for printing.

But the opening of Khudze Telecentre in 2010 in his area brought a smile on Masiyano’s face.

The telecentre, which was constructed under government’s initiative to improve information communications technology (ICT) development in rural areas, has, among other things, computers with fully installed Internet, fax machine, telephones and a library fully furnished with modern books.

Located at a 10-minute cycle from his house, Masiyano no longer has to travel distances and pay transport costs to Mwanza to access modern and fast computers and printers anymore.

“I have experienced a boom in my business. I get a lot of business these days because everything is happening fast,” continues Masiyano.

Government started to establish telecentres, through Malawi Communications Regulatory Authority (Macra), to ensure that ICT development is available to people like Masiyano.

With a dream of establishing a telecentre in all the 193 constituencies in the country, so far, according to Moses Kunkuyu, Minister of Information, 43 telecentres have been completed.

“Every year, we want to construct 12 to 14 telecentres. Some of the telecentres under construction for this year are at a window level,” he says.

Although government has intensified the establishment of telecentres, it would still be rush to say telecentres are achieving the intended ICT development in rural areas.

The challenge is that most rural areas in the country have few Masiyanos—people who are already computer literate—to make full use of the telecentres.

A number of Malawians in the rural areas—with illiteracy levels hovering around 60 percent—are like Esnath Kampingo who hardly understands anything about computers.

Her house sits barely 20 metres from Khudze Telecentre, yet she has never partaken the ICT meal offered at the site since its opening in 2010.

“I only go there to attend community meetings because I am a member of the Village Development Committee (VDC),” she says.

Aged 48, married with five children, Kampingo admitted that she admires sitting on a computer like some people do. But because she hardly understands anything about computers and again she has never had a chance to go for computer training, there is nothing she can to offset the situation.

What Kampingo advances is a general challenge facing a number of telecentres in the country.

Michael Lupinda, a manager at Khudze Telecentre, advances that most people who patronise the centre are from Mwanza Boma.

“People from the rural areas barely access these facilities here. Few who do, only come to have their letter about land deals written and printed. Otherwise, if you get people here accessing these services, then it’s those who travel from the boma because services here are a little cheap,” he says.

You hear such sentiments again at Goliati Telecentre in Thyolo. To mean, with a national teledensity being at five percent, the rural folks, due to high level of computer illiteracy, have a long way to go.

Yet this is not the only challenge frustrating ICT development in rural areas. A visit at the Goliati Telecentre a week ago revealed that Internet connectivity is one critical challenge facing telecentres.

According to one official at the telecentre, who spoke on condition of anonymity, the centre faces tenacious challenges of erratic Internet connectivity.

“For instance, we have spent almost a month now without Internet connection. Sometimes when it is available, it is very slow,’ she said.

Even at Khudze, the challenge of erratic Internet connectivity and reliability is baffling. An official there said the centre has stayed close to two months without Internet connections.

So, caught in the challenge of rural folks failing to access telecentres due to computer illiteracy and also poor Internet connection and reliability, is there hope for ICT development in the rural areas any sooner? What is it that Malawi should do to make sure that a number of rural folks are getting the best out of telecentres like Isaac Masiyano?