In Malawi’s Dzaleka refugee camp, Jospin Hassan didn’t have access to the educational opportunities he was looking for. So he decided to create his own.
Hassan knew that the emerging fields of data science and artificial intelligence could bring job opportunities to his community and lend a hand solve local problems. After earning a spot in the 2020-21 batch Computer Science and Data Science Certification Program with MIT Refugee Action Hub (ReACT), Hassan began sharing his MIT knowledge and skills with other motivated students in Dzaleka.
MIT ReACT is now Emerging Talent, part of the Jameel World Education Lab (J-WEL) at MIT Open Learning. Currently serving its fifth cohort of global students, the year-long Emerging Talent certification program includes high-quality computer science and data science courses with , professional skill building, experiential learning, internships, and networking opportunities with MIT’s global community of innovators. Hassan’s group honed their leadership skills through interactive online workshops with J-WEL and a 10-week online MIT Innovation Leadership Bootcamp.
“The greatest achievement for me has been networking, collaborating and learning from each other,” Hassan says.
Today Hassan’s organization ADAI Circle offers mentoring and education programs for youth and others seeking employment in the Dzaleka refugee camp. The curriculum encourages hands-on learning and collaboration.
Launched in 2020, ADAI Circle aims to support job creation and poverty reduction in Malawi through technology and innovation. In addition to classes in data science, AI, software development and hardware design, their Innovation Hub offers internet access to anyone who needs it.
Doing something different in the community
Hassan came up with the idea for his organization in 2018 when he hit a barrier in his educational journey. There were several programs in the Dzaleka refugee camp teaching students how to code websites and mobile apps, but Hassan felt they were restricted in scope.
“We had good devices and Internet access,” he says, “but I wanted to learn something new.”
Working with co-founder Patrick Byamasu, Hassan and Byamasu focused on the longevity of AI and how it could create more jobs for people in their community. “The world is changing every day, and data scientists are in greater demand across companies today,” says Hassan. “That’s why I decided to expand and share the knowledge I’ve gained with my fellow refugees and the surrounding villages.”
ADAI Circle draws inspiration from Hassan’s own experience with MIT Emerging Talent courses, community, and training opportunities. For example, MIT Bootcamps model is now standard practice for the annual ADAI Circle hackathon. Hassan first introduced the hackathon to ADAI Circle students as part of his final experiential learning project for the Emerging Talent certification program.
The annual ADAI Circle hackathon is now an interactive—and effective—way to select students who will benefit most from its programs. Hassan says local schools’ curricula may not be academically challenging enough. “We can’t teach everyone and adapt to everyone because there are so many schools,” Hassan says, “but we offer another place to learn.”
The hackathon helps students develop skills in data science and robotics. Before they start coding, students must convince ADAI Circle teachers that their projects are feasible by answering questions like, “What problem are you solving?” and “How will this help the community?” A community-oriented mindset is equally vital to the curriculum.
In addition to the practical skills Hassan has gained through Emerging Talent, he has leveraged the program’s network to lend a hand his community. Through a social media connection Hassan established with the NGO Give Internet after one of Emerging Talent’s virtual events, Give Internet provided internet access at ADAI Circle.
Bridging the AI Gap to Underserved Communities
In 2023, ADAI Circle partnered with another MIT Open Learning program, Responsible AI for Social Empowerment and Education (RAISE), leading to a pilot test of a project-based AI curriculum for high school students. Responsible AI for computational activities The curriculum (RAICA) equipped ADAI Circle students with AI skills in chatbots and natural language processing.
“I liked the program because it was based on what we teach at the center,” Hassan says of his organization’s mission to bridge the gap between AI and unreached communities.
The RAICA curriculum was developed by education experts from the MIT Scheller Teacher Education Program (STEP Lab) and AI experts from the Personal Robots group at MIT Media Lab and MIT App Inventor. Teachers from the ADAI Circle provided detailed feedback to the RAICA team on the pilot. In weekly meetings with Glenda Stump, an educational research scientist at RAICA and J-WEL, and Angela Daniel, a teacher development specialist at RAICA, teachers discussed their experiences, prepared for upcoming lessons, and translated learning materials in real time.
“We’re trying to create a curriculum that’s accessible globally and for students who typically have little or no access to technology,” says Mary Cate Gustafson-Quiett, curriculum design manager at STEP Lab and project manager at RAICA. “Working with ADAI and students in a refugee camp challenged us to design in a more culturally and technologically inclusive way.”
Gustafson-Quiett says that the curriculum feedback from ADAI Circle helped inform how RAICA delivers teacher development materials to adapt to learning environments with restricted internet access. “They also revealed places where our team’s Western ideals, especially around individualism, were creeping into the classroom and contrasting with their more communal cultural beliefs,” she says.
Wanting to showcase more of MIT’s AI resources, Hassan also shared information about the MIT RAISE program AI Day curriculum with ADAI Circle teachers. The up-to-date ChatGPT module gave students the chance to enhance their chatbot programming skills they acquired in the RAICA module. Some advanced students take the initiative to operate the ChatGPT API to create their own learning projects.
“We don’t want to tell them what to do. We want them to come up with their own ideas,” Hassan says.
Although ADAI Circle faces many challenges, Hassan says his team is tackling them one by one. Last year, they had no electricity at their Innovation Hub, but they solved that problem. This year, they achieved a stable internet connection that is one of the fastest in Malawi. Next, they hope to secure more devices for their students, create more jobs, and add additional hubs throughout the community. The work is never done, but Hassan is starting to see the impact ADAI Circle is having.
“Let’s let those who want to learn data science learn,” Hassan says.