Empowering young refugees in Malawi

Home to 28,000 refugees, the Dzaleka Refugee Camp in Malawi is the largest refugee camp in the country. Established in 1994, the camp accepts asylum seekers from the Democratic Republic of Congo, Rwanda, Burundi, Ethiopia and Somalia. It works to inspire hope in all those who come there, collaborating with partners to deliver healthcare, education and business development programmes.

The SkillsLab

One of these programmes is the Microsoft 4Afrika SkillsLab, previously known as the AppFactory, run in collaboration with the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR). The SkillsLab empowers refugees to create mobile and Windows applications that solve real challenges faced by their community. While working with senior software craftsmen, these apprentices are developing the skills that drive economic opportunity, education, improved livelihoods and a safer, more dignified community.

The original App Factory started in 2017 to address a real lack of opportunities for young refugees to improve their digital knowledge. Before SkillsLab, Dzaleka had a very small centre for learning and practicing computer programming. However, this was not enough to support the higher demand of people in terms of resources, teaching materials and career building. Trainees at Dzaleka are primarily high school graduates without a formal IT or Computer Science background, and with little opportunity for any other form of tertiary study. To ensure students have the necessary foundational skills, Microsoft designed a six-month intensive coding camp, which students take prior to joining the formal hands-on apprenticeship at the SkillsLab.

More than 31 refugees and asylum seekers have built applications – such as the Habari App – in the SkillsLab. Habari helps new arrivals with information on where to find services and what departments to contact. It also allows users who can’t speak English or Chichewa (the national language of Malawi) to learn the basics of the language quickly and communicate. Other apps include those that automate the distribution of camp food rations, and improve communications with the UN Refugee Agency.

“Me and some of my friends in the class are also developing a software, which will be used to digitalise operations of the Dzaleka Camp Clinic, which is still working manually in this digital age,” says Noah Ndahirwa, a 20-year-old refugee from Rwanda. “These are some of the reasons we thank Microsoft and UNHCR for their partnership to set this Connectivity for Refugees Project here at Dzaleka.”

Creating in-demand skills

In 2018 the SkillsLab was accredited as a Certiport Authorised Testing Centre (CATC), the first in Malawi mandated to offer Microsoft examinations to the general public. The 2018-2019 cohort of 40 SkillsLab students graduated in June 2019 in a colourful ceremony that took place at the camp. The students were introduced to computer programming, learning fundamentals, Desktop Application Development, Web Application and Database, and had gained important ICT and business skills that will allow them to develop applications for both professional and personal use.

Some of the students benefitted from the Interns 4Afrika programme, with four students recruited as interns with MyBucks Banking Corporation. During their internship the students supported the bank’s ICT Department, gaining valuable hands-on experience along the way that will stand them in good stead for future employment opportunities.

Now, the 2019-2020 student intake is upskilling 25 refugees on Core programming, with the goal to become Microsoft Certified. Mentors from the MySkills4Afrika programme were on hand to offer invaluable programming and business development skills to the students, and coaching to the teachers, both in person and later, through virtual engagement as the Covid-19 pandemic restricted onsite visits. And while the pandemic posed some challenges in the examination process, upgrades to the Exam Centre certifications and bandwidth meant that the students were able to sit for exams via Online Proctoring, with the goal of Microsoft C# Certification that will enable them to earn a living and a way out of the camp. Subsequently, three of the SkillsLab students have been accepted to attend the University of Livingstonia in Mzuzu to hopefully gain a bachelor’s degree in computer engineering – an exciting step forward in their career paths.

While making an impact on youth employability, the SkillsLabs across Africa are also accelerating digital transformation. The SkillsLabs are encouraging developers to build cloud-enabled mobile and IT solutions in healthcare, education, agriculture, air transportation, government services and more.