[afro-nets] Kabissa Launches Training-of-Trainers Program in West Africa

General afro-nets
1

Kabissa Launches Training-of-Trainers Program in West Africa
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KABISSA LAUNCHES TRAINING-OF-TRAINERS PROGRAM IN WEST AFRICA
PROGRAM BASED ON SUCCESSFUL TIME TO GET ONLINE CURRICULUM

Washington, DC (June 18) � Responding to the demands of past
Time to Get Online workshop participants, Kabissa launches a new
Training-of-Trainers (TOT) program for West African civil soci-
ety organizations in August. The Time to Get Online curriculum
combines self-learning materials and hands-on workshops to help
African civil society organizations to build capacity through
internet-based information sharing and advocacy initiatives. The
TOT model enables us to have an even greater impact on civil so-
ciety organizations throughout the region by creating a network
of ICT training partners empowered to deliver this curriculum in
their own communities.

Kabissa � an organization dedicated to helping African organiza-
tions put the Internet to work for the benefit of the people
they serve � originally developed the Time to Get Online cur-
riculum for organizations excited by the potential of the Inter-
net, but lacking the skills needed to take advantage of the its
many resources.

The new TOT program builds a network of ICT trainers throughout
the region and gives twenty civil society organizations the op-
portunity to conduct Time to Get Online workshops in their own
communities. The week-long intensive program will bring together
a diverse set of civil society organizations to train them on
the Time to Get Online curriculum and how to deliver it using
adult learning techniques. This program has been developed in
collaboration with echange, LLC and Eco-Ventures International,
two organizations that specialize in training and innovative
ways to use technology. Upon completion of the program, partici-
pants will become Kabissa-certified Time to Get Online training
partners and receive learning materials for their own workshops.

For more information or to apply for the workshop, visit the
Time to Get Online Web site � http://www.timetogetonline.org -
or contact Kim Lowery at ttgo@kabissa.org

--
About Kabissa

Founded in 1999, Kabissa is a nonprofit organization dedicated
to helping African civil society organizations put the Internet
to work for the benefit of the people they serve. Programs focus
on providing Internet services, building the capacity of organi-
zations to use technology, and promoting interaction within the
African civil society sector. Today, more than 700 organizations
from over 30 countries take advantage of Kabissa�s services.

For more information about Kabissa, visit:
http://www.kabissa.org or
mailto:info@kabissa.org
Tel: +1-202-265-6116

2

Polio epidemic warning for Africa
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The polio immunisation campaign was abandoned

West and Central Africa is on the brink of the largest polio
epidemic in recent years, experts have warned.

The Global Polio Eradication Initiative says thousands of chil-
dren are at risk of paralysis.

Five times as many children in the region have been hit by polio
in 2004 as last year.

The upsurge has been linked to a suspension of the vaccination
programme in northern Nigeria.

There is no question that the virus is spreading at an alarming
pace.

Last month a child was paralysed by polio in Darfur - the first
case in Sudan for three years.

This means that ten countries have now been reinfected with the
virus since the Nigerian state of Kano stopped immunisations for
eight months last year after Islamic elders voiced concerns
about vaccine safety.

They suspected vaccines had been adulterated as part of a west-
ern plot to depopulate the region.

It is hoped to resume a vaccination programme in the state using
new supplies imported from Indonesia.

But since immunisations stopped 237 cases have been reported
across West and central Africa, including 197 in Nigeria, com-
pared to a total of 49 cases for the same period last year.

High season

Mass immunisation campaigns, which will start in October, should
reach 74m children in 22 countries.

But experts are worried, that with the high season for polio ap-
proaching, cases will begin to rise.

David Heymann, an expert in communicable diseases at the World
Health Organization said: "There is no question that the virus
is spreading at an alarming pace."

Polio, which mainly affects children under five, is caused by a
virus that invades the nervous system and can cause total pa-
ralysis or death.

The Global Polio Eradication Initiative is hoping to rid the
world of the disease by next year.

Only six countries worldwide - Afghanistan, Egypt, India, Niger,
Nigeria, and Pakistan - are considered polio-endemic.

When the eradication drive was launched in 1988, polio was a se-
rious problem in 125 countries.