News 13 of 49

Telecentres: A One-Stop Communication Shop

2003-11-17

Ask anyone in the town of Manhiça where the telecentre is and they can easily point the way: along the main street, past the general store, down the alleyway next to the evangelical church. The telecentre is also a well-known landmark among rural dwellers that make up the majority of the 130 000 inhabitants of Manhiça district. Some of these come from as far afield as 30 kilometres to use the telecentre. One of the reasons for its popularity, claims its 22-year old manager Samo Soares, are the fees charged for two of its most popular services: photocopying and the public telephone. Residents can get photocopies made at the bank in Manhiça, but it will cost them five times as much. The same is true of the public telephones at the local phone exchange.

Soares and his staff also do a fair bit of computer training. "People see [training] as an opportunity to get skills and maybe a job," he says.

Indeed, it was a combination of education and skills that landed Soares the job as telecentre manager. He was chosen by the Local Advisory Committee (LAC) set up to oversee community management of the telecentre. Unlike most of his peer group who attended the local highschool and graduated in Grade 10, he was able to continue his secondary education in Maputo, 78 kilometres away.

Stélio Daniel, a local primary teacher, is another person who parlayed his education and computer skills into a job — though in his case it is a volunteer position. He was approached by the telecentre to coordinate the local production of a CD-ROM about malaria. UNESCO funds the project, aimed largely at women and youth, to support learning at the community level. Malaria was the topic chosen at a workshop attended by 50 people, including students, teachers, members of the LAC, and representatives of local associations, among them market vendors.

Daniel is able to use what he has learned outside his classroom to teach his students.
"It is normal to have a child absent [from class] for a week. When they return I ask
them what the problem was and many say 'malaria.' Now, I can take the opportunity to explain to the whole class what malaria is and how to avoid it."

Connections interrupted

Running a telecentre also has its challenges. Soares must deal with power outages and the regular loss of his connection to the telecentre's Internet Service Provider in Maputo. Clients who pay $US1.50 per half hour to browse the Internet are not charged for the time they are online if a connection fails. This partially explains why the service remains underutilized despite the excitement it generates during training sessions, claims Soares.

Despite technical problems, email has proven popular among one group of telecentre patrons, refugees from Uganda. "They communicate with their family and friends. Sending an email is still much cheaper than a phone call," says Soares.

A self-sustaining future?

The telecentre has proven to be a useful and sought after service provider for the residents of Manhiça. Its biggest hurdle is how best to translate that support into a stable, sustainable future. Plans are now underway here and in Namaacha to place telecentre operations completely in the hands of the local communities.

While this is a necessary step in the evolution of the telecentre model being developed in Mozambique, it worries Polly Gaster of the University Eduardo Mondlane Informatics Centre (CIUEM), which supported both telecentres through their pilot phase.

"If a pay-as-you-go competitor comes into this place and plunks down his uncle's second-hand computer in his backyard, they are going to undercut the earnings of the telecentres, especially if he has no worries with tax, or salaries, or paying the social security, or any of those things. That," she says, "is a problem."

Kevin Conway is a senior writer in IDRC's Communications Division in Ottawa.

For more information:

Polly Gaster, Head of Projects and Research, University Eduardo Mondlane Informatics Centre (CIUEM), CP 479, Maputo, Mozambique; Phone: +258-1-492601 ext. 217; Fax: +258-1-494755; Email: polly@nambu.uem.mz

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