Center to Bridge Digital Divide Accepting Student Applicants for Summer in Rwanda

PULLMAN, Wash.-Three students at Washington State University will have the opportunity to help coffee growers in Rwanda this summer through the university’s Center to Bridge the Digital Divide.

Students will spend six weeks in Rwanda providing technology training and small business coaching to coffee growers, thanks to the Center to Bridge the Digital Divide’s initiative, said Colleen Taugher, senior associate of the center. 

Applications for this project are due Feb. 27, she said.

Coffee cooperatives that have received the “Last Mile Initiative” support from the U.S. Agency for International Development will be given internet connections to help improve their quality of life, Taugher said.

To help fund the internet connection, coffee growers will start cyber cafés, with the aid of WSU students. “We’re trying to help Rwandans in communication and business,” Taugher said.

Students selected from WSU will work with their peers from the National University of Rwanda and the Kigali Institute of Science and Technology to teach coffee growers about computers and help familiarize them with the internet. 

The Center to Bridge the Digital Divide facilitates collaborative partnerships, provides educational outreach, research and policy guidance to help expand access to necessary telecommunications infrastructure and critical information technologies among underserved populations.

Students interested in the program can contact Taugher at (509) 335-7038. For more information about WSU’s Center to Bridge the Digital Divide, visit https://cbdd.wsu.edu.