
A project to reduce educational disparities among children in non-electrified areas of Tanzania has been underway since 2017. It is being jointly conducted by a Japanese NPO that strives to improve ICT education in developing countries and a Tanzanian NGO that has been addressing poverty in rural villages for 13 years. Together, they have introduced "off-grid" power systems using solar panels and batteries to 45 elementary and secondary schools, thereby bringing light to the darkness.
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The setting for this program is Tanzania in East Africa.
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Dar es Salaam, the country's largest city, is rapidly modernizing.
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It's predicted it will become a supercity of 73 million people by 2100.
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In the country's rural parts, however, there are extensive areas where electricity is not yet available.
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Wood is used for cooking, and at night, people use flashlights or lanterns for lighting.
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Against this backdrop, a project is underway to improve the educational environment of children living in non-electrified areas.
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The project is promoted by Class for Everyone, a Japanese NPO.
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It started working to address educational disparities among children in developing countries ten years ago.
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Using corporate support and crowd-funding, it has been actively introducing ICT, Information Communication Technology education.
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For children, the future's everything.
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I want to be of help for the sake of
children full of the future. -
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That's my priority.
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Their counterpart is a Tanzanian NGO called 'New Rural Children Foundation.' Based in rural areas, it has been working for thirteen years to address the poverty of young people living in local villages.
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Their encounter with 'Class for Everyone' five years ago led to the current project.
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Our goal is ensuring villagers receive
the same benefits as city dwellers. -
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Children in schools in non-electrified
areas in particular have difficulties because they can't study properly
in the early morning or at night. -
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The focus of the project is to introduce an independent ‘off-grid' power source to primary and secondary schools in non-electrified areas.
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Without requiring huge power plants or large power grids, the small system uses solar panels and batteries to generate "self-sufficient electricity."
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We will introduce a project to spread ICT education through off-grid systems.
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The project is taking place at a location seven hours' drive from Dar es Salaam.
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It's Korogwe, a provincial district in northeastern Tanzania.
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In this area of fruit cultivation, the government has been upgrading the electric power supply for the past few years.
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Life has changed greatly
since electricity came in. -
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We've benefited a lot.
Cold water's now available. -
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It's become possible to sell soda,
and we have a fan to beat the heat. -
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The government is working
to promote electricity. -
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However, there are problems as well.
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Electricity is a great boon to the residents, but power failures occur on a daily basis, making the situation unstable.
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And another significant factor is at play.
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While the government has been working
hard to spread electrification, centered around the urban areas, -
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I don't know if the same is true
for the distant villages. -
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This is Mahenge, a village 20 kilometers from the urban district.
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The inside of the houses are dark even during the daytime.
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Bakari Lomelo is a third-grade student at secondary school.
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There is no electricity in his house, so he does his homework by lantern light every day.
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He wants to help the family financially by getting a job that pays well.
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His mother has high expectations of her son.
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Getting an education will help
you find a good job. -
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It will save our lives and make
our children's future brighter. -
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The current collaborative project of a Japanese NPO and a Tanzanian NGO was launched in response to such local residents' desires.
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To create an environment to spread ICT education, installation of off-grid systems has started at primary and secondary schools in non-electrified areas.
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At Bakari's secondary school, a system which can operate a projector and a computer for about two hours was introduced in 2017.
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It consists of a reused solar panel sent from Japan, a lead-acid battery, the type used in cars and readily available in Tanzania,
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and a solar charge controller which prevents overcharging and backflow to the battery.
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It's an off-grid system made with minimal, inexpensive equipment.
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Students can now study in a bright environment at any time.
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I want to study and live a good life.
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My uncle is a graduate and doing great.
I want to follow his example. -
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I'll eventually live as a boarder
at this school, and I want to study harder in the
evening as well as in the morning. -
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Because of the long commuting distances, many primary and secondary schools in Tanzania have attached dormitories.
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Bakari's school is no exception and more than half of its students live there as boarders.
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This electricity system also helps
our 150 boarders. -
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Having to use lamps for them would
consume a lot of kerosene. -
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But with solar power,
that is not necessary. -
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It helps us a lot and
we are so grateful. -
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The off-grid systems so far installed at 45 primary and secondary schools have greatly improved the educational environment in non-electrified areas.
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Takahama Koji is the representative of the 'Class for Everyone' NPO that launched the project.
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Based in Japan during the Covid pandemic, Takahama has been carrying out educational support activities for children living in various developing countries.
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It's a fact that some children are
too poor to be able to go to school. -
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But that doesn't necessarily mean
they live a life of misery with dull eyes. -
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Their sparkling smiles seem to last
longer than those of Japanese children. -
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The same is true for the adults
around them. -
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Seven years ago, after the birth of his own child, Takahama moved his base of operations from the city center to the countryside.
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From his experiences on projects in the developing countries he has visited, Takahama values the connections to the local community and is aiming for a self-sufficient lifestyle.
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There is our field.
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It's still in the process of
being plowed. -
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Living in the countryside, I now feel
closer to what I was seeing back then. -
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Different from an urban lifestyle, an environment not filled with things
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is precisely the premise for creating
ingenuity in living. -
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Takahama realized there's good compatibility between the Internet and educational support, and launched the NPO in 2012.
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Utilizing his connections at the IT company where he had worked up till then, he collected computers and tablets that were no longer being used in Japan,
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and he established a model for enabling them to be reused in developing countries.
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We have over 100 tablets here.
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The 20 PCs we have will be sent to
Papua New Guinea. -
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I sometimes do the setup at home
before sending. -
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In collaboration with Japanese companies and support organizations in various countries, the ICT education dissemination activities have expanded to 33 countries over the past 10 years.
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Japan's volunteer program has helped
us increase the number of countries. -
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The volunteers in each country teach
the children how to use a PC. -
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We responded to the need in countries
where no PCs were available. -
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While steadily expanding the scope of the NPO'S activities, Takahama saw a weakness in promoting ICT education firsthand in a natural disaster.
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In 2013, I saw the devastation caused
by Typhoon Yolanda in the Philippines. -
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The area where we were working
had a power cut for three weeks, so the computers could not be
recharged. -
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That taught me I couldn't continue
the project without electricity, and I got interested in how to
generate electricity myself. -
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Takahama was eager to produce electricity somehow or other.
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One year later, he encountered a civic movement which promotes off-grid systems as part of disaster prevention measures.
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The building you can see over there
is a shared office that we use. -
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This office has also installed
an off-grid system. -
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We have five larger solar panels
lined up outside. -
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They produce about 1kWh of electricity.
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And this battery stores the electricity
produced by the solar panels. -
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The knowledge and technology that Takahama gains here is applied to the off-grid system utilized in Tanzania.
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In order to pass on the potential of the off-grid system, Takahama now organizes an "Electricity Generation Workshop" once a month.
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This activity's based on lessons from
the 2011 Great East Japan Earthquake. -
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For the first time we experienced
what it meant to have no electricity. -
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We started to address that issue.
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The "Electricity Generation Workshop" for producing your own small off-grid system is a popular event that attracts participants from all over Japan.
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And to eliminate educational disparities for children living in non-electrified areas, Takahama started the current project using this kind of know-how.
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Few people are aware of electricity,
but off-grid makes it on the spot, so they realize the size of the solar
panels decides the amount of power. -
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In a non-electrified situation, you may first consider if it's really
necessary to run a power line. -
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Introducing an off-grid system
instead of putting in a power grid may be the best first action to take. -
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In the most inaccessible mountainous area of the Korogwe district, Takahama installed an off-grid system at this school in 2017.
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Do you know what this is?
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A solar panel.
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Pardon?
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A solar panel.
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Once more?
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A solar panel!
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Yes, it's a solar panel.
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This is the "Making Electricity Class," based on the workshop in Japan.
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It teaches children the mechanism of electricity generation through the assembly of a simple off-grid system.
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The teacher, Nicolaus Madeni is a member of the counterpart NGO.
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Do you have your guidebook?
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Open it and look at the first page.
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Takahama created the guidebook.
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Look at the picture of a battery
and then connect the battery. -
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See the picture?
What does the connection make? -
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Electricity.
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Please make it exactly like that picture.
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The students are participating in this "Making Electricity Class" for the first time.
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-Finished?
-Yes. -
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Do you think it'll light up?
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Let's try.
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Please turn on the switch.
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Letting them assemble the system themselves creates pleasure and confidence in having produced electricity.
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You could make your own electricity!
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Yes.
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The second half of the class is conducted using the projector powered by the off-grid system.
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You know how to build a power supply
system with panels and cables, right? -
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Now let's use the electricity you
produced to have a weather lesson. -
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Many Tanzanian schools don't have one textbook for each student.
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So, the children's response to lessons using video and sound has been very positive.
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I made electricity for the first time
and really enjoyed the class! -
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That was my first projector class,
and I had a great time! -
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The good thing about having
electricity at school is that we will have fun projector
classes and tablet training. -
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Nicolaus, who is at the core of this local project, started working for his uncle, who runs the NGO, at the age of 18.
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I do this job because I loved going
to school when I was young. -
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Even now, I like it very much because I can meet a lot of people at
school and share pleasure with them. -
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Especially holding the workshops for
students is a lot of fun. -
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The best part is seeing the smiles of joy
on their faces when the bulbs light up. -
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Today he's visiting his uncle's house in a village deep in the mountains.
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This is also the headquarters of the NGO, the counterpart of Takahama's NPO.
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How are you?
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This is his uncle, Nicholaus Shemsanga.
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For many years he has been advocating for the correction of regional disparities between towns and villages, and has been working to support children suffering from poverty.
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There are currently six staff members, including volunteers.
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He believes that spreading this activity using sustainable natural energy will benefit the future of the villages.
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Many projects focus on urban activities.
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Mr. Takahama chose the non-electrified
areas of villages for his activities. -
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I was really happy to see someone
who is willing to help the villages. -
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Tanzania has strong sunshine
and long daylight hours, and panels can be installed
in many places. -
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They are able to supply electricity
solely from sunlight, which has less impact on environmental
destruction than ordinary electricity. -
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I feel it's a good power source
suitable for the current times. -
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Nicolaus now lives alone in the town.
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Until four years ago, he lived with his uncle.
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Rebelling against his father's indifference to his education, he wanted to improve himself.
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And he chose this project which his uncle promotes to open up a future for children.
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My goal is to ensure an environment
is created where we rural villagers can have equal
educational opportunities. -
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It's really difficult for us to get
the goods and information that many people in the city have. -
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We need to get real information
and to share it. -
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I believe that will protect us and
lead to solutions for various issues. -
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Nicolaus himself has learned many things through this project.
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One of them is how to use a computer.
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Before joining it, he had never had the opportunity to touch a PC.
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Takahama taught him how to use it.
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Nicolaus first met Takahama six years ago.
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Takahama is now like a big brother he can rely on.
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What will you do tomorrow and the day
after tomorrow, Saturday and Sunday? -
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Just stay home washing clothes,
yes, like that! -
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Using the know-how learned from Takahama, Nicolaus now focuses on teaching students how to use tablets.
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Who is new today?
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Hold it...
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You held it.
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And you didn't drop it, so your
handling's perfect already! -
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Please handle a tablet with care,
to make sure you don't drop it! -
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The tablets here are the ones Takahama collected in Japan that were no longer in use.
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Do you see there's a place to put
your first and last names? -
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Touch there and put your name.
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By introducing information terminals capable of accessing the Internet and educational applications, he's working to broaden the children's interests and knowledge.
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I was so happy to find out
how to use the tablet. -
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I want to use this tablet more
and study more. -
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I think learning how to use tablets
will bring them many benefits. -
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It's important to build an environment
where they can learn by themselves. -
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The Korogwe project began with the installation of an off-grid system.
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ICT education in non-electrified areas is now in progress.
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In addition, there's a product created as the fruit of the interaction between Takahama and Nicolaus.
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It's a mobile off-grid system integrating all the equipment, including the solar panel and battery.
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Over the past few years, there have been cases of solar panel and electricity theft.
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After being consulted by local officials, Nicolaus developed the product together with Takahama.
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This local workshop below our office
makes a variety of woodwork items. -
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I asked them to develop the wooden
frame for our mobile off-grid system. -
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We're making them in Tanzania
using timber from forest-thinning. -
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The development of the frames began in 2020.
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With the efforts of people who support the Tanzanian project, they were produced in a period of about six months.
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Careful consideration was given to ensuring the frames could use wood that is easily available in Tanzania.
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The improved version, which can be stored indoors, has been in operation locally since last year.
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Today, Nicolaus is delivering a mobile off-grid system.
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The destination is a clinic in a non-electrified area.
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If you want to charge your cell phone,
you can do it here. -
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Turn on the switch, connect the long
cable, and you have electricity. -
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I'm very happy to receive
this off-grid system today. -
25m 07s
We have a hard time with women
giving birth, especially at night. -
25m 13s
It'll be so good to have light.
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The introduction of off-grid installations has become indispensable, not only for improving the ICT education environment for children,
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but also for the life of people living in non-electrified areas.
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What the local community wants is
very important. -
25m 39s
As they use the system, they'll find
how best to use it, and I want to do that together. -
25m 46s
I notice "developed countries" and
"developing countries" are often used. -
25m 54s
What does "being developed" mean
in developed countries? -
25m 59s
Today's developed countries are not
necessarily ideal. -
26m 03s
To make the future different,
we may have to break new ground. -
26m 07s
This applies not only to the people
of Korogwe but us as well. -
26m 12s
We want to do it together.
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This is a newly built primary school in a non-electrified area.
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And yet another off-grid system has been installed to light up the future of the children.
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Let's sing now!
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Our school and its environment,
shining brightly. -
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The trees, the flowers,
everything is shining brightly. -
27m 01s
Solar power is shining brightly.
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shining brightly, shining brightly.
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The trees, the flowers,
everything is shining brightly.