Who is the Hub for?
Very simply, the Hello Hub is for everyone, and it is owned by the whole community. That means that, from the youngest boy to the oldest woman in the Hub community, everyone should have equal ownership of the Hub, and equal access.
Sometimes Hubs are built in the grounds of an organisation (perhaps a youth centre) that has kindly donated their land to the project. During the initial discussions, the youth centre should agree with the community that, whilst the Hub may be on their land, everyone will have access to the Hub and that they have joint responsibility with the community to take care of it.
Communication is key. Never assume that everyone in the community knows what the Hub is or who it is for. Messages about the Hub might be misconstrued. For example, at one of our Hubs, many people mistakenly thought that you would have to pay to use the Hub. Your biggest job is making sure that everyone feels welcome to join in the Hub build and use the Hub. The best way you’ll achieve this is by good communication.
More boys and men are using the Hub than women and girls
As we have said, the Hub is for everyone and that means that women and girls should have equal access to it. Some Hubs have established sessions where a group of women will come together to use the Hub. In that way, they gain the confidence to use the Hub every week, and often start to come alone whenever they need to use it.
No-one should ever be turned away from a Hub - if a community is refusing a particular group access to the Hub, the project is not working.
What if something breaks?
Most of the time, you already know how to fix it! But the Hello World team will always be on hand to support you if you let your community support officer know.
Can we use the same safety locking software on our phones as is on the Hello World tablets?
Yes. You can easily download applications like Kids Place and KeyOS onto personal devices.
Who cleans the Hub ?
Anyone who uses the Hub should help to keep it clean. We have found that the first person who wants to use the Hub in the morning will often give the place a quick sweep, but community support officers often arrange a day for the whole community to come together to give the Hub a deep clean.
Where do we get the materials for cleaning?
In many communities, people bring along the cleaning materials that they use at home - a broom, soap, brushes. In others, for example the refugee settlement where we work, water is hard to come by, so the community fundraises amongst themselves to buy a jerry can or two when it is time to clean the Hub. This is normally organised by the Community Support Officer.
If all of the Hub tablets are in use
Many Hubs have timetables to enable groups to use the tablets at different times. The community support officer can coordinate this.
Is the Hub accessible at night?
Every community decides how to use their Hub. Hello World prefers all parts of the Hub to be open at all times, because that allows as many people as possible access to the resources. But we also work in places, like refugee settlements, where there are curfews at night, which are important to honour. This is a key discussion point for a community when building their Hub.
How do we update the apps on the tablets?
The community support officers can be trained to update apps on the tablets. This means that you don’t need an expert software engineer to travel to a Hub every time an app needs changing or updating. The CSOs also let you know when apps are not popular, so that they can be replaced with better software.
Can we take the tablets home for use?
We recommend that the tablets remain at the Hub. It means that they can stay internet connected, are less likely to get lost and everyone has equal access. Occasionally tablets will be taken by community support officers to reach someone who couldn’t come to a Hub (perhaps someone with severe disabilities), but the best principle is to encourage people to come to the Hub to use the tablets.
Will I be charged to access additional training from the hub?
No. Access to the Hub and all of the activities should always be free. That’s because we don’t want to exclude anyone.
Internet safety (staying safe online)
We all know that the Internet can be a dangerous place, with adult content, nasty comments and online bullying. This is the same for everyone who uses the Internet.
There are ways to mitigate against this:
The ISP can and should put blocks on the network so that the most dangerous content cannot be accessed. The majority of dangerous sites, e.g pornography, are blocked on the Hello World Internet and the Hello World tablets. There is however always the possibility that a very persistent person can get around this but, so long as the Hub is a busy place and is used by a variety of community members, people won't access inappropriate material at the Hub.
Social Media: we are very aware of the danger of Internet bullying and scams at Hello World and we train our communities in Internet safety. Education is the best way to resolve this issue. Why not hold a course at your Hub to teach about Internet safety? Ask the community how they want to keep the Hub safe – will there be an adult around to make sure that children are only accessing appropriate information on the Internet?