Intelsat is upgrading connectivity at 10 Whitaker Peace and Development Initiative sites in South Sudan and Uganda to support education. Photo: WPDI

Intelsat is deploying high-speed internet to a number of community centers in South Sudan and Uganda through a partnership with actor Forest Whitaker’s nonprofit, the Whitaker Peace & Development Initiative (WPDI). 

Intelsat is currently working on improving communication systems at 10 WPDI community learning centers, seven in South Sudan and three in Uganda, Intelsat CEO David Wajsgras said at an event Wednesday with Whitaker in New York where the partnership was announced.

Intelsat is providing equipment, managed connectivity services, installation, and technical support, which Wajsgras said will improve the communication capabilities of the centers by four to 10 times.

The Whitaker Peace & Development Initiative is a non-governmental organization that works to build peace in communities and to foster economic empowerment and health and well-being. WPDI operates in Africa as well as Europe and Latin and North America. 

Whitaker said at the event that growing up in South Central Los Angeles, conflict between gangs impacted his community in a “deep, dark way.” He was also impacted by the experience of a cousin who was a Vietnam veteran, and these experiences trying to understand conflict led him to start WPDI.

“You can’t work in peace and development without having partnerships. People rely on each other and give each other the tools to share,” Whitaker said Wednesday, speaking to the importance of partnerships for the organization. 

Intelsat CEO David Wajsgras with Forest Whitaker and WPDI Executive Director Caroline Descombris in New York on June 25. Photo: Intelsat 

WPDI Executive Director Caroline Descombris said the organization works to address a lack of education and a lack of access to connectivity by building community learning centers in remote areas with no digital infrastructure. These centers offer training in peace-building, entrepreneurship, and information and communication technology skills. 

Descombris said the improved connectivity allows people in the centers to complete specialized technology training.  

“Intelsat has been a game-changer. We have IT labs within the centers where community members have access to online training that we designed with MIT and Ericsson. With strong connectivity they are able to finish the entire cycle of training, which was not the case in the past,” Descombris said. “We were relying on traditional ways to connect. But because it’s very remote, it was not reliable [or] functional. It’s bringing an amazing change for the community.” 

Work at the 10 learning centers is nearing completion Wajsgras said, explaining that the upgrade gives the centers a level of connectivity that would be expected at a large enterprise like a bank. 

“We’re upgrading the communications profile that exists today and improving speed, the quality of the communications, and equally as important, the reliability. It’s much more real-time information — think of video processing and communicating in different ways,” Wajsgras said. “The improvement is extremely substantial.” 

One example of the new programs the satellite connectivity has enabled is video communications and cultural exchange between a community learning center in South Sudan and a classroom in Los Angeles, Descombris said. 

Since WPDI was founded in 2012, the organization has trained more than 1,000 peacemakers and supports more than 1,000 youth-led and women-led businesses. 

“The education and programs and tools that we give to the community are elements that continue to move forward. We’re now working with 1,000 businesses — those businesses go into the community and build the other businesses as they continue to grow in a ripple effect outward,” Whitaker said, speaking to the sustainability of the organization’s work. “Working with people to bypass trauma, people are able to bring that back into their communities, back into their ordinary lives. It’s really important.”