Hello World has a new programme, Hub Heroes. This programme will exponentially increase literacy and numeracy for children at our hubs AND empower mothers in our Hub communities to take advantage of the technology and connectivity at the Hello Hub.
How? We are partnering with Global X-Prize winners, OneBillion. They have created a tablet called the onetab, which boots directly and solely into literacy and numeracy software, proven to enable children with no formal education to teach themselves to read, write and do maths. The software is language appropriate and context appropriate, so children are learning from people who look like them and through stories that sound familiar. Take a look.
In March, 100 families in our Kampala Hub communities will receive a onetab, and each family will have a nominated Hub Hero. In most cases, the Hub Hero will be the mother of the family. Mothers have been shown to prioritise education. We also know that right now, more men are using the Hello Hubs than women, so we want to empower mothers in the community to feel equally welcome and valued at the Hub.
A Hub Hero will be responsible for supervising each of her children’s time using the onetab and also for charging the device at the Hello Hub. On average, there are 5 children in each family in our Hub communities. By putting a onetab in each household and giving the mother responsibility for the device, around 500 children will have dedicated onetab time every day. Children can work at their own speed, have their mistakes corrected and be encouraged to push themselves to the next level. (Even for those children who are lucky enough to be in school, class sizes often exceed one hundred students, so one on one time is rare if not non-existent.)
Each week, the Hub Heroes will meet at the Hello Hub to charge their onetabs and discuss their children’s progress. While they are charging the devices, there will be time for them to use the internet-connected tablets at the Hub, educate themselves, grow in confidence using the Hub technology, receive training from the Hello World team, meet other mothers, establish new businesses with friends…
At Hello World, we know that we need to improve the gender balance at our Hubs. All too often, women feel intimidated about using the Hub’s new technology, or are simply too busy to come and bring their children to use it. This project will, we hope, provide an extra impetus to use this valuable resource. Once there, the specific roles the Hub Heroes are playing will augment their authority and status in the community, and they can celebrate the fact that that their children are receiving a world-class education.
Click through to see the data that showed us this project was necessary: https://www.projecthelloworld.org/impact/ or read on to see our feature in Philanthropy Magazine.
