Dear all, This is the proposed action plan for replicating Mahavilachchiya Horizon Lanka model in other rural villages in Sri Lanka. We would appreciate if you send your feedback to us so that we can make the project more productive.

FIRST MONTH – JUNE 15^TH TO JULY 15^TH, 2007

1. OFFICIAL SOFT LAUNCH – COMPLETED
   1. Giving Basic Awareness about Graphic Designing
   2. Giving Basic Awareness in Web designing
   3. Giving Basic Awareness in Internet & Email
   4. Giving Basic Awareness in Web 2.0 Instant Messenger, etc.
   5. Designing and Uploading websites for each village

1. VISITING THE 5 VILLAGES
   1. Organizing a visit to Mahavilachchiya
   2. Communicating with Mahavilachchiya electronically.
   3. Planning schedules for learning.
   4. Visiting and learning from Mahavilachchiya’s experiences
   5. Continuing communication with Mahavilachchiya staff, students and community.

1. WORKING ON INFRASTRUCTURE TO EACH EVILLAGE
   1. Reliable Internet connections –Internet Service Providers should be encouraged to provide uninterrupted services.
   2. Hardware maintenance in each computer lab – Center Managers should do this.
   3. Searching for alternative places in each village to start a parallel computer centers to the CLCs.
   4. Finding computers and other equipments to these centers through donors, private sector, etc.
   5. Launching at least one computer center out of five villages

SECOND MONTH – JULY 15^TH TO AUGUST 15^TH, 2007

1. IMPROVING INFRASTRUCTURE TO EACH EVILLAGE
   1. Reliable Internet connections – Internet Service Providers should be encouraged to provide uninterrupted services through RLL (Radio in Local Loop) or similar technologies. CDMA supported links will not serve the purpose.
   2. Hardware maintenance in each computer lab – Center Managers should do this.
   3. Searching for alternative places in each village to start a parallel computer centers to the CLCs.
   4. Finding and delivering computers and other equipments to these centers through donors, private sector, etc.
   5. Launching at least one computer center out of five villages

1. IMPROVING WEB BASED WORK

1.  
   1. Maintaining and constantly updating school websites
   2. Starting personal blogs of the students and youth
   3. Promoting the school websites and blogs
   4. Introduction to online teaching through IM (Internet Messenger) software with the center managers
   5. Encouraging students of each eVillage to communicate with the Center Managers and students of the same school and other partner schools

1. VISITING EVILLAGES
   1. Professional Service Provider will visit 2 schools within this month.
   2. Two day workshop will be held in each school during August school vacation.
   3. Professional Service Provider will attend the events such as computer exhibitions during this trip
   4. Professional Service Provider will talk to the community with multimedia content support and enhance the awareness of the projects
   5. Professional Service Provider will work with the youth of the area as well and encourage them to take up to computers and BPO jobs in future.

THIRD MONTH – AUGUST 15^TH TO SEPTEMBER 15^TH 2007

1. GETTING THE YOUTH IN THE AREA INVOLVED IN THE PROJECTS

1.  
   1. Center Managers should be able to increase the number of youths who use the facilities in the centers.
   2. Youths should be encouraged to do more extracurricular work like sports, field trips, etc. and report them in English and Sinhala to the project blogs and personal blogs
   3. Youth should be given basic education in hardware maintenance
   4. Youth should be encouraged to buy their own PCs, at least used PCs.
   5. Youth should be encouraged to have more online friends and communicate in English as much as possible.

1. VISITING EVILLAGES

1.  
   1. Professional Service Provider will visit 3 schools within this month.
   2. Two day workshop will be held in each school during the latter part of the August school vacation.
   3. Professional Service Provider will attend the events such as computer exhibitions during this trip
   4. Professional Service Provider will talk to the community with multimedia content support and enhance the awareness of the projects
   5. Professional Service Provider will work with the youth of the area as well and encourage them to take up to computers and BPO jobs in future.

FOURTH MONTH – SEPTEMBER 15^TH TO OCTOBER 15^TH 2007

1. GETTING COMMUNITY INVOLVED IN THE PROJECT

1.  
   1. Center Managers should get the professionals like government officers, police and army personnel, private sector workers to use the facilities at the school computer labs
   2. Average villagers should also get some exposure with computers and internet at least with the basics like MS Paint, word processing, playing a Video CD
   3. Clergy in the area should get actively involved in the project. The interested clergy can be given training and the students and youth can design websites, blogs, etc. to temples, dhamma schools, etc. of the area and try supporting those institutions by introducing them to the donors, well-wishers.
   4. Training should be extended to community organizations like sports clubs, funeral assistance societies, women’s organizations
   5. Centers should be able to help those organizations in maintaining documents and accounts using computers

1. VISITING EVILLAGES

1.  
   1. Professional Service Provider will visit all 5 schools within this month.
   2. One day workshop will be held in each school
   3. Professional Service Provider will visit strategically important places such as Divisional Secretary’s Office, temple, Pradesheeya Sabha, etc. to strengthen ties between the project and these organizations.
   4. Professional Service Provider will hold workshops on photography to the students and the youth
   5. Professional Service Provider will work with the youth of the area as well and encourage them to take up to computers and BPO jobs in future.

FIFTH MONTH – OCTOBER 15^TH TO 2007 NOVEMBER 15^TH 2007

1. GETTING MEDIA ATTENTION

i. Centers should be able to get the attention of the media by now with their work published online.

ii. Center Managers should write to local print and electronic media requesting them to cover the stories from the villages.

iii. Center Managers should also write to international media like ICT related websites, e-groups, online magazines, etc about the progress of the work being done in the respective villages and how it affects the communities.

iv. Opportunities to make presentations in ICT related events in Colombo and other areas should be sought for. Students, youth few villagers should be trained by this time to do presentations at any given time.

v. Students and the youth should start contributing to the local and international media.

1. VISITING EVILLAGES

i. Professional Service Provider will visit all 5 schools within this month.

ii. Professional Service Provider will help coordinate media.

iii. Professional Service Provider will teach the students, staff, community to talk to the media and get the maximum benefits

iv. Professional Service Provider will conduct workshops in each school

v. Professional Service Provider will help schools to start their own newspaper, a common newspaper called www.hampletpamphlet.org will be launched to include news from the selected 5 villages and other interested villages.

SIXTH MONTH – NOVEMBER 15^TH TO DECEMBER 15^TH 2007

1. INITIATING BUSINESS PROCESS OUTSOURCING (BPO) CENTERS

i. Youths who are ready for Business Process Outsourcing jobs should visit Mahavilachchiya’s OnTime BPO Company.

ii. They should be given one week training in Mahavilachchiya.

iii. OnTime BPO Company from Mahavilachchiya should visit each of the 5 villages and explore the possibilities of starting outsourcing work to these centers on sub contract basis.

iv. A Manager from OnTime should be employed in each eVillage center till each village can do the work on their own

v. At least two youth should be employed in each eVillage for the OnTime BPO.

1. VISITING EVILLAGES

i. Professional Service Provider will visit all 5 schools within this month.

ii. Professional Service Provider will help make the youth in the area aware of benefits of BPO jobs.

iii. Professional Service Provider will help coordinate the BPO work with OnTime Technologies in Mahavilachchiya

iv. Professional Service Provider will help the centers by bringing in the BPO facilitator organization FAROLANKA www.farolanka.org and similar organizations to the 5 villages.

v. Professional Service Provider will help centers by finding clients to the BPO centers.

Your response: