Part one of Noria's story
This is Noria, a 48 year-old woman from Zambia. She lives in a rural village named Malundu, located in Zambia’s Central Province (about 50 kilometers from the capital city Lusaka). A few years ago, she received a laptop from Close the Gap.
Noria is the mother of 4 children and she also has 3 grandchildren. As a child, she went to school until grade 9, but has not completed a full secondary education. When she left school she was around 16 years old.
According to the Zambian education system, grade 1 to 7 is primary education. Grades 8 and 9 can be considered junior secondary education, while grades 10 to 12 equal senior secondary education. Afterwards, students can pass exams to enter university level education.
Living in a rural area, Noria is a farmer who cultivates among others corn, beans and cotton, while at the same time also hoarding cattle. In addition to this, she is also a voluntary health care worker at the village’s Health Post. This voluntary work in the Health Post is also the major reason why Noria uses the computer she received from Close the Gap a few years ago. On this computer, she collects data to help the members in her community.
Discover how she uses this laptop in the next chapter.