Elijah D.F. Kplawere our talented father of four, is our featured Everyday Changemaker because as he has grown his business he has begun to create new jobs for young people and has trained others in the community giving them access to the internet. With just a small investment of $100 from the Community Independence Initiative (a peer driven change model which has components of self-initiative, mutuality and investment), Elijah’s Fundamentals of Computer Technology business grew 3951% from $7.00 a month to $147.00 a month.
Amazingly, he was able to pull himself out of severe poverty with his engagement with CII Liberia (1.3 million people live in severe poverty making less than $1.90 a day in Liberia with a pop. 5 million). Elijah is highly skilled with computer operations, hardware repair, graphic designing, software installation, and has a tremendous amount of computer knowledge that he wants to share with his community.
The second major reason he is our true everyday changemaker is his willingness to help others that do not know how to use a computer. This propelled him to the top of Everyday Changemakers, highlights CII’s philosophy of peer-to-peer learning and is central to CII’s core values.
Most of the families in Liberia do not have computers or smart phones. His aspirations of helping his community advance to the 21st century, increasing his community’s computer literacy is a tall order, when Liberia has an overall literacy rate of 48.3%. His dreams of a more computer literate country, brands him as a thought leader in his community as well. Elijah’s drive, motivation, determination is truly admired. He continually has high goals aiming to expand his business’s locations, improve in-house equipment, and ultimately providing educational and employment opportunities for all.
