Mr Mandela, from the Knowledge Network kids, teenagers, adults, educators, staff and staff of those schools working with Knowledge Network, we wish you a Happy Birthday.

When Madiba was in the 2nd year of his presidency, Arnold Ramasedi registered his young son Kamohelo at Knowledge Network (then known as K-Net.) Kamohelo started learning about computers, winning computers, attending conferences, doing electronic research for school and learning how to make technology work for him.

“It all started in 1996. My father saw an ad about a computer school,” says Kamohelo. Arnold had just bought a computer and did not know how best to teach his son the basics of using the machine. The ad read ‘Computer courses for adults and kids from the age of 4’. Arnold enrolled Kamohelo, who was then aged 11. At Knowledge Network knowledge knows no age.

“Well, at first the idea of attending a weekend school came as a shocker. I wasn’t eager to attend and wanted to rest and play with my friends,” says Kamohelo. “But it came as yet another shock to find myself awaiting the weekend to come as I went to an environment I regarded as fun and my thirst for knowledge grew. It didn’t matter much to me that I would travel from Soweto to Rivonia every weekend.”

“Racial integration was still in its development stages and Kamohelo, a young black kid from Soweto, was attending a predominately white institution but felt at home due to the hospitality of K-Net’s staff members and the ILAMM (integrated learning and mentoring methodology) designed by Jill D Hrdliczka in 1994, which made it easier for Kamohelo to grasp the basic understanding of computers. It increased his versatility using computers – he was able to operate both Windows-based and Apple computers effortlessly, a skill that he will use for the rest of his life,” says Arnold.

“Through the integrated teaching techniques, I was equipped with a variety of skills such as utilising MS Office. It also helped me to confidently use the computer for school projects. I became known as somewhat of a computer boffin as I was a more advanced computer user than most of my colleagues,” says Kamohelo.

“The presentation and research skills gave me an added advantage at acquiring the information through the usage of not only the web but digital encyclopaedias. I was therefore better positioned to acquire relevant information. It changed my mindset and gave me the confidence to do my work to the best of my ability.” At age 11 that is quite something.

“Kamohelo was a kid with a strong will to learn and be part of what technology had to offer. He had huge potential, was a good thinker for programming in Visual Basic and completed courses such as TechnoBlast, TechnoCruise and others. Kamohelo was fun to work with, he has a great sense of humour,” says Jill Hrdliczka. “His father was totally committed to and involved in his son’s learning and attended many of the seminars that we ran for the kids.”

The seminars and conferences covered a range of topics including movie making, video editing, morphing, programming, graphics, the Internet, new developments in hardware and software, music, spreadsheeting, DTP, digital photography and sound. The conferences were described by the kids as “way cool, megacool, awesome, an absolute WOW. The conference crew members were kids, as were some of the speakers, presenters, organisers and admin staff. No doubt about it – the conferences were fun. The first conference in 1995 was described as the first of its kind in the world.

“The conferences and seminars were great, not only were the presentations by the mentors great and interactive, but I won a computer from Conference 1996 and appeared in several newspapers, which did wonders for my popularity. All I can say is that I’m grateful to both my parents and Knowledge Network for giving me an added advantage in today’s digital world,” says Kamohelo.

Kamohelo is now 24. He went on to study business management and is now in partnership, with amongst other people, his father, and together they are conceptualiasing an education management system to use technology to better the lives of ordinary South Africans.

Through Knowledge Network, Kamohelo has been equipped with the skills to cope with today and the future – a technology-driven world where information is accessible through the Internet, where all forms of digital communication (including cell phone sms, mms) unites families and friends around the world, and where being able to use a computer as a tool for life and learning means having the ability to earn, to learn, to achieve and to develop oneself.

The Knowledge Network success stories are many. There is Kamohelo. And Paul, who completed all the courses offered by Knowledge Network, who at the age of 12, became a NetAssist to help other kids, a Club Leader, and member of the Knowledge Network mini business. Today Paul is 25, has a B.Com Marketing Management, an Advanced Diploma in Project Management and runs his own events company in the entertainment industry. Both Kamohelo and Paul are well on their way to achieving their goals in life and are having fun.

And there are the Knowledge Network staff members who, since the opening of the company in 1994, have written their own success stories.

And then there’s Greg, and another Greg, Taryn, Eric, Zandi and….

Mr Mandela, from the Knowledge Network kids, teenagers, adults, educators, staff and staff of those schools working with Knowledge Network, we wish you a Happy Birthday.