Empowering Women in Oman’s Northern Border Town

Thirty women in Oman’s northern town of Buraimi are learning to use computers for the first time, and are eager to highlight the ways in which their lives have changed.  “I didn’t even know how to turn on the computer before taking this course,” one woman said, “and that made me lack confidence in many areas of my life.  Now I know how to put together a PowerPoint presentation and use an Excel spreadsheet.  I realize that there are a lot of things I can do.”  Describing the IT course her son is taking at school, another woman said, “I never used to be able to help my son with his homework.  Now I know more than he does.”  Test scores confirm their mastery of the material, with results for each end-of-unit quiz averaging 90%.

The 30 trainees in the Buraimi course join 175 women in other parts of Oman who are participating in the Women in Technology Project, which launched its first series of courses at Omani Women’s Associations in three towns last month.  With waiting lists of over 200 in those towns and requests from over a dozen other Associations, the project is already proving to be popular.  Participating Associations are proud to be offering high-quality courses, which are based on Microsoft-certified training in their “Upward Potential” curriculum and soft skills training conceived by the Institute of International Education.  Women are already building their presentation skills as they take turns summarizing the day’s lesson for their classmates (photo).   “It’s exciting to be offering a service that is benefiting women in our community,” one of the trainers commented, “and to see how it is improving their lives.”