PROPOSAL ON THE ORGANISATION OF A COMPUTER LITERACY TRAINING PROGRAM FOR FEMALE MEMBERS OF THE NATIONAL EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE OF

Proposal on the organization of a COMPUTER LITERACY TRAINING PROGRAM FOR FEMALE MEMBERS OF THE NATIONAL EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE OF THE NIGERIA ASSOCIATION OF THE BLIND (NAB)

Background
13 women were elected into national Executive positions at the national Congress of the NAB in October, 2010 at Uyo, Akwa-Ibom State; two others were appointed as national leaders in the youth Committee. In addition, each State chapter of NAB has a Women’s leader who heads the Women’s Committee. This marked the beginning of a complete turn-around in the status of blind and partially sighted women in Nigeria from mere observers to active players in the politics of the Association. In order to enable the 13 women leaders who were elected at Uyo understand and effectively perform in their role as national leaders, a capacity-building training of trainers (TOT) was organized in February, 2011 which was sponsored by the Coalition for Change (C4C) in Umuahia, Abia State.
As timely and successful as the training was, most of these women leaders are yet to key-in to the place that has been created for them in the national Constitution of the Association, especially in the aspect of information gathering and dissemination in the community of blind and partially sighted women and girls. As a matter of fact, after 2 years in office, it is still very difficult to effectively communicate with and through them. They are mostly computer-illiterate and cannot access available information either on the internet or even in their own e-mail addresses. More importantly, almost every useful, beneficial information across the globe today can only be accessed and positively utilized through the internet and it goes without saying that it is impossible for any person who is not computer literate to fruitfully use the internet. This is an extremely negative trend which must be urgently addressed as its multiplier effect on the NAB and its female members cannot be over-emphasised.
Problem Statement
There is a desperate and urgent need for the training of all female members of the national Executive Committee of the NAB (12 for the Women’s Committee, 2 for the youth, and 1 on the Board—the assistant national Secretary) in the use of the regular computer made possible by a special speech software known as Jaws which allows the visually challenged to maneuver the computer monitor with amazing speed and proficiency.
This is expected to result in the thorough tutoring of the trainees to do just about anything with basic word-processing on the computer including making use of the Internet and conducting various searches with same. It is also strongly recommended that the State Chairpersons in the Zone where the training takes place should be trained along with these national leaders to save the cost of having to organise a separate program for them. Each of these trainees would have to be provided with a personal computer with JAWS screen-reading software for the training to be relevant and effective.

During the last weekend of the programme, it is essential to organize a camping expedition for the trainees. This is aimed at promoting equal opportunities, social integration and recreation among blind and partially sighted women and girls which would be replicated at the Zonal, State, and local district levels.
Goal
The major goal of the exercise is to enhance effective leadership through computer literacy for ICT compliance of 21 female members of the national and some State Executive Committees of the women’s Department of the NAB.
Objectives
1. To strengthen, enhance and improve the leadership capabilities of 254 (two hundred and fifty-four) female national, Zonal, State, and District female leaders of the NAB through training in computer literacy and ICT. The 21 blind and partially sighted women trained will in turn facilitate the training of other leaders right down to the grassroots for leadership development through ICT compliance.
2. To promote effective communication and desperately needed accessibility to and dissemination of information in the community of blind and partially sighted women and girls in Nigeria down to the grassroots.
3. To bridge the digital divide between the global community and blind/partially sighted women and girls.
4. To lay a tangible and strong foundation for gradual ICT compliance of blind and partially sighted women and girls through collaboration and partnership with Zonal Resource Centres and relevant donors thereby creating an enabling environment for them to enjoy equal opportunities as any other member of the human race despite their peculiar type of disability.
Activities
1. Organize a 3-week training of the trainers computer literacy program for 21 female leaders of the NAB
2. Arrange a three-day camping expedition for 21 blind and partially sighted women and girls at an accessible out-door camping site where there will be lectures on the UNCRPD, reasonable accommodation, community relations and using the media as well as campfire, talent shows, and recreation
Components/contents
The training is expected to be for three weeks. The participants will be exposed to the basics of computer literacy and internet surfing/use; those who already have basic knowledge of word processing would be better helped to use the internet and read website pages for unlimited access to the ever-flowing stream of useful/relevant information across the globe for self, organizational, and community development. An experienced Consultant blind instructor will be engaged to facilitate the training. The officers that participate in the training will be expected to facilitate similar training among the local groups of the association including the FCT.
3. Facilitate a gradual Computer literacy/ICT compliance training for blind women leaders at the grassroots in all states of Nigeria in partnership with the 6 Zonal Resource Centres across the nation.
Through this method, two thousand, two hundred blind and partially sighted women and girls are expected to benefit from the exercise. The modality for this would be for the training to be stepped down to the State level and cost saving as existing structures would be used i.e State chairpersons will be trained at Zonal Resource Centres. This is expected to make communication with and dissemination of information to the grassroots faster and more effective.
All those who participate in the camping expedition will be helped to champion the lead in advocating for the rights of women with disabilities and promoting social integration/inclusion of blind and partially sighted women and girls especially in the activities of their immediate communities as they would learn to demand for equal opportunities.
Monitoring and Evaluation
Each Zonal Coordinator of the Women’s Committee would conduct a field trip to the Resource Centre in her Zone during training sessions for the purpose of monitoring the training of State Chairpersons. She shall then submit a report on same to the National President (Women’s Committee) For each Zone of the training exercise, pre-test and post-test will be conducted to evaluate and determine the level of knowledge and skill acquisition
Expected Outcome
 An estimated two thousand, two hundred blind women and girls across Nigeria acquire skills in computer literacy and ICT.
ICT compliance is enhanced among 2200blind and partially sighted women and girls across the 36 states in Nigeria and the FCT
The provisions of the UNCRPD are made known to well over 5000 persons with disabilities nationwide
Documentation
Full report of the training will be documented and submitted to NAB along with relevant Means of Verification (MOVs) to be collated. The report of the national training and those for Zonal chapters will form the general report to be submitted by the Committee.
Place
In view of the well-equipped computer training facility for the blind at the South-West Resource Centre in Abeokuta and the availability of relevant consultancy services in the field, it is proposed that the training would take place in Abeokuta, Ogun State.
Proposed Date
Arrival: 21st January, 2013
Training: 22nd January—10th February, 2013
Campping expedition: 11th—13th February, 2013
Departure: 14th February, 2013
VOLUNTEERS
It is proposed that 5 volunteer guides/aids, 1 driver, and a consultant will also reside with participants for the duration of the program. Estimated Cost
Grand total = N12,781,000 (twelve million, seven hundred and eighty-one thousand naira). The breakdown is as follows:

ITEM COST PER UNIT NO. TO BE PURCHASED COST PRICE
HP PAVILION N105,000 21 N2,205,000
JAWS (with dongle) N100,000 (rebate for 20) 20 N2,000,000
JAWS (with dongle) N180,000 (normal price for an extra 1( 1 N180,000
SUB-TOTAL N4,385,000
Accommodation N10,000 15 x 21 nights N3,150,000
Feeding N2,000 28 x 3 x21 days—volunteers and others included N3,528,000
Road transportation N20,000 21 N420,000
Training materials/handouts 21 N42,000
Volunteers/driver’s allowances N25,000 6 N150,000
Consultant’s fee N250,000 1 N350,000
Transportation to and from Campsite 1 18-seater and 1 10-seater buses 2 trips per bus N35,000
Video Recording 5 hours per day 3 days N24,000
Rentage of electronics/electrical appliances N110,000
Feeding 6 meals and 4 teabreaks per person 28 persons (volunteers included) N140,000
Purchase of recreation equipment and games N50,000
Photographs 60 exposures N150 per exposure N9,000
Publicity 2 local television stations and 4 local radio stations N28,000 per station N168,000
Consultancy N120,000
Miscellaneous N100,000
GRAND-TOTAL N12,781,000