“I am building a tech ecosystem that will in turn impact the whole society.” Mukhtar Salim
Tell us about your institution and the community that you serve?
Coast Tech Empowerment Community centre is a community training centre where the youth come to learn and enhance their skills in technology in a space where they feel safe. I am the founder and the executive director. I have a team of five people who support me, the director of IT, director of programs, director of administration and communication, director of monitoring and evaluation, and the director of community development. We focus on discovering and developing upcoming and innovative technology ideas. We provide networking opportunities, technical training in the form of boot camps, and mentorships. Our centre is youth-centric. Our programs accommodate children as young as 7 years to 35 years.
Seven years is fairly young, what do you offer this young girl or boy?
We found that most kids spend a lot of time playing with gadgets e.g. phone games, computer games you name it. We thought to ourselves why not create a program where kids can spend time with gadgets constructively? So we create a program called kids who code to teach these kids the basics of coding.
Are your programs free and is your centre open to anyone interested in learning new skills of technology?
Anyone who wants to access our space is welcome to do so. They do not necessarily have to be residents of Mombasa. People use our space for different reasons eg, for meetings, to do their work, training, etc. Sometimes kids use the space to do their research on school assignments. However, the children who enrol in our programs have to pay a small fee to cater for amenities such as electricity, water, and internet connectivity.
Other than coding, what other services do you offer the youth that come to your centre?
We currently have five programs for our youth, one is IT essentials (computer literacy), Girls who code for young girls and women who would love to learn coding, Cybersecurity, Web development, and the Kids who code program. Many young people within our community were not fortunate enough to get a formal education so when they come to us we teach them the basics of IT where they learn basic skills like how to open a computer, sending emails, using word processing, etc. We are also in the process of rolling out CompTIA A+ (PC Technician eg, computer repairs) and N+ (Networking) to help our young people to learn skills to be able to create employment for themselves.
How do you manage to keep the centre sustainable?
We have partnered with an NGO called Darul-Salaam, they are the ones who are giving us the space that we are using for our operations and they also sponsor some of our programs. Also like I mentioned before we charge a small fee for all our programs.
What vision do you have for Coast Tech Empowerment Community for the next 5 years?
To create a tech ecosystem that will impact the entire community by giving people a safe space where they can connect and learn new skills on technology. I keep saying ‘safe’ because we have to take into consideration the religious aspects of some of our trainees. For example; some girls who train with us come from cultures that do not allow direct interaction with men and to accommodate them we introduced the Girls who code program that is specific to women and girls.
Salim, briefly describe yourself to us?
I was born and raised in Mombasa. I schooled here, for my primary school education I went to Island Primary then I proceeded to Tudor Day Secondary School. After high school, I enrolled at Computer Pride for my undergraduate degree in Information Technology. I am currently at University of Greenwich, London doing another degree in information technology. I was raised by my grandmother, I lost my mother when I was a young boy. I love playing football but not professionally. I do it to stay fit, I love spending time with friends, swimming, playing video games, and watching movies.
