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  • A Teacher who creates a PE Environment for All, Not Just for “Sport Elites”

    A Teacher who creates a PE Environment for All, Not Just for “Sport Elites” Hyein Kelly Cho, World Friends Korea Volunteer from KOICA in Rwanda More

  • The Science Teacher: Adding Creativity to Science Education and Leading Rwanda’s Vision 2020

    The Science Teacher: Adding Creativity to Science Education and Leading Rwanda’s Vision 2020 Ms. Bae Kyung-mi, a World Friends Korea Volunteer from KOICA More

  • Where Teachers are Trained to Become Better Teachers

    Where Teachers are Trained to Become Better Teachers Rwanda TVET Trainer Institute (RTTI) More

Cows that grow up never knowing hunger, become the happiness of the people of Bolivia
Cows that grow up never knowing hunger, become the happiness of the people of Bolivia
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KOICA Photo-essayGrass that grows each and every day, even during the dry season when not a drop of rain fallsAnd cows that grow up never knowing hunger, become the happiness of the people of Bolivia South of the Amazon River near the border of Brazil, Bolivia s northeastern department, Beni, spans an area twice as large as South Korea, however the living conditions in Beni are poor with insufficient electricity, poor water supply systems, dodgy road ways, and generally weak infrastructure outside the urban areas.The primary industries, such as livestock, agriculture, and fishing industries, are the main industries in Beni, with 55% of the territory being used for agriculture and livestock. Among these industries, livestock takes up the largest portion.The department of Beni is the second largest livestock producer in Bolivia, and around 30% of the cows raised in Bolivia, based on the head count, come from here. Since the cows are put out to pasture, the industry is influenced significantly by the natural climate.The most dangerous period is the dry season from April to June. Around 75% of Beni is influenced by tropical rain forest climates with an average annual temperature of over 35 degrees. During the wet season which starts in January and ends in March, there is abundant water thanks to overflowing rivers and so on. During the dry season, on the other hand, there is a lack of water for agriculture, preventing traditional species of flora from growing at a normal pace. There are also other problems such as poor irrigation facilities for water supply, sewage, and draining systems. Due to these conditions, it has been necessary to produce a new strain of plant, different from the indigenous species, which can grow well even during the dry season in order to produce feed at a high volume.Accordingly, starting in 2017, Park In-sun, a World Friends Korea Volunteer from Korea International Cooperation Agency (KOICA) was dispatched to a livestock research facility affiliated with a university in Beni to develop a new strain of feed that can be grown in the dry seasons. Over a period of four months starting in January, Park executed an on-site project entitled, Efficiency and Stability Improvement of Operations of Livestock Feed Component Analysis Laboratory. In Beni, laboratory facilities, and human resources specialized in analysis of livestock feed were established through the project. Later, training and consulting were offered to locals working in the livestock industry to improve their evaluation of the quality of feed, its preservation, methods for growing indigenous feeds, and analysis of the feed quality and nutritional value through the utilization of the results of laboratory nutritional analysis.In addition, a practice field of 2,000 square meters was created. Currently, 40 species of meadow plants, 30 species of rice crops, 3 species of beans, and 5 species of imported plants are growing in the field.As a result, the number of laboratory visitors increased to 50 people per month, and the area is becoming the hub for livestock research facilities in Beni.In the future, Korean researchers specialized in the field will be dispatched to Bolivia in order to continue the effort to cultivate local human resources through further training. Not only that, the team will continue to help improve the quality of education at Bolivian universities in the fields of agriculture and livestock, continuing research in the development of a new strain of crop and agricultural machinery that can contribute to improving food security in Bolivia.Written by Nam Jiyeon ∥ Photos by KOICA
Young Rwandan Innovators, Bright Visions for the Future! ICT Innovation Center
Young Rwandan Innovators, Bright Visions for the Future! ICT Innovation Center
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About KOICAYoung Rwandan Innovators, Bright Visions for the FutureICT Innovation Center What kind of start-ups are there in Rwanda? A worldwide start-up craze is no exception in Rwanda. It is closely related to the fact that ICT plays a key role in the vision 2020, a campaign aimed at transforming Rwanda into a developed country by 2020. The Rwandan government has announced that it will use ICT as a catalyst for progress and innovation in every sector of the nation s industry. In partnership with the Rwandan government, the Korea International Cooperation Agency (KOICA) opened the ICT Innovation Center in the nation s capital, Kigali, to lay a new foundation for ICT-based business.* ICT: Information Communication Technology The ICT Innovation Center is the result of the two countries partnership, through which Korea shares its innovative business infrastructure with Rwanda. In particular, the center focuses on supporting and cultivating creative industries, such as education, tourism, mobile game development, entertainment, music, and videography. The objectives of the center are largely divided into fostering new start-ups (incubating) and promoting their growth (accelerating).As of March 2017, the number of Internet users in Rwanda was about 4.58 million. The Internet is most commonly used through mobile devices; 85.5% of users access the Internet via mobile device, and 14.5% through a wired connection. Major programs provided by the ICT Innovation Center are also related to mobile gaming, mobile applications, and mobile multimedia production. The ICT Innovation Center, located in the center of Kigali, consists of two modern buildings with a garden in the middle. The center has several production rooms equipped with state-of-the-art media and audio equipment, meeting rooms, classrooms, and business spaces that are provided to start-ups. The center provides full support for existing companies and preliminary entrepreneurs preparing their start-up at any stage of the process, and also for businesses operations from consulting to practical training, equipment and office supply, and attracting investments. The center, which has recently begun operating, is providing consulting and multimedia courses to new university graduates who are just starting their careers or who are preliminary entrepreneurs. The center is also planning to select 40 start-ups within the first half of the year to provide them with intensive support in order to accelerate their growth. ZACU TV, an online content streaming service, and dTravela, a tourism and accommodations application service, are two well-known companies among the resident enterprises at the center. Lilian Ingabire, CEO of ZACU TV, and Nostalgie Patrice, founder and CEO of dTravela, are young 23-year-old entrepreneurs. ZACU TV provides a service, similar to Netflix s streaming service, in Rwanda. ZACU TV launched its service in January 2019 and has since attracted over 6,000 subscribers within three months of launching. It currently has over 800 programs made in Africa available for streaming. ZACU TV was founded by video experts who engaged in video production activities. They have been expanding their business areas to film production and the processing and curating of content produced in Rwanda and neighboring countries. During the entire process of producing their video content, they have used various facilities at the center.dTravela is a start-up modeled after Expedia and Hotelsdotcom, which may be familiar to global tourists, and it launched the service in March 2019 after five months of preparation. The company emphasizes the role it plays as a mediator for revitalizing local businesses through its service. As of mid-May, a total of 96 hotels in Kigali can be found through dTravela s booking system. On average, 1,500 people visit the website and 20 purchases are made each day. Both companies have 6 to 10 full-time employees in offices provided by the ICT Innovation Center. As their services are based on online content, they also cooperate with content creators around the world who plan and produce various content. In the past, there was no physical space for employees to work together, but after the center opened, we have been able to work in an office equipped with the latest computers. Before, we only had ideas and our passion, but now we can put them into action with the help of the center that provides us with the equipment needed to produce the high-quality video we want and helps us attract funding, said Lilian Ingabire, CEO of Zacu TV.Nostalgie Patrice, founder and CEO of dTravela, studied technical software engineering in China. I learned programming skills on my own, but I had no knowledge about marketing or management to link those skills to business. This center is very important to me as it is a place where I can meet people to work together with and, together with my ideas and skills, run a business, said Patrice. The main goal of the ICT Innovation Center is to help young people put their visions into action. Ultimately, the center intends to support them so they can succeed in starting their own businesses and creating more jobs. Head instructor Guerichon Munezero, who manages all the training of the ICT Innovation Center, emphasizes that the center s support continues to be provided even after training has ended. We look at all the activities we support from a business viewpoint and focus on their productivity. Through a systematic process of consulting, we provide financial support to preliminary entrepreneurs with brilliant ideas and help them cooperate with a wide range of overseas experts so they can accelerate their growth. Rwanda s overall ICT level remains at the bottom 14% of the world. The country s ICT environment is characterized by poor wired communication infrastructure but a relatively advanced mobile communications network. It is difficult for most developing countries to follow the same process of ICT development that Korea experienced in the past. Instead of going through the stages of development from feature phones and flip phones to smart phones, all these devices and technologies are coexisting in Rwanda at the same time. For example, 2G and 4G LTE networks coexist in Rwanda today. While most Rwandan middle and high school students do not have cellular phones, there is a growing demand for content produced in East Africa that the country shares with neighboring countries that have relatively larger economies, such as Uganda and Congo. To overcome these problems, the Rwandan government needs to establish and implement aggressive policies and collaborate with foreign organizations. The Rwandan government, with a vision of being an ICT hub in Africa, is actively supplying cellular phones and constructing fiber optic networks, while aggressively attracting investments from Microsoft, Nokia, TerraCom, and Motorola. The government is also concentrating its capabilities on establishing a central database called the E-Government online. In response to these technology development polices, the ICT Innovation Center is presenting new possibilities, placing an emphasis on creativity.Alex Ntale, the CEO of the Rwanda ICT Chamber which oversees the ICT Innovation Center, is an expert in this field, having founded and headed iHills (Rwanda s Young ICT Entrepreneurs Association). Final He studied investment, quantitative finance, and strategic business information technology in Uganda and in the UK and he worked as a computer engineer and a financial service officer in London s financial district. He expressed high expectations for the ICT Innovation Center: There are already several centers in Rwanda that support business start-ups in terms of finance, technology, e-commerce and agriculture. The ICT Innovation Center, however, as an organization aimed at fostering the creative industry, it will provide momentum for the development of global businesses. Statistics: Korea Internet Security Agency (KISA) ReportWritten by Kim Eunah ∥ Photos by Han Sang-mooh
Improving Children’s Traffic Safety in Paraguay
Improving Children’s Traffic Safety in Paraguay
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About KOICA Improving Children s Traffic Safety in Paraguay Paraguay Asuncion City Child Traffic Education Park revitalization project Paraguay is one of the countries that sent forces to South Korea s rescue during the Korean War. In 1965, it accepted Korean immigrants for the first time in Central and South America. Now there are a large number of Korean Paraguayans living in Paraguay, approximately 5,000.However, Paraguay is lacking infrastructure for transportation roads, railways, waterways, and flight infrastructure and the existing infrastructure is in a poor condition. The traffic lights installed over 40 years ago have not been replaced up until today. Also, it lacks the ability to manage the transportation system, so it is challenging for Paraguayans even to move from a region to another or to ensure balanced development between regions, not to mention promoting exports and attracting foreign capital. Great Asuncion, the metropolitan area of Asuncion, the capital city of Paraguay, is facing losses that amount to USD 2 million a day caused by traffic jams. This is due to fuel expenses, wasted time, environmental pollution from toxic gas and smoke, and traffic accident expenses. Paraguay is seeking to create jobs and boost the economy through promoting exports and attracting foreign capital in order to overcome the constraints of it having a tiny economy based on agriculture and it being an inland country.In December 2014, the government of Paraguay announced the National Development Plan (2014-2030) with the goals of ① poverty reduction and social development ② inclusive growth, and ③ incorporation into the global economy.In this regard, South Korea, one of the major donor countries of Paraguay, has been focusing on supporting water and sanitation, transportation, area development, and communication and is investing 70 percent of the total funds into these areas. In particular, South Korea is implementing various projects to improve transportation infrastructure in Paraguay. It conducted feasibility studies for railways and roads, built a high-tech transportation control system, and also established a traffic safety education park for children in July 2018 which has been well-received by citizens.The main reasons for children s traffic accidents in Asuncion include a lack of awareness on traffic safety and a severe shortage of safety facilities on the roads. According to Paraguay 2013 Crime Safety Report, the main cause of traffic accidents in Paraguay is the violation of traffic rules, and public and private training on driving and the safety awareness of Paraguayans are reported to be below the international average. The 2018global status report on traffic safety from WHO tells us that approximately 22.7 percent of every 100,000 persons in Paraguay are estimated to be killed in traffic accidents (9.8 percent in South Korea).To enhance traffic safety for children in Paraguay, the first experiential education park for children s traffic safety was constructed in Asuncion in July 2018, in collaboration with a domestic company Tracom.The park was established with the purpose of providing well-organized traffic education for children to raise safety awareness and prevent traffic accidents. To this end, the park is equipped with hands-on content that is applicable to children s real lives: traffic lights, educative panels, and quiz stations.Below is the contents of educational programs at the children s traffic safety park in Paraguay.From its opening in July to December 2018, traffic safely education was provided to about 6,100 participants from 53 educational institutions at the park. Compared to the previous traffic safety education facilities that accommodated about 5,000 people per year, the children s traffic safety education park is expected to accommodate more than double the participants within less than a year after its opening. 95 percent of the participants said they were satisfied with the service (very satisfied: 81 percent / satisfied: 14 percent). Also due to the strong demand, the place was fully booked until February 2019.This project was also meaningful in that it was implemented as a public-private partnership program with a domestic business. Tracom, a company specializing in ITS, fusing transportation with information and communication, partnered with KOICA in this project through the Inclusive Business Solution program (IBS), fulfilling its Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) at the same time. Currently, the company is also participating in a number of traffic infrastructure projects in various areas in South America other than Paraguay.At the opening ceremony, Mario Ferreiro, the mayor of Asuncion said, The traffic accident is one of the main causes of the death of children under 10 globally, and Starting with the traffic safety education park, we will endeavor to extend the reach of traffic safety education in more cities in Paraguay. This project is expected to secure the safety and happiness of children in Paraguay.Written by Park Suin ∥ Photos by KOICA
A dream restaurant built together with youths in Africa
A dream restaurant built together with youths in Africa
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A dream restaurant built together with youths in AfricaEom Sohee, CEO of Kijami Table Kijami means Social in Swahili, a language used in East Africa. Kijami Table is a social restaurant that opened in Africa.Kijami Table is not a typical food service company, but a social enterprise that works with youths in Africa.A ray of hope after a prolonged despairRwanda is one of the countries with the highest unemployment. One of the factors is the genocide that occurred in Rwanda in 1994. It killed more than one million people in three months. Twenty-five years after the genocide, children who lost their families and relatives have now become young adults. Although the Rwandan government and people have put great efforts to recover since the genocide, many young people have grown up without educational opportunities and protection. That is why Kijami Table started business in Rwanda among many African countries. We didn t have to post any hiring announcements when we needed staff. Young people started to bring resumes one by one when the interior work for the restaurant began, and more than 100 resumes were piled up by the end of the construction. The employment situation in the country is so difficult that people have to do their own legwork to find jobs. A smart way to solve the problem of youth unemploymentEom Sohee s experience in overseas volunteer service has had a big impact on the decision to start a social enterprise in Rwanda, which is at least 15 hours away by air from Korea. While working for a nonprofit organization in the fair trade field in Korea, she became interested in the issues in developing countries and began volunteering overseas. There was a good reason that she selected Africa of all regions. The Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) that began in 2000 and lasted until 2015 had an intermediate assessment in 2008. The report said that it was difficult to achieve some goals in many countries in Africa such as ending poverty and hunger, and I wondered why it was more difficult in Africa. You can only see the numbers and assessments from Korea, so I wanted to go to Africa and experience it in person. It had both curiosity and a desire for experience. She spent one year in Kenya as a volunteer for an NGO first and then two years in Cameron as a KOICA volunteer. She implemented various projects with young people in Africa and saw the potential they have. However, not one person amongst the young people who worked with her got a job after graduating from college. She began to work for an NGO after returning to Korea, but she could not shake the feeling that she left something behind there. I thought it was meaningless to think that the three years that I spent there was just a good experience. I wondered if there was any way I can continue my relationships with the people I met there. She became interested in social enterprises and was getting trained when she met Co-CEO Ryu Hyeon-jeong who had spent three years as a cooking instructor in Rwanda. The two met in May 2016 and spent two years in preparation for the business. They finally opened Kijami Table in the capital city of Rwanda in September 2018.Meeting new people and a new worldFor six months after they opened Kijami Table in September 2018, there was not a single dropout. Instead, they hired four more employees this year, and so far 15 young people are working hard to fulfill their dreams by learning and growing together at Kijami Table.The core value of Kijami Table is not limited to providing jobs. Healthy food is also one of the most important values at Kijami Table. Most people do not think of healthiness when they imagine local African food. Instead, they are more likely to think it s unsanitary or too simple. However, we are always thinking with our employees about how to improve and develop African foods. I hope that the local people can be proud of traditional African food and culture. Most Rwandan restaurants have either European or Asian food. However, Kijami Table serves African dishes prepared by Africans. Although most people who visit Kijami Table are foreigners, the restaurant is also always preparing moderately priced menu so that locals can visit without feeling burdened. Moreover, Kijamii table is planning programs to use the place as an open space used by residents and local schools.Having succeeded in starting up a business and providing job opportunities to young African people, Eom Sohee confidently says that she has realized her dream thanks to her experience as a KOICA volunteer. I wholeheartedly recommend the opportunity of overseas volunteering. There are environmental limits in finding information or having idea of trying new things in Korea, but overseas volunteering gives you chances to meet new people and a new world beyond international boundaries.Overseas volunteering was a turning point that gave me a new opportunity in my life. It doesn t have to be limited to your expertise or region, there are many things you can do with your thoughts, experience, and people you met during volunteering. I hope that the people who have experienced or will experience overseas volunteering can develop their future through that experience. Written by Kang Naeun ∥ Photo by Lee Sung-won
How Are Natural Environments of the World Being Used and Conserved?
How Are Natural Environments of the World Being Used and Conserved?

KOICA InforgraphicsHow Are Natural Environments of the World Being Used and Conserved?Industry and The World s Environments Through StatisticsClean and pristine environments, such as forests overgrowing with lush verdant trees and green prairies are an invaluable gift from nature that humans need to protect and preserve. By using the natural environment in appropriate ways, we can enrich our lives; however, many countries have taken advantage of the natural environment recklessly in order to achieve urbanization.What kind of effort should we put forth to coexist with nature? Let us first look at statistics showing current uses of the environment around the world.※ Source: The World Bank, 2018※ Source: Statistics Korea, Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport, The World Bank, 2018※ Note: These statistics do not include the countries with a national urbanization rate of 100%(Hong Kong, Kuwait, Macao, Singapore, Bermuda, Anguilla, Cayman Islands, Gibraltar, Vatican City, and Monaco).※ Source: UN, 2018※ Source: Statistics Korea FAO, 2018※ Source: The World Bank, 2018

Sustainable Development through Quality Education
Sustainable Development through Quality Education

KOICA InforgraphicsTeaching How to Fish Rather Than Giving a FishSustainable Development through Quality Education Education is about teaching and learning everything a human has to know to live their life. We make decisions in life based on what we have learned. Education is responsible for developing not only individuals but the society as a whole.This is why KOICA is making efforts to enhance the right to education by improving education systems in developing countries with an aim to achieve Inclusive Development through Quality Education. KOICA is supporting various programs to ensure quality education for better learning outcomes, inclusive education for the vulnerable group, and vocational education for fostering future talents. Major Projects in EducationThe proportion of Education Projects out of the All Projects of KOICAThe Top 10 Countries with the largest support in Education Education Projects by Type(Unit: KRW 1 million)