Posted: 10 May 2006
Computer scientists arrive at the origins of humankind
Ethiopia is credited with being the origin of humankind with bones discovered there dating back nearly 3.2 million years. But today the country is better known for the droughts and famines which periodically blight its population of nearly 74 million people. The country is one of Africa’s poorest states, almost two-thirds of its population is illiterate and many of its people are dependent on food aid from abroad for survival.
Pictured UCD Volunteers (left to right): Nicola Hoey, Paula Maguire, Zara Shields,
Abey Campbell, Eoghan Crosby, Rory McCann, and John Stafford
As part of an innovative new aid programme that seeks to bring technology and expertise to the third world, students from the UCD School of Computer Science and Informatics will travel to Ethiopia this summer to share their technical skills with local teachers. The project is organised by UCD Volunteers Overseas in collaboration with Camara, a newly-established non-profit organization that sends refurbished computers from Ireland to schools and other educational institutions in Africa.
Camara’s plan is to match outgoing expertise with need in Africa. In this first trip, the UCD students will instruct local teachers in basic computing skills. The ultimate goal in future years will be to follow the OpenICDL course which will provide all participants with a formal IT qualification.
‘Our students have been involved in several of these types of initiatives in recent years’ says Professor Barry Smyth, Head of the UCD School of Computer Science and Informatics. ‘The experience helps students to develop a strong sense of the world around them. And sharing what they have learned in UCD with others less fortunate is very rewarding at a personal level.’
This type of volunteer skill sharing is critical to a third world educational system which only managed to produce 100 degree-level computer science graduates in 2004 - most of whom now work in the Government or have emigrated to find work with multinational companies
The 9 UCD computer science students, who range from PhD researchers to final year undergraduates, will spend 4 weeks in Awassa, a small city 6 hours south of the capital Addis Ababa. Most of the students have never been to Africa before. With some contribution from Camara, the students raised their own funding for the skill sharing project.
‘We are delighted to be involved in this project and very proud to see our students driving such initiatives,’ says Dr. Joe Carthy, Deputy Head of the UCD School of Computer Science and Informatics. Led by UCD computer science student Eoghan Crosby, the UCD team is being jointly organised by UCD Volunteers Overseas which is led by Fr. Tony Coote, UCD student chaplain and adviser, and by Mr. Owen Fallon, student adviser in computer Science and informatics.