Mpilonhle

50x15 Partner Description: Non-Government
Organization (NGO)
Ecosystem Classifications:

Focus: Education, Healthcare

Mpilonhle and AMD
Mpilonhle collaborated with AMD and other 50x15 partners to provide health services and computer skills training for the Mpilonhle Mobile 50x15 Learning Lab. To provide a mobile low-power ICT solution that could cover a large district with little ICT accessibility, Mpilonhle designed a self-contained mobile health and computer learning lab unit outfitted with tables, chairs, counseling and teaching space, 25 computing stations, HIV and AIDS education curriculum, and ICT training curriculum. The units travel the rural areas of KwaZulu-Natal and provide HIV prevention and reproductive health services, general health services and computer skills training in an adolescent-friendly manner.

The mobile unit comprises a pair of identical but mirrored trailers with fold-out screens and a covering tent/awning that forms a ”teaching space” between the parked trailers. Each trailer is composed of two counseling rooms and three storage lockers containing tables, computers and various other items necessary for the operation of the Mpilonhle mobile healthcare unit.

A complete mobile ICT training solution was created to travel in the caravan that transports the Mpilonhle health services. Metal consoles were designed to house computing stations that made it easy to transport the stations from the van to classrooms. The consoles were easy to set up, and offered the additional benefits of deterring and preventing computer theft.

Mission
Mpilonhle’s mission is to improve the health and social development of adolescents and young adults in rural KwaZulu-Natal, with a focus on HIV prevention.

Vision
The vision of Mpilonhle is to have youth in Umkhanyakude District free of HIV, and leading productive and fulfilling adult lives.

Mpilonhle (a Zulu word meaning “A Good Life” - holistic wellness) is a community-based non-governmental organization (NGO) located in the Umkhanyakude District, KwaZulu-Natal Province, South Africa. The area is among the poorest and most remote regions in South Africa, with adult unemployment rates of 70 percent, high HIV infection rates that approach 50 percent among some age groups and a history of underinvestment in schools and other social structures during the apartheid period.

Expertise
Mpilonhle was founded in 2006 by Michael Bennish, MD, who serves as its Director; Mr. Laurence Mthombeni, Mayor of Umkhanyakude District; Ms. Marie-Christine Ryckaert and Dr. Jaypee Sevilla of Harvard University. In addition to being Director of Mpilonhle, Dr. Bennish is currently a Senior Associate in the Department of Population, Family, and Reproductive Health at the Bloomberg School of Public Health of Johns Hopkins University, and has recently served as a Professor of Medicine and Pediatrics and Community Health at New England Medical Centre Tufts University School of Medicine, Visiting Professor of International Health in the Nuffield Department of Clinical Medicine at the University of Oxford and Director of the Africa Centre for Health and Population Research in Mtubatuba, South Africa.

Mpilonhle brings health services and computer skills training to rural schools and remote areas that have limited access to HIV and AIDS treatment, testing and prevention services. Staffed by health care and health education professionals, and equipped with twenty-five computing stations, the mobile units are used to deliver health services, HIV and AIDS educational information, and instruction on basic computer skills.

Content
Students who participate in the computer skills exercises learn in a virtual Web environment that provides information and experiences that are otherwise inaccessible. The course content was developed in collaboration with the KwaZulu-Natal Department of Education and with the Educational Development Center (EDC) in Newton, MA. EDC is an international, nonprofit organization with more than 335 projects dedicated to enhancing learning, promoting health and fostering a deeper understanding of the world.

The course content includes directed and self-guided health information, and HIV and AIDS prevention tutorials and tests. Students can receive a certificate for successfully completing the courses. The mobile health unit also allows health care professionals to track and measure the treatment, prevention and education services provided to remote communities and targeted populations.

Contact Information
Mpilonhle Offices
Postnet Suite 88
Private Bag X013
Mtubatuba
KwaZulu-Natal 3935
South Africa
Telephone: 27 (0)35 550-2000
Fax: 27 (0)35 550-2001
info@mpilonhle.org