Uganda-based social enterprise KiBO Foundation has initiated an IT programme in Entebbe targeted at assisting young disabled persons to achieve IT skills.

KiBO hopes the programme will benefit more than 350 youth within the municipal. According to the foundation, the move will bring change by delivering relevant content to the youth to impart entrepreneurship and leadership skills.

KiBO’s managing director Abraham Temu said the objective of the programme is to enable people with hearing difficulties to achieve critical IT knowledge to make them fit for the job market.

“KiBO Foundation, Entebbe Municipality and Cisco, a global IT company, launched officially CKC (Community Knowledge Centre) to give members of rural communities, especially the deaf, access to technology, to enable them look for jobs, gain education, raise their financial self-sufficiency and start businesses,

“The Entebbe CKC, which was started two years ago, has so far trained hundreds of community members including teachers and the youth, who are afterwards honoured with certificates as accomplishment,” Temu said.

According to Temu, the programme will act as a demonstration centre where the young people will access the “best technology in the world” unlike the present condition where students find it difficult to research due to lack of information centres.

The programme is part of Cisco’s commitment to give disadvantaged groups in Africa useful technology and content.

“By engaging municipalities in developing plans that affect the young people in challenging their mindsets, we trust that this will open their minds to becoming great thinkers as well as pillars of change within their communities,” said Temu.

In 2013, Cisco sponsored six CKCs across Uganda, including Ntungamo, Nebbi, Entebbe, Ngora, Lira and Gulu districts. Similar centres have been established all over Africa to enable rural communities easily access Information Communications Technology.