As part of its efforts to bridge the digital divide by increasing access to computer technology, the Orange Foundation has turned over a state-of-the-art computer laboratory to the administration of Cuttington University. The turning over ceremony was held on Friday, September 23, 2022 at the university’s campus in Gbarnga, Bong County.
The head of the Orange Foundation, Sara Buchanan, disclosed that the computer lab had been implemented as part of an Orange Foundation program called the “Wologizi Initiative”. She explained that the Wologizi Initiative has a goal of ensuring that university students across Liberia had access to computer technology to facilitate learning, research and distance education.
The new lab at Cuttington University has thirteen brand new computers with headsets, thirteen computer desks with chairs, a fifty-five-inch smart television, a projector with screen and a large digital clock. Each of the computers were outfitted with a software to allow visually impaired students to utilize them.
Buchanan revealed that the total cost of setting up the multi-purpose computer lab was twenty-one thousand United States dollars (US$21,000). She explained that the Foundation’s primary interest in establishing the computer labs at a number of universities was a part of its commitment to accelerate what she referred to as “digital inclusion” in Liberia.
Since the Wologizi Initiative was launched in 2020, a total of three universities in three counties have benefited: the African Methodist Episcopal University (AMEU), the African Methodist Episcopal Zion University (AMEZU), and now the Cuttington University in Suakoko. A total of 5,000 students will benefit from the initiative annually.
Buchanan explained that more labs are expected to be dedicated in the not-too-distant future.