Empathy in digital literacy

For the past few weeks, I have been recruiting unemployed delegates for a free entrepreneurship skills programme. I am targeting people who've been retrenched, due to the pandemic. Several businesses have been adversely affected by the necessary lockdown restrictions that seek to minimise the spread of the coronavirus. 

I am humbled to see the lack of digital literacy skills. Some delegates have never created a pdf file, sent a business-related email, used a video conferencing application. I have come to realise that we cannot impart digital literacy skills without empathy. In my country, internet access is still very expensive. For many families, the hard choice between wifi and food is already made before they can even consider connecting to the resources, \"freely\" available on the internet. 

I was inspired to see the number of young and mature women signing up for the programme. They have given up on finding work, so have turned to making hats, handbags and cakes to sell, in order to survive! I know that I will need to spend a considerable amount of time working with these women, so they can use the internet to access their learning and market their businesses. But I am so honoured to be able to transfer life-changing knowledge and skills that will boost their home businesses, build their confidence, and support job creation in their communities. 

Sometimes, we take a lot for granted. I hope we never take empathy for granted. I believe empathy is the key with which we can enable people to unlock their worlds.