Public Domain Picture: English for Engineers in Afghanistan

Think for a minute about what it might be like to try to learn to use a computer with an English keyboard, having never seen the English alphabet or knowing the English language. Add to that the fact that you’ve never seen a computer in your life and you’re in middle age. That’s the challenge for Da Afghanistan Breshna Sherkat (DABS - the national electric company) employees at hydro power stations in Afghanistan, many of them having worked at the same power station for more than 15 years. Rehabilitation of the Naghlu Hydro Power Plant began recently and added a computer control system to improve the ability to better control the power generated and conserve the amount of water used to generate that power. Knowing DABS’ desire to maximize hydro power generation to the Afghan grid, USAID’s Afghanistan Energy Capacity Building (AECB) program anticipated the need for English training at existing hydro sites and new/existing substation, prior to introducing exposure to computers. DABS employees at Naghlu Hydro Power Plant are studying like they’ve never studied before. Now the trainees understand the need for English to enable them use the computers that will be controlling the hydro power plant they had manually controlled for so many years. But the real incentive is that the eight engineers with the best English and computer skills will be sent abroad for specialized hydro power plant training related to the operation and maintenance of the latest hydro plant technology, like that being installed at Naghlu. The Sarobi Hydro Power Plant was upgraded with computer controls before the Naghlu Plant and the Sarobi operators faced the same challenges with the new system, but now all can read the English prompt messages on the computer control screen and go about their operational duties much more comfortably. The Sarobi staff continually tells the AECB instructors to thank USAID for providing this training and allowing them to be more valuable DABS employees.

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Afghanistan, Development, Usaid

June 11, 2014