They began their trip from a warehouse in Oakland, California last summer and ended it in Antigua, Guatemala. Eighty computers – donated to Child Aid by The Indigenous Society – were wrapped, packed and shipped to Guatemala for use in our schools and libraries.
The social multiplier effect of a donation of 80 used computers to Guatemala is mind-boggling. The equation goes something like this: Take 80 computers multiplied by 8 hours total of learning time a day multiplied by 5 days a week multiplied by 52 weeks a year plus the Internet and it equals hundreds of children with access to thousands of new learning opportunities. This, in an area of the world where just finding any educational opportunities is a challenge.
Of the 80 computers that made the trip, 20 formed the heart of the new computer center at Instituto Indígena Nuestra Señora del Socorro, a boarding school in Antigua, Guatemala, devoted to training young indigenous women to be teachers. The girls spend several years at Socorro with the understanding that they will return to their home – diploma in hand – and teach the children of their villages.
The remaining computers went to PROBIGUA’s community libraries in Jocotenango, Parramos, Santa María Cauqué and in schools in Zacapa, Nimsac de Totonicpán and Teocinte Santa Cruz Naranjo de Santa Rosa.
Studies show that building technological literacy is just as important as building reading, writing and math skills. Our world is one where information reigns, where technology reaches into practically every sector of modern society. To be a prepared global citizen is to have at minimum, a basic understanding of computers and the Internet.
For this reason, Child Aid works to provide our Guatemalan partner organizations not only with books, but also with computers, printers and software. We recognize the tremendous potential of technology to transform a dusty classroom in a rural village into a center of learning with nothing more than a used computer and an Internet connection. Technology brings education and resources to places where there once was nothing.
These pages and hundreds more could be filled with research on the importance of technology in learning. We could cite statistics and control sets and subgroups. We could list pedagogy, ideology and terminology to reinforce our argument that children in Guatemala benefit greatly from having access to computers.
Or, we could just let the young women of Socorro do the talking:
To: info©child-aid.org
Subject: Thank you
Dear Child Aid:
I want to give you my heartfelt thanks for the computers that you donated. They help us so much to investigate the world of cyberspace and contribute to our development and knowledge of our profession as teachers.
Affectionately,
Flor de Maria Tum Chen de Rabinal
To: info©child-aid.org
Subject: Thank you
Dear Child Aid:
Those computers you donated are hugely useful to us. They help us a lot to acquire new ways of thinking and doing things and facilitate our work as students.
Take care,
Abelina Osorio
To: info©child-aid.org
Subject: Thank you
Dear Child Aid:
Thanks to your donation of computers to the Institute; we are able to advance so much in our studies. Last year, we didn’t advance so much because the old computers we had weren’t working.
With affection,
Fabiola Canil Botón.
To: info©child-aid.org
Subject: Thank you
Dear Child Aid:
The purpose of this message is to thank you for your donation of computers to our institute. They are instrumental in our education and already we are a group of teachers on the vanguard of technology. Thanks to you we have a huge computer center and this makes us very happy!
Eternally thankful,
Leticia Tomas
To: info©child-aid.org
Subject: Thank you
Dear Child Aid:
Giving you thanks for your help, which has allowed me to grow as a person. I am super happy with the computers because at any moment I am able to send a message to my parents. This is much easier and less expensive than calling. Also, the computers help me do research independently when there is nobody in my school able to answer my questions.
Sincerely,
Antonia Tecu
Can you multiply? If you would like to donate computers (Pentium II or newer) for use in schools and libraries all over Guatemala, please call the Child Aid offices at 503-223-3008.
