Angaza Center Celebrates Partnership with Stevenson High School

Angaza Center was founded in 2022 by Chicago entrepreneur Michael Odongo with a mission to empower students in Africa through computer literacy and help bridge the digital divide. But in a short amount of time, this Lincolnshire based organization is having an incredible impact on a select group of students at Stevenson High School.

On Monday, May 22nd, five student members of the Executive Board of the National Honor Society at Stevenson High School were announced as winners of the Second Semester Prominent Patriot Award. Subham Mitra, Daniel Li, Sammy Entin, Joyce Hu and Alex LeBlanc were awarded as a group in front of students, parents, faculty and staff. The Prominent Patriot Award was created to recognize students whose actions reflect those of someone with good character and demonstrate what it means to be a good citizen of the Stevenson community.

Stevenson’s National Honor Society partnered with Angaza Center to help increase technology literacy to high school students in Kenya by providing used and factory reset electronic devices that have been donated by students. But the Executive Board of the National Honor Society took it one step further and with the support of Odongo and his team, started a pilot program to train the students in Kenya on technology literacy using the donated devices. The Stevenson students met virtually with the Kenyan students every day before school.

“We created a curriculum, and some of it was simple lessons on how to just use a computer,” said LeBlanc. “We created the presentations together on Sunday mornings and then took turns giving the presentations the following week. All the classes started bright and early for us at 7 a.m. (4 p.m. in Kenya). This experience shows the room for improvement in the world and what we can do to help. It’s always great to give back. This was a unique experience to be able to teach high school students from another country.”

Angaza Center is a nonprofit organization whose mission is to provide students in rural African secondary schools with communication technology (ICT) literacy necessary for economic and social prosperity. Once a school is approved for the program, Angaza Center trainers will work with the principal and 3-5 teachers to conduct in-person training of the curriculum. This is then incorporated into the member school’s student weekly class schedule as regular programming.

In the event there is a Partner School (like Stevenson HS), Angaza Center will work with senior students to conduct virtual training to the member school students via video conferencing as a way to complement the training that is already being done by the teachers.

Computer devices, internet service, and other types of technology for the ICT classroom are typically sourced, shipped and set up at the same time.

Born in the village of Ndori in Kenya, Odongo experienced firsthand the challenges faced by young people when trying to access a quality education and career advancement opportunities. In his 26-year career in tech, Odongo has come to understand the transformative power of technology and the opportunities it can unlock for individuals and communities. He has dedicated himself to providing students the necessary productivity tools and skills to help fuel their success.

“Technology literacy should no longer be an exception regardless of economic circumstances or social context,” explains Odongo. I was thrilled when Stevenson Superintendent Eric Twadell agreed to partner with Angaza Center, and have their students involved in training students in our member schools in Kenya. Our trainers provided Stevenson students with curriculum and gave them the freedom to create training content. To no surprise, the program has been a huge success with students from both countries making closer connections and discussing possibility of future in-person meeting.

Odongo and his team maintain a firm commitment to realizing Angaza Center's vision of empowering 90% of rural Kenyan secondary schools by the end of 2028 and 50% of rural African secondary schools by the end of 2035. In fact, on the same day as the Prominent Patriot Award was announced, the Angaza Center launched a program in Lubumbashi, located in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), as a first step towards expanding into other African countries.

Angaza Center aims to continue establishing strategic partnerships and support from local schools, universities, organizations, corporations and individuals interested in creating a collaborative ecosystem for educational advancement for students.

For more information on Angaza Center, please visit www.angazacenter.org.