Serengema Rural Community Telecentre Initiative - Tanzania

Sengerema is a rural district in northwestern Tanzania, an hour’s drive from Lake Victoria, where more than 80% of the population are poor and engaged in subsistence farming. A multi-purpose telecentre is making a positive difference to the region. The Commission for Science and Technology (COSTECH), has invested $100,000 in the centre which boasts a community radio station, an Internet cafe, a business centre with phone, fax and secretarial services.

The telecentre – and particularly the radio station – is the most potent source of information for most of Sengerema. In 2004, we donated 90 Lifeline radios to COSTECH to support the Sengerema radio station. The radios were funded by the Vodafone Group Foundation and Vodacom Tanzania sponsored the Swahili cartoon format posters which accompanied every radio. The radios were distributed to primary school teachers and students to listen to educational programming and to cultural groups who promote the telecentre in the local community. All programmes are broadcast in Swahili and one of the most popular radio programmes demystifies technology, including the Internet.