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In 2017, Danoffice IT began a powerful collaboration with the relief organization, SOS Children’s Villages. This is an important organization which has been helping children and young people all over the world since 1949. In this story, our focus is on their efforts and IT environment in Kenya.

Kenya is the financial and logistics hub for East Africa and here, the IT is developing at rapid speed in certain areas. The mobile IT is particularly present everywhere and it serves as a component of the overall development of the country. We are proud to have been a part of this development through our work with SOS Children’s Villages alongside our global collaborative partner for many years, HP.

The IT maturity and readiness found in SOS Children’s Villages are only matched by a few. There is an invisible infrastructure and development which is shaping a new future. Connectivity is the notion of a digital connection and in Kenya, as with the rest of the world, it has created a monumental development in a short amount of time. With connections, come network and opportunities.

IT and technology are prerequisites for success in Kenya. In 2023, we visited SOS Children’s Villages in Kenya’s capital, Nairobi. Early on, SOS Children’s Villages concluded that they could help the country and its children and young people by connecting them with each other and the world which is made possible by IT. Therefore, IT is a natural part of everyday life today.

New Roads to Progress

Today, SOS Children’s Villages is a significant global NGO with branches all over the world with efforts being made in Africa and Asia in particular. In these regions, the work with children, young people, and families makes a big difference. It helps provide a safe upbringing, education, and future for the children.  

This is an organization which is most certainly open to development and one constantly thinking of new perspectives and initiatives. Many of us have heard of the so-called children’s villages organized into small SOS families with their own dwelling and a Caregiver responsible for his/her little SOS family consisting of 4-12 children and young people brought together. However, over the course of time, other efforts have also been made a reality. Now, help is also provided to the children while they continue to live with their biological families which allows the children to stay with their families, but still have necessities such as food, clothing, schooling, and medical attention.

A Mobile Infrastructure

Sabine Heide is a key person in Danoffice IT’s work with NGO’s across the world. Today, she works with more than fifty organizations including SOS Children’s Villages with HP as our partner.

”In the beginning, we provided workstations for their administration and their offices all around the world. When we realized how our logistics would enable us to deliver and manage deliveries to the furthest corners of the world, the collaboration was expanded to their schools, the children’s villages, and their institutions, however, also to children living in the streets,” Sabine says and adds: “Locally in the areas needing assistance, they typically use laptops, cell phones, and tablets. The infrastructure here is tied to mobility. Even the local director does not have a screen or a mouse. Everyone here uses mobile devices.”

iHub – The Young Shape the Future

One of the strongest IT initiatives by SOS in Kenya is their iHubs. This is an initiative which is also at the core of our collaboration. SOS has created these iHubs where all the young people in the local community can gather. They can either find information, work independently, or get education for instance in programming.

 

The employees in these hubs are other young people. You could truly feel a fire and a passion for progress here. We spoke with two local young people. One of them was a young girl who has a dream of becoming a criminal technician. One young girl was working on her own and was well versed in the graphics programs. All of this has been made possible through the HP equipment they use. These are good, powerful machines that are maintained and serviced.

What Datacenter?

SOS Children’s Villages’ National ICT Manager, Samuel Keige, looks at us with wonder when we ask about their infrastructure. “What do you mean when you say datacenter?” he says and explains that everything is in the cloud. They have no physical infrastructure to maintain, only mobile units.

Together with his colleague, Daniel Nyamai, Samuel makes sure the employees in the organization are educated in the use of the applications and equipment. “They also have their entire line of devices and apps standardized to minimize the administrative efforts,” Sabine says, and adds "Daniel educates the employees of the organization in the physical location, but he also does so online and a common tool they all use is Teams. That is the same for many of the other organizations and parties which SOS works with,” they say.  

Care with IT

Both the iHubs and the SOS families use IT to make a difference and to increase the opportunities for the children. We visited a Caregiver who lives with “her” 12 children. When you have that many children to care for, it makes sense to handle your grocery shopping and finances online. She creates budgets with SOS regarding schooling, food, and so much more and furthermore, she does homework with the children.

 

“This is where devices, systems and know-how all come together. IT is a natural component in everyday life, in business, in your job, and your spare time. The SOS Children’s Villages are looking ahead into the future in their approach,” Sabine says and adds: “It is very rewarding, and you are helping others who in turn, help others. SOS is a strong and very professional organization when it comes to IT. It is very touching to see the difference it makes.”  

Logistics and Mandate Paving the Way

At Danoffice IT, we have been developing our global logistics over the course of three decades and it is crucial for us to succeed and help make a difference. This sets us apart globally and is a factor which is crucial to Sabine in her work with organizations such as SOS. “We operate with quite an extensive logistics setup which encompasses the entire process from purchase to delivery. We ensure export compliance and duty registration of various documents with the proper authorities. It is complicated for an organization in Kenya to import IT from other countries,” Sabine explains.   

”HP’s aftersales support in Africa is very strong and they generally have a broad presence in the region. If something is not working, we use our logistics to sort things out. This is an important part of the collaboration for us to be able to offer this and it also provides substantial CO2 savings when we can handle matters locally rather than shipping the items to Denmark or other locations.” Sabine also points out one of our most powerful chips at Danoffice IT which is the Manufacturer Mandate: “We have the ability to transfer warranties and contracts for our products across borders.”

Daniel’s Story: IT and Dedication

The collaboration with SOS Children’s Villages is special and to exemplify the dedication they demonstrate and the progress they are making, we return to ICT and Digital Skills Training Officer, Daniel Nyamai. In addition to his obvious advanced skillset, the key to his personal success has been the fact that he has taken full advantage of IT development. It was not in the cards for him to get an IT education since that costs a lot of money.

When he was very young, Daniel took out a microloan from Safaricom’s M-PESA which is the equivalent to the Danish MobilePay or the American Zelle, however, it has been around much longer and is far more extensive in that the platform offers loans and financing. Simply put, Daniel borrowed money to start his own farming business. The profit from this small farming business was spent on his education. The example of Daniel is far from the only one and it is a very clear demonstration of Daniel’s dedication and the dedication of SOS Children’s Villages and both of their abilities to use technology in order to create development and a positive change.

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