Breaking the language barrier: English training 4 on-boarded French speaker students in Goma

[GENERAL] Name and surname of main applicant

Martin Musagara

[GENERAL] Email address of main applicant

martinmusagara@gmail.com

Additional applicants

English language expert to be hired

[GENERAL] Please specify how many months you expect your project to last (from 2-12 months)

6

[GENERAL] Please indicate if your proposal has been auto-translated into English from another language.

No

[GENERAL] Does your project have any dependencies on other organizations, technical or otherwise?

No

[GENERAL] If YES, please describe what the dependency is and why you believe it is essential for your project’s delivery. If NO, please write “No dependencies.”

No dependencies

[GENERAL] Will your project’s output/s be fully open source?

Yes

[GENERAL] If NO, please describe which outputs are not going to be open source. If YES, please write “Project will be fully open source.”

Project will be fully open source

[METADATA] Category of proposal

Education

[METADATA] SDG rating

SDG goals:

End poverty in all its forms everywhere

Ensure inclusive and equitable quality education and promote lifelong learning opportunities for all

Build resilient infrastructure, promote inclusive and sustainable industrialization and foster innovation

Reduce inequality within and among countries

Strengthen the means of implementation and revitalize the Global Partnership for Sustainable Development

SDG subgoals:

By 2030, empower and promote the social, economic and political inclusion of all, irrespective of age, sex, disability, race, ethnicity, origin, religion or economic or other status

Enhance the Global Partnership for Sustainable Development, complemented by multi-stakeholder partnerships that mobilize and share knowledge, expertise, technology and financial resources, to support the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals in all countries, in particular developing countries

Encourage and promote effective public, public-private and civil society partnerships, building on the experience and resourcing strategies of partnerships

By 2030, substantially increase the number of youth and adults who have relevant skills, including technical and vocational skills, for employment, decent jobs and entrepreneurship

By 2030, ensure that all learners acquire the knowledge and skills needed to promote sustainable development, including, among others, through education for sustainable development and sustainable lifestyles, human rights, gender equality, promotion of a culture of peace and non-violence, global citizenship and appreciation of cultural diversity and of culture’s contribution to sustainable development

Key Performance Indicator (KPI):

Proportion of youth and adults with information and communications technology (ICT) skills, by type of skill

Extent to which (i) global citizenship education and (ii) education for sustainable development are mainstreamed in (a) national education policies; (b) curricula; (c) teacher education; and (d) student assessment

#proposertoolsdg

[IMPACT] Please describe your proposed solution.

DRC has the 7th youngest country in the world according to the UN. This presents a unique mix of challenges and opportunities.

 

This proposal seeks to encourage the burgeoning interest amongst the African youth that holds architects and entrepreneurs of the future in blockchain and related technologies in the digital economy. 

 

The onboarding workshops have started in 2020 at ISDR GL (an educational institution in DRC), the Goma wada hub has been holding sessions with students introducing them to blockchain technology, to cardano, project catalyst and other related topics, but with DRC being a french speaking country, many of the on-boarded students are being discouraged with the language barrier as English is the most used language in the cardano ecosystem.

 

 

This proposal will have a positive impact on the lives of about 100 youth in Congo in the following ways listed below:

 

Bring together a portion of on-boarded young people to train them to English skills, writing, listening, speaking, and reading.

 

This training will catalyze and launch the participation of young people in Cardano because the communication is a key element for them to fully explore the cardano technology and collaborate with other builders and enthusiast around the globe.

 

English training holds significant importance in today's globalized world.

Here are a few reasons:

1.Communication: English is one of the most widely spoken languages worldwide and serves as a common bridge for international communication. Proficiency in English allows individuals to effectively communicate with people from different cultures and backgrounds.

2.Career Opportunities: English proficiency is often a prerequisite for many job positions, especially in multinational companies or jobs that involve international communication or travel. Enhancing English language skills can open doors to better job opportunities and career growth.

3.Education: English is a commonly used language in higher education. Many prestigious universities offer courses and programs in English, and proficiency in the language is necessary for academic success in these institutions.

4.Personal Development: Learning English improves cognitive abilities such as critical thinking, problem-solving, and creativity. It also broadens one's horizons by exposing them to different cultures, literature, and perspectives.

5.Access to Information: The majority of global knowledge, research papers, scientific articles, and online resources are available in English. Being proficient in English enables individuals to access a vast amount of information and stay updated with the latest developments in various fields.

6.Social Interaction: English proficiency facilitates connections and friendships with people from different countries and cultures. One can engage in meaningful conversations, share experiences, and develop a global network of friends and contacts.

7.Personal Travel: English is often used as a lingua franca in the tourism industry. Knowing English can greatly enhance travel experiences, making it easier to navigate through different countries, communicate with locals, and understand local customs and traditions.

 

Anticipated youth impacted - 100 aged 18-25

To maximize participation in our English training, we’ll implement the following:

• Publicize the training to onborded students via social media, and the university display valve.
• Set clear objectives: Clearly communicate the goals and objectives of the training to participants. This will help them understand the purpose and importance of their participation.
• Create an inclusive learning environment: Foster an inclusive and supportive learning environment where every participant feels comfortable and encouraged to participate. Avoid situations that may intimidate or discourage individuals from sharing their ideas.
• Incorporate interactive activities: Include various interactive activities such as group discussions, role-playing, debates, and games. These activities promote active engagement and encourage participants to actively participate in the learning process.
• Use technology and multimedia: Utilize technology tools and multimedia resources to make training sessions more engaging and interactive. This can include using language learning apps, online platforms, videos, and audio materials to enhance the learning experience.
• Provide regular feedback and recognition: Give participants regular feedback on their progress and provide positive reinforcement for their efforts. Recognize their achievements and efforts to maintain motivation and encourage continued participation.
• Encourage peer learning: Foster a collaborative learning environment where participants can learn from and support each other. Encourage group work and pair participants with different English proficiency levels to create a supportive learning community.
• Allow for flexibility: Provide options for participants to personalize their learning experience based on their interests and learning styles. Flexibility in the training program allows individuals to take ownership of their learning journey and increases their motivation to actively participate.
• Assess and address individual needs: Conduct regular assessments to understand participants' individual needs and adapt the training accordingly. Customizing the training to each participant's specific requirements will enable them to actively engage with the content.
• At the end of the training certificate they achievement 

[IMPACT] How does your proposed solution address the challenge and what benefits will this bring to the Cardano ecosystem?

This proposal seeks to facilitate students onboarded at Goma Wada Hub to join and fully participate on activities in cardano by overcoming the language barrier established by English. There is among students potential proposers, community reviewers, entrepreneurs and enthousiasts ready to use several tools in the cardano ecosystem. 

This proposal could fit in some of the challenges, especially the one dedicated to students, but the capped budget didn't allow us to submit it there and we just found it place here in catalyst open.

[IMPACT] How do you intend to measure the success of your project?

The Goma community has tried to be active in the ecosystem, taking part to events, town halls etc. since it's just a small portion of its members that are able to get abreast of the information driven in there as they have a coversational level of english, other monolinguals (speaking only french) can't directly join or interact in different events around the ecosystem, and have difficulties to participate neither as proposers, Community reviewers in project catalyst.

this proposal seeks to leverage this youth's interest in the Cardano project to let them feel comfortable taking part in activities and get to interact with the other memebers of the community.

The success of this project my reflect in the following:

• 100 students registered for the trainning
• 100 students taking part in the trainning till it's end
• 100 students able to hold a coversation in english after the six month of trainning
• More than 60 students taking part in cardano ecosystem as Enthusists, reviewers proposers or being part of the growth mechanism of the ecosystem.

[IMPACT] Please describe your plans to share the outputs and results of your project?

We are always sharing our activities on our social media, as you can see in upper fields, all the informations about the prograss of this project will be shared there. the following will be shared with the community:

• The registration form (we ready have a data base of all students we introduced to cardano)
• Videos and pictures of trainning sessions will made available
• Participants interviews, where you can realize their progress in english

At the end of the project we'll have students ready to fully embrace the Cardano world, we can gather their testimonials and share them with the community.

[CAPABILITY/ FEASIBILITY] What is your capability to deliver your project with high levels of trust and accountability?

Goma Wada Hub:

• Onboarding Program (Production of educational content on Cardano and Project Catalyst since 2020), Watch here.
• Weekly meet-ups to promote Cardano and plan the hub's activities
• Goma monthly since feb 2023, see here.
• Regular Haskell and Plutus training since Sep 2020
• Goma Cardano Stake Pool running in Goma
• Hosting cardano summit 2021 and 2022, watch here.
• 4 developpers and technical professional
• Converting Ada to local currency
• Plutus and Atala-Prism Project based learning, see it here.
• See here our Fund 8 achieved project
• and 2 other projects are ongoing
• GOMA WADA HUB GALLERY

[CAPABILITY/ FEASIBILITY] What are the main goals for the project and how will you validate if your approach is feasible?

Goals of the project:

Improve Language Proficiency: The primary goal for our English training project is to enhance overall language proficiency among participants. This includes developing skills in speaking, listening, reading, and writing to give value to their on-bording.

Other Goals:

• Enhance Communication Skills: we want to improve participants' ability to communicate effectively in English. This involves enhancing fluency, accuracy, and confidence in using the language for various purposes, such as presentations, discussions, and negotiations.

• Expand Vocabulary and Grammar: The project aims to broaden participants' vocabulary and enhance their understanding and usage of grammar rules. This goal enables learners to express themselves more precisely and eloquently in both spoken and written English, with focus on blockchain technology related vocabulary.

• Develop Reading and Comprehension Skills: The project focuses on improving participants' reading skills by enhancing their ability to understand and interpret different types of texts. This includes developing strategies to identify main ideas, infer meaning, and analyze content.

• Increase Confidence and Motivation: The project aims to boost participants' confidence and motivation in using English both inside and outside the classroom. This can be achieved through holding the Hub's local meetups in english for exemple.

• Encourage Lifelong Learning: Finally, we want to instill a love for continuous learning and providing participants with the tools and resources to continue improving their English language skills even after the project concludes.

At the end of 6 months of intense training, we'll have 100 english speakers ready to face the english barrier and fully participate in the Cardano ecosytem.

[CAPABILITY/ FEASIBILITY] Please provide a detailed breakdown of your project’s milestones and each of the main tasks or activities to reach the milestone plus the expected timeline for the delivery.

Milestone 1: November 2023: 2 weeks

• Announce the training
• Hire the English language expert
• Launch registrations for participation(a data base is available with all our on-boarded contacts)

This milestone doesn't take us much time because we're permanently in contact with our on-boarded students and we got their contacts, so they'll just need to confirm their participation since they are aware of this project and it's their initiave.

Milestone 2: Mi-november2023-April 2024

• Launch the training on a daily program
• Ending ceremony and distribution of certificates to recipients.

[CAPABILITY/ FEASIBILITY] Please describe the deliverables, outputs and intended outcomes of each milestone.

Deliverables:

Milestone 1, first two weeks of November:

• The training will be published on our social media and displayed at the valve of our Host university.
• One English language expert will be hired
• The registration file will be available and published

Milestone 2:

• Training will be launched in Half November 2023 with a participatory of 100 students, classes will scheduled on students preferencies available in registration form.
• Training will end in May 2024, with a ceremony where certificates will be delivered to recipient and share a Fest to celebrate the accomplishment. This end will not be systematic, since recipient will be introduced to a large set of materials to keep learning and improve their proficiency after the project ends.

[RESOURCES & VALUE FOR MONEY] Please provide a detailed budget breakdown of the proposed work and resources.

The total budget requested is  44800ADA ,

 

The breakdown is as follows:

 

Rate: 0.25

 

Hiring of physical space : 2200 ADA per Month - Total : 13200 ADA for six months

 

Hiring an English expert: 1600 ADA/month - Total :9600/6months

 

Materials and stationery  (blocknotes and pens for participants)      : 2750 ADA

 

Media coverage & design                                 :3000ADA

 

Marketing, publicity                                          :2000 ADA

 

Food for the ending ceremony                       : 7500ADA

                                                    

Project managment                                        :6000ADA

Misc                                                                  : 600 ADA

TOTAL BUDGET : 44800ADA

[RESOURCES & VALUE FOR MONEY] How does the cost of the project represent value for money for the Cardano ecosystem?

The costs in the budget are based on industry standards, and local market rates, to provide a reasonable budget.

Human ressources: The project team is made of two individuals, a project lead (manager) and an english expert to be hired, the amounts are based on local reality and standards.

Hiring space for trainning: the cost here has been set after our researches and contact with space owners.

Contingency Plan: We introduced a miscelous amount of 600ADA as It is prudent to allocate a portion of the budget for contingency planning. Unforeseen events, such as changes in requirements, or fluctuation of Ada, delays, or unforeseen challenges, can impact the project's timeline and budget. Having a contingency fund provides a safety net, enabling us to address unexpected circumstances without hindering project progress or compromising quality of the outcomes.

[IMPORTANT NOTE] The Applicant agreed to Fund10 rules and also that data in the Submission Form and other data provided by the project team during the course of the project will be publicly available.

I Accept