EXCEL-ing with the HoaS staff and friends!

When I arrived in Corail, one of the first conversations I had with Lara (HoaS Country Director) was about Hope on a String's data collection and analysis.  For each 6-8 week session, HoaS collects information from its participants.  However, because many of the staff members are not completely computer literate, they have struggled to organize the data electronically.  To help the staff become literate in Excel, which is the program HoaS uses to organize its data, I offered to hold weekly Excel classes to teach the very basics of Excel.  The staff and friends of HoaS jumped at the opportunity.  We had our first session on Thursday night, and I thought it went well!  I prepared for the class by listing the most useful and necessary skills needed to work in Excel: finding the Excel icon and opening it, typing in cells, changing the font and background to create column headings, insert rows, type numbers and then drag them down so you don't have to type each one, naming a document appropriately, saving it, and then finding it once it was saved.  I also had to look up "computer terms" to use, such as open, save, type, column, drag down, select, etc. so I could be somewhat intelligible to the staff.  Thankfully Cassy's English is superb and she was able to help me a lot!  We covered all of these topics, and I asked them to practice before next week's class.  We used my laptop, the HoaS laptop, and then Cassy and Felix have their own.  These skills will be so important to help HoaS staff work efficiently and gain skills they can transfer to other aspects of their lives.  I can't wait for next week!

 

From left to right: Armonie, Clen, Velouse, Watson, Violette, Felix, Cassy, Bettie

From left to right: Armonie, Clen, Velouse, Watson, Violette, Felix, Cassy, Bettie