MISSY LAB: WHEN DIGITAL TECHNOLOGY BECOMES A LEVER FOR CONSERVATION IN MANOMBO SUD
HISTORY AND IMPLEMENTATION
The project was launched in August 2024 and took shape with the official inauguration of the center on May 9, 2025. This event brought together students, teachers, parents, local authorities, and members of the APC/Vezo.
The infrastructure, designed to adapt to an isolated rural environment, includes :
- 10 laptops
- 1 video projector
- Functional internet connection
- Furniture suitable for a training room
- An autonomous solar system, ensuring energy independence in an area not connected to the national grid
Missy Lab is thus an innovative response to two major challenges: the lack of digital infrastructure and the need to involve young people in the preservation of natural heritage.
DIGITAL EDUCATION AND ENVIRONMENTAL AWARENESS
Missy Lab is not just a computer center. It is a training and awareness-raising space where digital education becomes a tool for conservation.
- For local communities: twenty (20) members of the APC/Vezo receive practical computer training to strengthen their capacities and better participate in ecological monitoring and sustainable resource management programs.
For schools: more than 200 seventh and eighth graders from five (05) public elementary schools (EPP) are discovering digital tools, which improves their overall learning and opens their minds to the world.
This approach aims to equip young people and communities to become responsible actors, capable of protecting their environment while adapting to technological developments.
COMMUNITY APPROACH AND BENEFITS
The Missy Lab is designed as a participatory project. Teachers and members of the APC/Vezo are involved in designing and leading activities. Parents and community leaders actively support the initiative, recognizing its benefits for their children’s future and for preserving the surrounding forest.
The center thus becomes a focal point for education, conservation, and local development.
INFRASTRUCTURE AND SUSTAINABILITY
Missy Lab relies on innovative infrastructure adapted to the field:
- Solar energy to ensure sustainable autonomy
- Modern equipment (computers, projector) for training courses
- Internet connection to open up the community to the world
PERSPECTIVES
Missy Lab embodies Women Rise Wildlife Research’s vision: combining digital inclusion and conservation to transform local communities into real agents of change. This project proves that even in the most remote areas, innovation can become a powerful lever for empowerment and sustainability.
In the long term, Missy Lab aims to:
- Create a community cybercafe that operates outside of training hours to generate income for the maintenance of computers and solar panels.
- Extend digital training to other primary schools in the region to reach more students and reduce inequalities in access to information.
- Offer economic opportunities: trained community members will be able to work as data entry operators (administrative or school documents), thereby contributing to their financial independence.
- Promote the use of installed solar energy: communities will be able to recharge their cell phones and solar lamps at an affordable rate, strengthening their access to clean energy.
- Support the host school: a portion of the revenue generated by these activities will be donated to the school hosting the Missy Lab, creating a virtuous circle that benefits children and their education.