Annual Report 2022/23:
Summary | Impact Highlights | Case Studies | Finances | Looking Ahead
As an organisation we aim to deliver high quality and reliable internet access in a way that is simple and efficient. This North Star guides everything we do; from our product design to our site assessment, due diligence and set-up approach. By delivering reliable Wi-Fi to those who need it most, we aim to lower the barriers to connectivity for projects around the world doing critical and urgent humanitarian and education delivery. We prioritise user experience of the
Wi-Fi and our approach to project design is partner-led.
NEW EDUCATION OPPORTUNITIES IN THE DRC
“WITHOUT [JANGALA’S] IMMEASURABLE SUPPORT, THESE YOUNG PEOPLE WOULD FIND IT DIFFICULT TO KNOW WHAT COMPUTERS AND THE INTERNET ARE (…)THEY WOULD REMAIN IN THIS CYCLE OF POVERTY WHICH OVERWHELMS THOUSANDS OF YOUNG PEOPLE (...) IN THE DRC.”
In the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), Big Box is helping to provide new education opportunities to young people at risk of joining local militia through our partner CEAFPD Education Centre (Centre d’Encadrement et d’Appui en Faveur des Personnes Démunies).
Following CEAFPD’s partnership with Jangala, Fadhili has been able to attract funds and local government support to build a further computer lab, expanding the centre’s education programmes to more young people in the area. Katongo Computer Lab is now under construction and will be supported by laptops and tablets from the Lenovo Foundation.
INCREASING ENROLMENT
IN UGANDA
“THE NUMBER OF STUDENTS AT THE HIGH SCHOOL HAS INCREASED THIS TERM DUE TO THE FACT THAT WE HAVE THE INTERNET... HAVING THE INTERNET AVAILABLE AT THE SCHOOL THROUGH THE USE OF THE JANGALA BOX HAS MADE THIS VERY EASY FOR OUR STUDENTS. WE ARE IN A HARD-TO-REACH AREA BUT WITH THIS BOX OUR STUDENTS HAVE NOT MISSED ANYTHING, AS THEY HAVE ACCESS TO THE INTERNET ANYTIME.”
The Good Samaritan High School in Uganda supports 1,500 students across its primary and secondary schools and has connected its computer lab to Wi-Fi using Big Box. As well as providing online lessons to the students as a critical part of their curriculum the school has actually been able to enrol more students thanks to the Wi-Fi.
BOOSTING NETWORK COVERAGE IN GHANA
“BIG BOX HAS TREMENDOUSLY HELPED BOTH THE STUDENTS AND STAFF. IT SAVES THE TIME AND COST OF OTHERWISE EMBARKING ON A 4 TO 5 HRS DRIVE TO ACCRA TO SUBMIT HEAVY PACKETS OF DATA.”
Kpando High School in Ghana supports over 3,000 students across its campus. Kpando High offers free, high-quality education (funded by non-profit organisation EVA) to pupils from disadvantaged backgrounds in the Kpando Region.
When the school approached Jangala in 2022 their library was equipped with 60 computers but without internet access they could not make the best use of these devices. As well as providing a Big Box, to connect the computer lab, the Jangala team provided remote technical support to Kpando School – helping them build a network to cover all of the buildings in the school and the sports fields for both students and teachers to use.
BRINGING DIGITAL LITERACY TO CHILDREN IN REMOTE AREAS OF INDIA
“The girls (...) are provided with JANGALA Wifi connections and can search for any relevant information required, [this] helps in online education and distance learning, enhancing their communication and connectivity with different people and looking forward to their careers.”
To ensure that over 3,000 children in remote areas are able to benefit annually, the programme is delivered using a mobile digital literacy van. This van moves from school to school, helping ALIG to reach remote areas. Jangala has partnered with ALIG to provide a Big Box which provides reliable internet for the ten laptops and five mobile phones in ALIG’s digital literacy van.
Jangala has also provided ALIG with Big Boxes to provide internet access to a Women’s Skills Centre and a school in Jharkhand. You can read more about these projects and our Managing Director Rich Thanki’s trip to ALIG projects in December 2022 here.
“The internet is regarded as one of humanity’s greatest gifts and in the last 10 to 15 years it has spread rapidly throughout the globe. Our government school students and girls of our skill centres are benefited with this gift with the rock-solid support of JANGALA. JANGALA is providing wifi connections in government schools and skill centres which supports 1,800-2,000 beneficiaries. These underprivileged students are blessed with this facility which helps them in several ways.
The girls of skill centres and government school students are provided with JANGALA Wifi connections and can search for any relevant information required, helps in online education and distance learning, enhancing their communication and connectivity with different people and look forward to their careers. The underprivileged girls of skill centres are saving their money also as they getting free wifi connections for using internet.
Thanks for supporting our underprivileged girls and students for aiding them with free wi-fi connections for continuing their studies without any hindrance and provide them with more and more benefits.”
Arshad Kauser
Executive Director ALIG, India
SUPPORTING EARTHQUAKE SEARCH AND RESCUE TEAMS TO SAVE MORE LIVES
“BY SETTING UP THE SYSTEM, ARRIVING TEAMS HAD THE POSSIBILITY TO GET ONLINE – WHICH MADE OUR JOB OF COORDINATING THE INCOMING TEAMS SO MUCH EASIER AND EFFICIENT.”
In the early hours of February 6th 2023 a magnitude 7.8 earthquake hit southern Türkiye and north-west Syria, with another magnitude 7.5 earthquake just hours later. An estimated 60,000 people died across both countries; a further 100,000 were injured and hundreds of thousands of people were left homeless.
In the immediate aftermath, humanitarians were galvanised by the UN to help those affected. UK search-and-rescue organisation Serve On was one such team. They took two Big Boxes, funded by Virgin Media O2, to Türkiye to enable them to connect to Wi-Fi.
BIG BOX DEPLOYMENT
Serve On’s International Response Team are experts in light search-and-rescue (SAR) and carry out critical life-saving work to rescue people from destruction caused by natural disasters.
Jangala got in touch with Serve On to see how we could help. Barely two days after the earthquake, two members of the Serve On team visited Jangala’s offices to collect two Big Boxes and receive in-person training before catching their flight to Türkiye.
On arrival in Türkiye, the Serve On team immediately set up a Big Box in the UN Reception and Departure Centre at Adana Airport to provide fellow emergency responders with connectivity. Quantitative data, collected via our remote monitoring capabilities, showed that 80 people used this Wi-Fi in a two-hour window for intense coordination activities.
The Serve On team then took the Big Boxes to Adiyaman where they conducted their search-and-rescue (SAR) work. They set up one Big Box at their base of operations, enabling 30 people to get online over the course of three days. Some of these people were members of other SAR teams whilst others were displaced individuals in nearby temporary shelters.
Since returning, Serve On have participated in a feedback session to provide useful insights on how Jangala can develop our Emergency Response deployments in the future. The team will keep two Big Boxes at their UK base to be used in future deployments and training exercises, both in the UK and abroad.
MAKING LIFE EASIER FOR WOMEN AND CHILDREN IN EMERGENCY ACCOMMODATION
“In 2021 Jangala partnered with Riverside Community Big Local to provide Wi-Fi to emergency housing for women and children in Essex. The accommodation can support 10 families at any one time, so we sent four Get Boxes to distribute Wi-Fi throughout the entire property using only a single SIM card between them.”
Get box coverage
Thanks to Jangala’s Get Boxes, the children are able to keep up with their learning and education. The children are also able to safely participate in online entertainment due to the systems’ capabilities that make it easy for the shelter to meet their safeguarding obligations.
Meanwhile, the women in the shelter can access employment and/ or training opportunities and keep in touch with loved ones – both of which are vital at such an incredibly isolating and stressful time.
THIS PARTNERSHIP IS AN EXCELLENT SHOWCASE OF GET BOX’S ‘DAISY-CHAIN’ CAPABILITIES, WHICH ENABLE A LARGE NETWORK TO BE CREATED USING ONLY ONE SIM CARD.
A SINGLE GET BOX RECEIVES DATA VIA THE SIM CARD WHICH IS BEAMED TO THE OTHER GET BOXES ON THE NETWORK, PERMITTING EFFICIENT DATA MANAGEMENT AND USAGE FOR THE NETWORK ADMINISTRATOR.
Impact Highlights
2022/23 has seen an enormous growth in Jangala’s capabilities. We’ve grown from a team of eight people to 14 which has brought extra capacity to our organisation and services. New colleagues have joined our Projects, Software Engineering and Fundraising and Communications teams.
Looking Ahead
In the coming 12 months, Jangala is poised to take significant steps in addressing the digital divide and providing impactful connectivity solutions worldwide. Jangala’s plans for 2023/24 are centred around advancing our products, expanding our reach and strengthening the organisation.
Finances
In the financial year 2022/23 Jangala experienced remarkable growth in income – more than tripling the income generated the previous year (2021/22). This significant financial increase can be attributed largely to the unwavering support of our valued corporate partners.