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ALIN’s Regional Director Mr. James Nguo (standing with right hand up) with regular users at Awach Maarifa Centre in Gulu, northern Uganda. With the team is ALIN Uganda country Manager Ms. Jackie Atingo (3rd standing from R to L).
The international board of Ashoka has selected and recognized James Nguo, ALIN’s Regional Director, as an Ashoka Fellow for his work in leveraging a well managed and sustainable network of information centers to improve the quality of life of rural small scale farmers in East Africa.
James conceived and brought to life the Maarifa (Kiswahili for Knowledge) centre concept. Maarifa centres are physical spaces in form of rooms or modified shipping containers equipped with at least five computers linked to broadband internet. They also contain other information products including books, periodicals, CD ROMS and even podcasting equipment for use, free of charge, by communities living in some of the most remotes arid lands across East Africa.
James status as an Ashoka Fellow is not time bound and he will continue to be recognized as such for as long as he is still working on the Maarifa centres idea for which he was elected into the Fellowship.
Ashoka Fellows are leading social entrepreneurs who we recognize to have innovative solutions to social problems and the potential to change patterns across society. They demonstrate unrivaled commitment to bold new ideas and prove that compassion, creativity, and collaboration are tremendous forces for change. Ashoka Fellows work in over 60 countries around the globe in every area of human need. Read more on http://www.ashoka.org/fellows
