Africa Internet Technology Initiative MIT – AITI

Mission statement MIT-AITI is a student run organization aimed at enhancing the MIT experience by providing students the opportunity for real world problem solving through summer information technology education programs in Africa. Through our initiative, we hope to get MIT students thinking about and applying their advancement of IT in Africa

What is AITI? The MIT-AITI project was developed in 1999 by a team of African students at MIT. Every summer, teams of approximately 7 MIT students in each team are sent to Africa to teach Java as well as JSP and Unix. The program currently sends the teams to 3 African countries – Ethiopia, Ghana and Kenya and have taught at 6 educational institutions including 2 national Universities. Over 300 African students have been taught the basics of Java programming and over 100 students have been taught JSP, ASP.net and UNIX as well.

Who has made MIT-AITI a reality? EIF Foundation MIT Alumni Office of the provost Office of the chancellor Africa Online 3Com Private individuals

Projects: Kenya In the summer of 2000 and 2001, pilot projects were performed at Strathmore College in Kenya. A team of 4 MIT undergraduates taught lessons in JAVA programming, HTML and the basics of UNIX. In addition, leading executives from the computer industry in Kenya delivered guest lectures to students. The knowledge of the students was evaluated through community- oriented projects completed towards the end of their training.

Projects: Kenya 2003 Kenya 2003 This summer, a team of MIT students was not sent to Kenya. Two groups of five students from the Strathmore University, Kenya, participated in a self-sustained learning pilot program organized by MIT-AITI. This pilot program created and successfully implemented a new model of teaching that is based on self learning with assistance through the internet. With the support of the MIT-AITI staff in Boston and Kenya, as well as the support of the staff at Strathmore University, these two groups of students were able to self learn the MIT course “1.00 Introduction to Engineering Problem Solving Using Java”, through material available via OpenCourseWare.

Pictures: Kenya In lecture

Pictures: Kenya Students of Strathmore College proudly holding their certificates

Pictures: Kenya A church in Kenya

Ghana MIT-AITI expanded to Ghana in the summer of A six week course of Java was taught at 2 high schools - Achimota Secondary School and Presec. This summer, a team of 9 MIT students went to Ghana to teach at 3 educational institutions – University of Ghana, Achimota and Presec. A successful 6 week course of Java was completed at all 3 schools and JSP was taught at the University. Within 2 years, MIT-AITI has equipped over 100 eager and intelligent Ghanaian students with programming skills.

Pictures: Ghana Helping Presec students in lab A combination of lecture and lab at Achimota

Pictures: Ghana Canoeing to a village on stilts in a lake Lake Volta – the largest man-made lake in the world

Ethiopia During the summer of 2003, MIT-AITI sent a team of seven MIT students to Addis Ababa, the capital city of Ethiopia, to teach a curriculum of software technology courses to a group of engineering students at the national university. The primary course of study was the JAVA programming language. Following this, small introductory courses were given about JAVA Server Pages (JSP) and the Linux operating system. The intention was to give the students exposure to modern open- source software used in the technology industry.

Pictures: Ethiopia Students in computer lab Two students and MIT student, Manish

Pictures: Ethiopia Learning about the Ethiopian culture Interacting with the local people

Benefits Africans: The students are taught skills that will aid in the advancement of Information technology in Africa MIT students: They gain the experience of teaching in a different setting. Many members have never been to Africa and the whole experience is an eye-opener – just read the testimonials

Testimonials "One of the most culturally enriching, fun-filled, educational and productive trips I have ever been to. AITI enabled us to teach useful skills to Ghanaian students, while learning a lot about the local people and their way of life. Ghanaians are simply one of the friendliest and most beautiful people I have ever met. An AITI trip is a great service opportunity that complements the MIT experience." - Jehanzeb Noor, Class of 2004

Testimonials "We had the chance to work with a group of amazingly talented and bright students here in Ethiopia. Given the right tools and motivation, I have full confidence that they will succeed in building a new, dynamic economy for the nation, and I feel privileged to have made a small contribution in this effort." -Ashish Koul, Class of 2001

Testimonials "Even though I did not have the chance to travel to Kenya this summer, my involvement with the AITI Self Learning Initiative taught me important values about the opportunities granted to students through self study and self motivation.” - Evelyn Eastmond, Class of 2005