20 July 2010

Amman, Jordan: Through the UNV Online Volunteering service, a volunteer in Jordan is building an online education network and databases for a British non-government organization (NGO).  In this way, he is helping the organization assist schools in developing countries become more financially independent.

It is not surprising that today Loai Farajallah, a Palestinian living in Jordan, supports the British NGO Teach A Man To Fish (TAMTF) as an online volunteer by building data management systems.  TAMTF assists schools in developing countries to increase their financial self-sufficiency, combining class-based lessons with student-run businesses.

Ever since Loai attended university ten years ago, using the Internet for educational purposes has offered a wealth of possibilities.  For his graduation project, in 2001, he teamed up with other electrical engineering students to build a fully automated online system for student registration, teaching and evaluation.  The system used the most up to date technologies of the day and enabled teachers to answer student enquiries, mark assignments and set and mark exams. That year, Loai graduated with a degree in electrical engineering and computer engineering.

When Loai began volunteering with TAMTF in 2007, he started by creating an online database. He has since built crucial databases and web-based processing tools for the NGO. This has helped TAMTF facilitate knowledge sharing within its network – which expanded from 150 educational organizations and experts across 30 countries to over 1,350 in 105 countries in 2009.

"I felt it was possible for me to assist the poor and marginalized, share my skills with others and exchange experiences,” says Loai. “My contribution has helped to develop an educational network, facilitating knowledge sharing and capacity building."

"Over the years, Loai’s support has been essential to ensuring our data management systems could handle the growing interest our work was generating," says Nik Kafka, founder and CEO of TAMTF.

Loai is among the legions of online volunteers around the world who are working towards the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs).  Of his online volunteering contribution, which addresses Goal 2 ("Achieve universal primary education"), Loai says, "This experience influenced my life a lot! I became more organized, more optimistic and more active."