As part of 8x8’s ongoing commitment to help erase digital inequality around the world, we’ve donated a number of laptops to global charity Power for the People. The laptops are being used in primary schools and projects in Uganda and Kenya to help close the digital divide that persists among the world’s poorest communities.

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Power for the People (PFP) is a global charity that uses clean technologies to help build sustainable communities for the world’s poorest people. PFP works with communities that experience multidimensional poverty, including digital exclusion.

Most of us take our online access for granted, but according to the N50 Project around 3.9 billion people, some 50% of the global population, are excluded from digital connectivity. This restricts their ability to access education, healthcare information, current affairs and social interaction.

The charity supports community-based schools that serve hundreds of pupils, many of whom are vulnerable and living in extreme poverty. Without computer skills, the children at schools supported by PFP in Uganda and Kenya are unable to progress to high levels of grade school education or university.

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The laptops are now being used by:

  • The Paorinher Centre in Uganda, which provides a safe-haven for over 500 orphans and children living with HIV
  • E’longo Primary School in Narok County, Kenya, to help serve over 350 pupils
  • Remba Primary School on Remba Island in Lake Victoria, Kenya, supporting over 650 pupils
  • ARISE, a women-led enterprise that produces and markets re-usable sanitary pads in Mbita, Kenya, to help run their ecommerce site

Here at 8x8, we are delighted to be part of the digital inclusion community.