Learning Lions

  Vérifié par Volunteer World
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rating

4.7

Génial


10

Avis


9

Years in business

Learning Lions is an academy that teaches young adults to use technology to earn a decent living. That way fairtrade outsourcing to Africa finally becomes a viable option

THE CHALLENGE

Rural areas across Africa (such as Turkana, North Kenya) often have poor infrastructure, limited access to markets, very few formal job opportunities, and consequently suffer from high levels of unemployment and little opportunity for moving out of poverty. Turkana in particular has ...

Description

THE CHALLENGE

Rural areas across Africa (such as Turkana, North Kenya) often have poor infrastructure, limited access to markets, very few formal job opportunities, and consequently suffer from high levels of unemployment and little opportunity for moving out of poverty. Turkana in particular has infertile soil that does not support sustainable agriculture, with the majority of food supplies having to be transported from cities several hours away. Local businesses including basket weaving, mechanical repairs and small kiosks exist, however none of these scale to provide widespread employment opportunities or meaningful wages.  And yet, with around 900.000 inhabitants, Turkana holds an untapped potential of human talent with the chance of having internet access even in some of the most remote areas.           

OUR CONCEPT

Learning Lions is a non-profit program that selects, educates and trains young adults living outside urban areas with few job opportunities in high-value skills like software development, graphic design and media production.  It is focused on hands-on skills taught by volunteers from around the world that can immediately be used to generate income online. Our follow up program Startup Lions (www.startuplions.org) then helps our trained “Lions” to use the skills they acquired in the training to create their own business in our lakeside IT-Hub, while we source clients for them from around the world. 

TEACHING APPROACH

1. The Basic Training 

Learning Lions offers the selected students a structured learning plan with a specific timeframe and clear learning objectives. In the first 3 months learning period they undergo a curriculum, developed by our partner organization Tunapanda aimed to take people with little or no computer skills to a comparable level of young adults in the developed world who had much earlier access to computers. The program includes self‐paced video tutorials, instructor‐led learning and practical training. They learn the basics of programming, graphic design,  video and music production.

Another very important aspect of this training are the soft skills. Communication, Teamwork, time management and presentation skills are boosted.

2. The advanced training 

Those students who performed well in the basic training are then invited to stay on campus as trainees. They will use code academy and similar courses to advance on their skills. Additional to that, we group them in teams of 3 to 10 members, for instructor-led task-based learning. For this we are looking for motivated volunteers with practical experience to share their knowledge.

Trainees will learn how to deliver against a client's objective within a specific timeframe and collect feedback on the quality of their work and project management ability. Trainees also build up a portfolio of references showcasing their quality. This will set the foundation for their path to entrepreneurship and will help them to set up their own little business in a subsequent step. The young Lions have an amazing energy and huge potential. They only need help to transform this energy into a structured form which will help them to build a successful future.

LOCATION AND SETUP

We are starting to build an ICT-Center in Loropio (Kalimapus area) at the shores of Lake Turkana (Kenya) between Kalokol and Kataboi. At this center our “Lions” can live, learn, train and eventually become entrepreneurs in a campus-like environment that provides them with the best preconditions to make a successful career.  We estimate completion in 2018. Until then we are successfully operating from our campus in Lodwar (Turkana County, Kenya). 


Contact

Jan Veddeler

Langues parlées: Anglais

Learning Lions avis

Marian Maruniak rating4,8

2022 at Mentoring for IT, Media or Project Management

I've spent two amazing months volunteering at the Learning Lions campus as a web developer. From the start, I was amazed by the sheer scale of this organization and how far they have made it. Learning Lions are involved in many different projects and there are opportunities for just any kind of ...
I spent 6 months on site in Loropio at LearningLions' new campus. It is a unique experience. The talented students (Lions) and management welcome you into their family. Accommodation, food and transportation - everything worked out great and was very well organized. This project has an excellent ...
The time with the Learning Lions in Kenya was a unique experience. It is impressive to see what young people (Kenyans and refugees from neighbouring countries) learn and are able to implement within 3 months. Your digital expertise is extremely appreciated and you can pass on your knowledge here. ..
Francois Blanchard rating5,0

2019 at Mentoring for IT, Media or Project Management

Mentoring on a daily basis young adult learning the fields of graphic design, animation and webdesign. My task was also to complete the learning curriculum especially in the Graphic Design field. evaluating the Lions work is also part of the daily task that I was ask to ...
Experience an out of the ordinary experience in the very remote region of Turkana in Kenya and meet amazing young students who are very eager to learn and lift themself out of poverty. If you are interested in IT, Education or Sales you fit perfectly! :-) Cheers Daniel ...
Carolina Galvao rating4,8

2019 at Mentoring for IT, Media or Project Management

What was meant to be a 3 month experience, ended up being extended for 4 months, and after 4 months I wished I could have stayed longer... Your technical skills will have a strong impact here, the local community is as welcoming as you could only ask for, this while working with volunteers from all ...