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For Ildephonse Bikino (bikilde) of Rwanda, it was supposed to be an uneventful Drupal Global Training Day call-out; he expected 50 people but he got 388!
Bikino began working to get local interest in Drupal, sharing information by creating a simple website and posting information about the trainings on groups.drupal.org and sharing it locally.
Hoping to reach the room capacity of 50 people, the registrations came flowing in.
“The venue, which is kLab, where I was expecting to run my first training, they only accommodate 50 people. And the channel I used to announce the training, I was not expecting too many people attending, but people ...shared my communication to different channels and in so many different ways. I was surprised to get more than 388 applications.”
How do you deal with the logistics of training 388 people? That’s hard! Bikino was committed to the challenge. One session became eight over a number of weekends. Bikino made sure everyone got the opportunity to attend!
Discovering Drupal
Bikino's start with Drupal began commonly enough; through his job. Like many small teams, staff get mixed roles and he inherited the website role. His experience grew from there. In 2016 he had the opportunity to attend DrupalCon New Orleans via scholarship through the Drupal Association. This let him discover the global opportunities and connections that open source software and the Drupal community can provide.
“My interest [in going to DrupalCon New Orleans] was to learn how thousands of people can just work together to deliver one single platform, how it works, and how people can really do it as volunteering work and through contributions. [The experience left me feeling that] I could really share that culture and community with young Rwandan people… and how they can love what they are doing this much. That’s where my inspiration came from.”
Bikino says technology offers more than just jobs, it provides local activities, ways to collaborate, and a chance to build knowledge. He plans to create a platform for the Rwanda Drupal community to share skills, projects, opportunities and experience.
Moving Forward
The local support for the Drupal Global Training Day is a sign of changing times in Rwanda. Those attending the training are educated, but there can be a lack of connection between what they are learning in school and the outside market. Bikino wants to connect those gaps by creating opportunities to learn, build, and develop. Like many countries across the globe, the Rwandan government sees technology as a way to build economic diversity, nurture jobs, and transform the country.
Local Projects
The Rwanda Information and Communication Association (RICTA) and partners launched The 1K Websites project, to promote Local Content Hosting. For now most of the websites made are Government, but they are expanding the project. With good internet infrastructure already in place, this is the start of local content creation and websites for business and community..
Diversity in the community is going to be a challenge, but Bikino realises it’s an important one. The Sustainable Development Goals 5 is “achieve gender equality and empower women and girls”, and access to technology in developing countries such as Rwanda is important for sustainability. Bikino is actively working with kLab management to find funds to develop opportunities for women in technology.
The Future
The last group of the 388 people have just gone through their training. The aim now is to develop local freelancers, do projects within the community, and find mentors to share tips, guidance and best practices. The group would even like to contribute to translating Drupal into the local language (Kinyarwanda). And of course one day, host an African DrupalCon.
Peel away the layers of an impressive attendance to a Drupal Global Training Day event, and you have a story about the potential for technology and Drupal to transform people, communities and industry.
You can follow and connect with Bikino via Twitter or say hi to him in the Drupal Slack. Bikino is the Deputy Director for ICT in Education Projects with FHI 360.
Next Spotlight?
Our next spotlight will be Fatima Sarah Khalid who you may recognise as @sugaroverflow. To those watching DrupalConEur from twitter it looked like no one had more fun than her! Fatima is going to be interviewed by Nikki Stevens who you may recognise as @drnikki. We think it’s going to be very cool.
We are also going to have our new Drupal Spotlight site up very soon. We have big ideas!
Comments
This is such a great story! I
This is such a great story! I look forward to reading more.
Thanks!
Thanks hrodrig so glad you liked it :)
Such an inspiring story!
When I was visiting China a couple of years ago , I met Rwanda's Minister of Youth and ICT. He knew Drupal, and believed Open Source was key to reducing the high unemployment rate in Rwanda. So for me, Bikino's Drupal story is double inspiring.
There is untapped opportunity here
I believe we have an opportunity, and given the depth and breadth of possibility with Drupal, a responsibility to support countries developing their ICT industries. I really liked how Bikino drew the line to employment, but also the preservation of culture and creating activities; this is the potential I see as well.
We have communities with tools and expertise who can be mentors, and others that are wanting to absorb, learn and test.
With Governments on side this opens arms for funding and connections as well. I've long thought that Drupal could create a foundation to enable these sorts of initiatives. It would certainly be a very cool story.
Great to know that you got to
Great to know that you got to learn more about Rwanda from our Minister of Youth and ICT. I am sure you have great background on how Rwanda is developing,... and I would insist on my wish to see drupal growing faster.... Dear Dries, resume conversion with him, that will be an important strength!
Thank you again for making Drupal opensource. I am sure you are so proud of you and drupal community.
The same minister told me in
The same minister told me in Brussels, that they have to overcome its school system producing certifcates, but no skills. The story of Ildephonse Bikino shows that Rwanda nowadays is in the best way to skill their certifcates.
Technology offering up opportunities
Technology offers up job opportunities, it provides ways to collaborate, and build knowledge amongst each other. His plan to create a technology platform for the Rwanda Drupal community to share skills, projects, opportunities, and experience is inspiring. I like that he is looking to bridge the gap between what you learn in school and the outside world, bridging the gaps make one potential possibility endless. Learning to think pass the obstacles...
Absolutely agree
Bikino has the thinking of a community builder, that's what I really love about this story. It's not the end result, it's the process, the projects it sparks, the people who are mobilised.
Consider their platform to collaborate on though - option a) they build it on their own; option b) they built it as an activity in collaboration with the wider Drupal world. What would we end up with? For one, another great story.
Thanks for your comment :)
A word to say thank you!
This is why I like drupal community! We are always rounded by great people who are passionate to assist, contribute, volunteering.... This story is a great motivation to Rwandan Drupal Community, It is going to make our wishes true and expending. Many thanks to ok_lyndsey for taking your time and interest to talk to me and come up with such inspiring story.
I still need all of you as we are at a very beginning but very sure to grow. I need to learn more about Drupal community activities, like Camps, Meet ups, Conferences, and sprint ...why not!
Coup de Chapeau to all Drupal Contributors and friends.
What a wonderful initiative!
What a wonderful initiative! Congratulations!
it was a good time to me! we learn many!
it was good time to me! we learn many!
Nick you might have some great info to share!
You could be a great resource for Bikino to point him in the right direction with lessons you have learned from expanding Drupal in Latin America?
We should try and capture some of it in the Spotlight site too. I can keep you posted on that.
Thanks alot on how you improve my knowledge!
I am the one who participate in this event and it was a good time to me to learn many about Drupal, so, Thank you for improving my knowledge and i say thank you to Drupal community! without Drupal community this can't happen! and i will do everything to become expert in using and sharing the best of Drupal!
That's great!
So pleased to hear. We are all really looking forward to seeing what you build. Remember there is a whole community sharing ideas and knowledge - you are in good hands with Bikino as a local leader!
That right.
we have to make our contribution so that the world of Drupal can always help people in their everyday life! with Bikino everything are possible, He help us not only in training, everyday when facing some problems about Drupal. thank you
Good job Bikino. Ghana is
Good job Bikino. Ghana is also on its way to working with Drupal real time. Watch out for Drupal Ghana Community!!!
Another story for the future then!
It would be very exciting to hear how the Ghana Drupal community evolves!
We're on it and pretty soon,
We're on it and pretty soon, we'll be having a beginner training in Tamale, the Northern Region of Ghana
Great spotlight! I truly
Great spotlight! I truly believe, In giving is joy and sharing Knowledge, specially to those who need it is sublime! Thank you Bikino for the great work!
Shyamala
http://www.unimitysolutions.com
It's what humanity and the internet is all about isn't it?
<3
Refugee in NL from Uganda Drupal Changed my life
I am really touched by your story Bikino. I really believe and l have experienced it myself. There is something about Drupal.
11 years ago l came to europe and l had nothing. In trying to find strength of forgetting my past life l tried Drupal (at the time Drupal 5) little did l know where it will take me. Since then l have been employed in some of the biggest companies in NL and currently Mediamonks as a PHP/Drupal 8 backend developer.
It is almost coming to 10 years of Drupalling and l don't think l will stop especially with the combination of Drupal 8, symfony OOP, composer. That was one in all l have ever dreamt of.
Whenever l go to Uganda you will find me with ICT lecturers from Makerere, Nkozi , Islamic universities in Kampala (Uganda) telling them my life with Drupal and how we must promote this to youths. Since it changed my life l do believe it will for them too and it will shorten the gap of unemployment. l am trying to oganise a Drupal 8 talk tech in Kampala and my target is to those IT students from univesities who are unemployed.
l wil stop here as talking about Drupal can never end. There is much about Drupal.
Thanks Dries, the Dutch drupal developers who helped me allot on my journey and the Drupal community at large.
YOU ALL SAVED ONE AFRICAN SOUL from ending up on the streets.
We will have to connect soon!
@bonrita it sounds like you have a wealth of knowledge and experience that we should be sharing with Drupal communities. I'd love to connect with you in the near future. I had the great pleasure of visiting The Netherlands recently, and I met with OpenSocial, I'm really interested in how we might build platforms using this distro to support the work of emerging communities - perhaps we could discuss that too.
@ok_lyndsey it will be great
@ok_lyndsey it will be great that we connect. Maybe l can help in one way or another. Tell me when and we see the way forwad.