Health and Computer Literacy Program
Project Overview
Health Foundation Nepal (HFN) designed Health and Computer Literacy Program in 2016 to nourish impoverished children of rural communities in Nepal with basic health and computer knowledge alongside guidance and mentorship from abroad to assist them pursue a successful career.
Our Mission
To empower children of challenging backgrounds in Nepal by teaching them health and computer skills on-demand that will aid them succeed in their health, education, leadership and career.
Our Vision
To create a community of students whose economic development and sound health is driven by intellectual skills and inspired by education.
Strategies
Step 1: Establish a computer room in a secured housing facility with two to three computers. Hire local computer tutor to excel students on basic computer literacy videos (related to hardware, windows, keyboard components and Microsoft Office), created and designed by HFN. Connect computers to the internet in 6 months to enhance students’ email and internet skills, only after they complete knowledge assessment questionnaire.
Step 2: Enroll students in PeeR Assisted Educational Enrichment and Mutual Mentoring (PREM) Program upon completion of the first year. Students and adults over the age of 10, fluent in English and Nepali, living in English-speaking nations will mentor and provide guidance to Nepali students on communication and networking skills, English language speaking, personal development, problem-solving skills and career choice. Mentors will follow the structured checklist prepared by HFN.
Step 3: Experts instructors sourced from within and out of the country periodically will deliver educational lectures via video-conference on personal hygiene, sanitation, immunizations and top ten offenders of mortality in Nepal to persistently prune the children’s basic health awareness.
Step 4: Make online educational sites such as OLE nepal, TED talk, Hippocampus, Lynda, Udemy, Coursera, edX, Khan academy and several others available to enable students learn and broaden their new skills and intellectual capacity.
Activities
2016
HFN rolled out Computer Literacy Program on 08/2016 by signing its first memorandum of understanding with Chepang Kendra, Chitwan, Nepal. Chepang Kendra has sheltered more than 130 students coming from low-income families at publicly funded facility.
HFN established a computer room with three computers, and computer desks, connected to the internet. One power inverter was donated to ensure continuous power supply and uninterrupted education to the students. Students were provided various online resources for self-learning.
Initial survey was carried out at Chepang Kendra on 09/23/2016. Twenty one students of grade 6 to 10 were surveyed. All of them were able to turn on and off the computers. Eleven students had heard about the internet but none of them were able to navigate any one of the popular internet sites like google, Wikipedia or a news site. Not a single student had an email account. Only four students were able to open and create a Microsoft word document.
2017
Operational Steps
Committee Members
Questionnaire
Will include following questions
Memorandum of Understanding (MOU)
This MOU is between ……………………….., Nepal and Health Foundation Nepal, U.S.A. which
have agreed to launch the innovative strategies in education to promote health and computer knowledge and skills of students at ……………., Nepal. We aim to provide guidance and resources to those students to help them succeed and lead in their career.
……………………., Nepal agrees to:
Both of us agree to abide by the terms and conditions mentioned here in.
...................................... .......................................
Mr./Ms. ……………………. …………., MD
(President of ……………………., Nepal) (General Secretary of Health Foundation Nepal, USA)
Project Overview
Health Foundation Nepal (HFN) designed Health and Computer Literacy Program in 2016 to nourish impoverished children of rural communities in Nepal with basic health and computer knowledge alongside guidance and mentorship from abroad to assist them pursue a successful career.
Our Mission
To empower children of challenging backgrounds in Nepal by teaching them health and computer skills on-demand that will aid them succeed in their health, education, leadership and career.
Our Vision
To create a community of students whose economic development and sound health is driven by intellectual skills and inspired by education.
Strategies
Step 1: Establish a computer room in a secured housing facility with two to three computers. Hire local computer tutor to excel students on basic computer literacy videos (related to hardware, windows, keyboard components and Microsoft Office), created and designed by HFN. Connect computers to the internet in 6 months to enhance students’ email and internet skills, only after they complete knowledge assessment questionnaire.
Step 2: Enroll students in PeeR Assisted Educational Enrichment and Mutual Mentoring (PREM) Program upon completion of the first year. Students and adults over the age of 10, fluent in English and Nepali, living in English-speaking nations will mentor and provide guidance to Nepali students on communication and networking skills, English language speaking, personal development, problem-solving skills and career choice. Mentors will follow the structured checklist prepared by HFN.
Step 3: Experts instructors sourced from within and out of the country periodically will deliver educational lectures via video-conference on personal hygiene, sanitation, immunizations and top ten offenders of mortality in Nepal to persistently prune the children’s basic health awareness.
Step 4: Make online educational sites such as OLE nepal, TED talk, Hippocampus, Lynda, Udemy, Coursera, edX, Khan academy and several others available to enable students learn and broaden their new skills and intellectual capacity.
Activities
2016
HFN rolled out Computer Literacy Program on 08/2016 by signing its first memorandum of understanding with Chepang Kendra, Chitwan, Nepal. Chepang Kendra has sheltered more than 130 students coming from low-income families at publicly funded facility.
HFN established a computer room with three computers, and computer desks, connected to the internet. One power inverter was donated to ensure continuous power supply and uninterrupted education to the students. Students were provided various online resources for self-learning.
Initial survey was carried out at Chepang Kendra on 09/23/2016. Twenty one students of grade 6 to 10 were surveyed. All of them were able to turn on and off the computers. Eleven students had heard about the internet but none of them were able to navigate any one of the popular internet sites like google, Wikipedia or a news site. Not a single student had an email account. Only four students were able to open and create a Microsoft word document.
2017
- Program expansion to two additional shelters or schools in rural communities is in progress.
- Experts are creating well-defined video tutorials on computer literacy.
- PREM mentorship program soon will be piloted among 20 students at Chepang Kendra, Chitwan.
- Interested people and organizations can make one time donation via HFN website or contribute annually to support and expand the program to underserved communities.
- A group of trusted locals or foreign donors also can fund and replicate the program locally in Nepal, in collaboration with HFN. Underserved community takes precedence in case of competition.
Operational Steps
- Interested shelter or school in Nepal submits application detailing the number of beneficiary students, availability of a dedicated local coordinator, commitment of a computer room and assurance in finding a local computer tutor. Attachment with application also warrants completed initial questionnaire, available on HFN website, to assess students’ basic understanding of computer and web knowledge.
- Upon the review and acceptance of application and questionnaires, HFN will install two to three computers. HFN matches up to 30 percent of the setup costs, supplies video tutorials, and makes arrangement for mentorship program as per contract agreement.
- Students will redo the assessment questionnaires in 6 months after running the project to assess the impact. Once the outcome is reviewed and provided local coordinator is reporting to the US team as expected, HFN will connect available computers to the internet.
- Twelve months after project launch, students will be introduced to mentorship program, if the facility has fulfilled all the requirements. In the meantime, students will reap the benefits of periodic video conferences on personal health, hygiene and sanitation.
- All the participating teachers, coordinators and students will complete monkey survey annually to evaluate and improve the program.
Committee Members
- Computer Literacy Program
- Video tutorials - being created and designed by:
- Mr. Anup Sharma (Computer Engineer)
- Mr. Uttam Bhetuwal (Volunteer Intern, 2017)
- Financial contributors ($300 per year)
- Arun Amatya, MD (Started 2017)
- Jharendra Rijal, MD (Started 2016)
- Manoj Bhattarai, MD (Started 2016)
- Rachana Sedhai, MD (Started 2016)
- Rajesh Shrestha, MD (Started 2016)
- Video tutorials - being created and designed by:
- PeeR Assisted Educational Enrichment and Mutual Mentoring (PREM) Program Committee Members
- Chooda Khanal, PhD
- Mr. Harihar Dahal
- Manoj Bhattarai, MD
- Mr. Pradeep Khanal
- Tara Sigdel, PhD
- Tika Lamsal, PhD
Questionnaire
Will include following questions
- Student Name?
- Able to turn on or off the computer? If yes, can she/he perform the task?
- Able to use Microsoft Office? (If answers yes, can she/he perform the task?)
- Heard of internet? (If yes can she/he navigate Google, Wikipedia or any news sites?
- Have email account? (If yes, what type?)
Memorandum of Understanding (MOU)
This MOU is between ……………………….., Nepal and Health Foundation Nepal, U.S.A. which
have agreed to launch the innovative strategies in education to promote health and computer knowledge and skills of students at ……………., Nepal. We aim to provide guidance and resources to those students to help them succeed and lead in their career.
……………………., Nepal agrees to:
- Provide a space to establish a computer and internet room and ensure its safety
- Assign a local coordinator who will communicate with US-based coordinator on monthly basis
- Complete pre-launch questionnaire before the program starts
- Arrange for a local computer tutor
- Make computers open and available to students 6 AM to 9 PM
- Coordinate with the Health Foundation Nepal team in training students and implementing provocative ideas
- Report the progress and challenges to the Health Foundation Nepal, USA as they occur
- Provide three computers to start then connect the internet in 6 months after students complete questionnaire
- Mentor and coach students on monthly basis starting second year
- Pay local computer tutor for the first 3 months
- Provide periodic video conferences on personal hygiene, sanitation, immunizations and top 10 causes of mortality in Nepal
- Undertake necessary step-wise actions to make online educational websites and supplementary reading materials available to students when applicable
Both of us agree to abide by the terms and conditions mentioned here in.
...................................... .......................................
Mr./Ms. ……………………. …………., MD
(President of ……………………., Nepal) (General Secretary of Health Foundation Nepal, USA)
