Part of program to create information-based jobs

Four Rwandan teens will visit Pullman Aug. 21 as part of the Rwanda Youth for Business Information and Technology Initiative (Youth 4 BIT), a series WSU Center to Bridge the Digital Divide to help shift Rwanda’s economy toward a foundation of information-based jobs and away from subsistence agriculture.

The initiative has brought the students to the state for a two-week training session in technology. The four teens and a chaperone from the Rwandan Ministry of Education also will visit Spokane and Seattle while taking classes such as digital photography, networking, trouble shooting, digital embroidery, video conferencing and blogging.

During their visit to Pullman, the teens will meet Linda Fox, dean and director, WSU Extension. They also will tour the Virtual Reality and Computer Integrated Manufacturing laboratory in the School of Mechanical and Materials Engineering; the computer engineering department; and visit the grizzly bears at the Bear Research, Education and Conservation Program.

The WSU Center to Bridge the Digital Divide is assisting the government of Rwanda in integrating information communication technology into the country’s secondary schools. For more information on the Youth 4 BIT Initiative, visit https://cbdd.wsu.edu/initiatives/bit/index.html.