Segals, Elibariki, Shimbwe and Bunda

Lots of great things happening at Powering Potential!

We have one installation in the Serengeti now :)

Our founder, Janice Lathen, and Albin Mathias, our country director, attended the Segal Family Foundation Annual Meeting in Arusha, Tanzania from July 10-12, 2014. It was the first time the SFF Annual Meeting was held outside of the United States.

(l to r:) Barry Segal (SFF founder), Antoine Chiquet (SFF board member), 
Janice Lathen and Albin Mathias (Powering Potential).

The First Lady of Tanzania, Salma Kikwete was a guest speaker at the SFF Annual Meeting.

The First Lady speaking.

The First Lady outside the meeting.

The Segal Family Foundation Annual Meeting was a huge success! Complete with musical guests, sports activities and lots of good Tanzanian food!

Oliver "Tuku" Mtukudzi

Ambassador Maajar, the former TZ Ambassador to the US 
talks with Rich Segal, Segal Family Foundation and Powering Potential board member.

Ambassador Maajar talks with Andy Bryant, Exec. Dir. of the Segal Family Foundation
and our own Janice Lathen.

For more photos of the event, visit the SFF Facebook Page.

The Segal Family foundation also visited the Powering Potential installation at the Wel wel School in Karatu. They even tweeted about it: "@PwringPotential Special thanks to Janice for organizing a delicious lunch and amazing site visit. Our staff was very impressed!"

By the way, please follow Powering Potential and The Segal Family Foundation on Twitter if you haven't already! 

In addition, we would like to extend our congratulations to our own Elibariki Magnus!! He is attending the Arusha Campus of St. Joseph University in Tanzania studying for a Bachelor of Science in Education for Computer Science. He is a graduate of our five-month Technology Tent training course, which was conducted in 2011. He has been working for Powering Potential ever since. 

Elibariki Magnus

And now for a little taste of our future plans: We plan to implement our program at Shimbwe Secondary School in Moshi and also at three schools in the Bunda district on Lake Victoria. Wish us luck! 

Touched by Technology in Ngorongoro

Powering Potential is at it again. We have just completed solar and computer installations at three remote secondary schools -- Lake Natron, Soit Sambu and Nainokanoka -- in the Ngorongoro District of Tanzania. Three weeks of technology training have commenced at each school. Ngorongoro District is home to the Ngorongoro Conservation Area a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

Photos below are from the installation at Lake Natron school which is so remote that people need to walk two kilometers for cell service to make a phone call (GPS coordinates: S 02 29.987' E 035 53.149'). Most of the students at these schools have never even seen a computer. Powering Potential is changing lives again.

Inspecting the equipment

We continue to install Raspberry Pi computers with RACHEL offline educational content powered by solar energy and provide training.

A computer!

Solar professional giving instructions

In the photo below from left to right are: Peter Juma, Computer Systems Analyst, Ngorongoro District Council; Mr. Sweatbart Byorushengo, District Natural Resource Officer and acting District Executive Director; Albin Mathias, Powering Potential Country Director. Peter Juma worked for Powering Potential in 2011 teaching computer classes in Karatu District.

Notice the small Raspberry Pi computer in a clear plastic case to the left of the monitor:

Coat of Arms of Tanzania is the desktop background
Uhuru na Umoja (Freedom and Unity)

Powering Potential has now reached more than 5,500 students and teachers in ten schools in three districts by providing 91 computers powered by solar energy.  Beneficiaries of our program are going to college and securing employment.

Would you like to contribute to help us touch more students with technology?