Computer literacy is critical to success in today’s society. In the US and much of the developed world, children often grow up surrounded by technology. In that environment, computer literacy can become second nature.

In Ghana, that is not always the case. Less than 4 percent of Ghanaian families own a computer and only 5.2% of the population have Internet access. Teachers have been asked to introduce students to Microsoft Office, Windows, and the Internet, but in a region with view resources it is often an impossible task. For example Mr. Ntsiful, the IT instructor at our target school was given only one computer and one generator to impart an IT curriculum to an entire school. Forty students had to be divided into small groups and take turns using a single computer.

“This process was time consuming…students who could not see well had to strain their eyes in order to follow what was going on. The IT instructor for that matter had to say the same thing over and over again since many small groups had to be taught the same thing,” Mr. Ntsiful said. “Most importantly, the interest of the students was not aroused since some of them were not able to see what others were been taught.”

We decided to take one very small step towards fixing the problem. With the help of gracious donors, we were able to purchase a projector for the classroom that allows the children to see the screen at the same time. The instructor no longer had to waste precious time repeating information, and the students immediately showed much more interest.

Isn’t it amazing how a small change can make a big difference?