Anna Schuck, Rotary International Scholar. Also Update on Computers for Ghana from Jade House & Oli de Paolis (Turing Trust)

The Turing Trust  -  Oliver de Paolis and Jade House

Oliver and Jade having just returned from two months in Ghana gave an illuminating and absorbing presentation of the work of the Turing Trust there.

Focusing on the training of both teachers and students in IT skills they arranged a three day seminar for ten teachers and fifty one students from every region in Ghana. The seminar focused on data, the collecting, analysing and presenting of data using IT skills. Feedback showed the 'pump-priming' seminar had a very impressive, widespread and beneficial impact particularly in rural areas in Ghana where the need for education and training is greatest.

Oliver and Jade explained that internet access in rural areas of Ghana is either not available or very expensive and so a free to use open source programme (acronym RACHEL) is used. The economic implications of acquiring computer based skills in Ghana are very important as every student so equipped is virtually guaranteed a job.

In addition to our Club’s input to the Turing Trust, Currie Balerno Rotary Club sponsors twelve Ghanaian students including Mary Amoah and Leticia Mensah who had sent us a message - Oliver and Jade had recorded Mary’s and Leticia’s thanks to the Club for sponsoring their fees and played the recordings to the meeting. The club was also thanked for it’s work for the Turing Trust by Eddie their 'Man in Ghana'.

Andrew Clark thanked Oliver and Jade on behalf of the club and proposed our vote of thanks.

Note: After their presentation, Oli and Jade, on behalf of Eddie Pinto, Turing Trust Director in Ghana, delivered  a plaque (see image above) to Andrew for our Club to display.

Anna Schuck  -  Rotary Global Scholar

Anna has just submitted her thesis for her MSC post graduate studies in International Development at Edinburgh University and came to our meeting to talk to the Club about the work she has undertaken as part of her studies.

Anna’s particular focus in international development is in the provision and effects of microfinance in Africa and in particular in relation to women. Anna studied the effects of microfinance on the work of women in post-conflict Rwanda and found that the women she talked to (who were in many cases widows from genocide) were restricted mainly for historic and cultural reasons to agricultural projects. 

She found that many women were frustrated by this and were increasingly using the loans to start small enterprises and other non-agricultural businesses.

The microfinance loans Anna found benefited women by increasing income, improving their quality of life and empowering the women and were particularly important as women are largely excluded from more mainstream sources of finance. Anna found that women are better at repaying loans than men! Unfortunately in some cases husbands use loans for other purposes and encourage their wives to apply for loans from other sources thus sliding the family into a spiral of debt. She emphasised that this was a small minority of cases.

Following Anna’s talk during questions Ian Greig advised that during the Club’s funding of 'Lend with Care' two thirds of our loans have been to women and that we have never had any defaults either by women or men!

The Club’s vote of thanks to Anna was presented by Richard Basker.

Report by Jim Douglas