 |
| The Songambele Maarifa centre housed at the Village Executive Offices |
Songambele Maarifa centre is an initiative of Arid Lands Information Network (ALIN), Dodoma Environmental Network (DONET) and the government village office. Established in August 2012, the centre is located at Songambele B village within the ward executive office, Kongwa district in Dodoma region. The centre is hosted by DONET and received financial support from Renewable World a UK based charitable organisation for installation of wind-solar hybrid system to power the Maarifa centre operations. The centre was established with the main goal of responding to community information needs and to catalyze documentation of local knowledge while building community capacities on use of ICTs in development initiatives and access to renewable energy resources. The Maarifa centre is run by an employed Field Officer who offers technical services and enables communities to access information resources. The Field Officer is supported by two volunteers’ referred to as Community Knowledge Facilitators (CKF) selected from the community and an advisory committee selected by stakeholders. The centre has an ICT trainer and also offers outreach activities to communities on sustainable agriculture and renewable energy technologies.
