[Young people carrying box of VR headsets from vehicle belonging to Africa VR Campus and Center organization to village hall]
[Team sorting through VR headsets]
[Students listening with VR headsets in foreground]
[Founder of Africa VR Campus and Center, Paul Simon Waiyaki Wa Hinga, distributing headsets to students and explaining how they work]
[Young person with VR headset on]
[Waiyaki Wa Hinga talking to students]
Paul Simon Waiyaki Wa Hinga (interview): “Africa VR campus and center is an organization that is dedicated to training VR/XR/AR (virtual reality/extended reality/augmented reality) but not in shiny workshops and other areas but in the grassroots rural Africa where we come with our gadgets, internet solutions and we connect the community and train them what is VR/XR/AR. And the reason why we do so is of course for social economic empowerment because they too have stories to tell in the metaverse, they too have got their own local grassroots industries that can be incorporated in the metaverse and that brings economic empowerment and financial wellness to them. Sort of bringing the sustainable development goals closer to them using the power of VR/XR/AR.”
[Students using headsets]
Paul Simon Waiyaki Wa Hinga (interview): “Taking new tech into rural Africa has its own set of challenges. We are talking about infrastructure challenges, internet challenges sometimes even the community looking at this new tech like ‘What is this?’ And so, the absorption of it sometimes becomes a hindrance when you are trying to take it to the grassroots. And so all these sort of challenges and sometimes even the funding to take this outreach into the village, sometimes it’s not there.”
[Metaverse content made by Waiyaki]
[Virginia Wanjiku who is attending classes for the first time]
Virginia Wanjiku (interview): “This is my first time to see a VR set. I am so amazed by the many opportunities and I look forward to the future knowing that I will earn a living through it and I have seen that I can also travel to another country while I am still in Africa. That is so wonderful and I am so amazed. I can actually see space and all the stars, so that is a very good thing.”
[Margeret Wanjiru Muchai, a longtime member of the program at her home using VR headset with a friend]
Margeret Wanjiru Muchai (interview): “I have been in metaverse for three years in Waiyaki’s program. So, I personally feel it has benefitted me a lot since we have even gone to universities to teach students how to use it. Since we are only form four leavers (meaning they did not go to university). I feel special and I feel like I am an important girl. Also it has also mentored me and I have learnt a lot of things. I also earn a living there, when we go for an event we get paid and it helps me to buy things that I do not have.”
[Brian Afande, founder and CEO of Blackrhino VR in his office]
Brian Afande (interview): “I think going to the slums and demystifying the value of the technology is a start. It is a very good start. It’s very important for you to reduce the mental barriers to entry of the technology by doing that. But, of course, it has also to be accompanied by different strategies. For instance, just talking about it is not enough. Training individuals on how they can be able to create the content, not just consuming it. Because it’s important for these individuals to understand that this technology can change our lives in so very many ways. Whether not looking at it as a social dimension or an economic dimension. And I feel for the young people on the grassroots level, it is very important for them to be also given the tools to build the technology.”
[Waiyaki and his team during tour of village]
This script was provided by The Associated Press.