Our life-changing stories - Digital Collective

Shadi’s story (ReDI School of Digital Integration Munich’s student):

19-year-old Shadi arrived in Munich 14 months ago from Iran. Looking to improve her digital skills and better understand the IT sector, she joined the ReDI Digital Literacy Program in September 2022. Through the program, she developed her computer skills, learned how to use office productivity applications and how to collaborate online. Shadi was an active participant in the classroom and at the career services events. With the help of career services and networking opportunities within the program, Shadi was able to land a vocational training position as Zahnarthelferin (dentist assistant) at a Munich praxis. In the next 3 years, she will be trained as a dentist assistant and she is grateful for the opportunity to start building a career in her new country. She also decided to enrol for next semester at ReDI School.

SARIKA’s story (ReDI School of Digital Integration Denmark’s student):

Sarika, from India, started ReDI School DK for beginners’ training “Computer for Job” in March 2022. When Sarika began, she did not know how to turn on a laptop. During the celebration of the course’s ending, she shared with the group that she got a new job without any external help taking care of the menu and ordering food in a nursing home. She now uses all her newly acquired skills in it!

At ReDI School DK, they maintain a supportive community for migrant women based on voluntary participation and volunteer teachers. They focus on creating small success experiences by using as a starting point the actual level and needs of their learners. Because they have small groups of students, they can focus on each of them and offer support beyond the teaching of digital skills. In the words of former volunteer and current Program Manager in Aarhus, Jonas Sepstrup: “It is really valuable to see the community created among the women and us teachers. During the course, the women grow and you can clearly feel how the community empowers them to take actions on their own”.

Asmaan and Farzaneh’s story (ReDI School of Digital Integration Munich’s students):

Back in February 2020, Asmaan and Farzaneh arrived at ReDI School Munich looking for free computer courses. The two sisters were young, 17 and 18 years old, and had recently arrived from Afghanistan to Germany. They did not know how to use a computer or the Internet, but they were motivated to learn.

After going through ReDI School Munich’s screening process, they joined their Digital Literacy Program. Step by step, they became more confident in how to use a computer, improved their German language skills and learned how to network. At secondary school, they started to show good grades in their computer classes and were among the best students in that subject. Two years later, in January 2022, both of them decided to join ReDI’s Intro to Computer Science class to learn the basics of programming, and successfully graduated in June 2022.

During the time that they were students, they discovered that the IT sector was the career path they wanted to pursue after secondary school. In September 2022, one of them started vocational training in IT and the other one joined ReDI’s full-time program to train in web development and became a ReDI volunteer teacher. They both consider that studying at ReDI School Munich gave them new professional perspectives and sparked their interest to pursue a career in IT.

NADIA’s story (Le Monde des Possibles’ student):

Nadia lived in Salé, Morocco. She arrived in Belgium in 2020 and requested French lessons. She was one of the first to ask for the DigiLab program as soon as it was launched. She wanted to apply for waitress jobs but didn’t have any digital skills or a resume. Nowadays, a waitress also needs to understand basic IT to do their daily tasks. After she finished DigiLab, she was very happy to be able to present herself through her first resume.

Tanja’s story (Grenzenlos Digital e.V.’s student):

Tanja works at a library in Finland and already had some basic digital skills when she started Intro in Grenzenlos Digital e.V. She wanted to deepen her digital knowledge, train her German and prepare for applying for a job in Germany. She started with the first two units but then stopped coming to classes. Grenzenlos Digital e.V.’s team contacted her and she said she had to move to a new flat and had a lot of work. After she had settled into her new apartment, she proceeded with full force and did all the tasks, quizzes and capstone projects. She wrote the organisation an e-mail telling them how happy she was about all the small things she had learned, such as creating a signature for her e-mail or finally finishing her CV – which she had on her to-do list for a long time.

TESTIMONIALS:

Marta (79 years old, after taking GUG’s Digital Shift program): “I went through all the topics of the course with gusto, each gave me something. By studying, I understand better what my children and grandchildren are talking about. I would recommend the Digital Shift to my peers who want to stay up-to-date even at our age.”

Martina (39 years old, after taking GUG’s Digital Shift program): “I want to thank you for the great course. In more than a month, I learned the basic things (that I thought I knew) and I was surprised by the fact that I don’t know what my phone and my Google account can do. Not to mention how many great mountain routes I saved in Mapy.cz (which I normally use). When I think about it today, it feels like I’m using digital technology as a tool-a spoon to eat with, and it’s a Swiss army knife! The excellent lecturers pushed me to explain these things to my 8-year-old son and thus spread the knowledge further. For 2023, I choose to improve my digital skills. Thank you very much for the opportunity!”