We are a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization, a group of volunteers, who want to help bring computers and free and open source software to disadvantaged kids.
During our most recent project we set up a computer lab in an elementary school in Huajuapan de Leon, Mexico. Now we are working with schools in Argentina, Mexico and India. We could use your help with used computers or money!
To give you an idea of how it works, here’s how the Huajuapan de Leon project went.
We selected the “18 de Marzo” elementary school in the town of Huajuapan de Leon, Oaxaca, Mexico. The school weselected is on the outskirts of the town and is located in a poor neighborhood.
The school, teachers, parents and students, were all very excited. The students are primarily Mixtec students who do not have access to computers at home or at school. (Currently the school does not even have a phone line.) The parents and teachers all chipped in a while ago to create a room as a computer lab, but the computers never came. We wanted to help fix that problem to make sure these students are well prepared for the technology they’ll encounter in middle school and the rest of their lives. Plus the computers will help their learning experience.
The school identified a room, figured out the power situation, arranged for customs free delivery of the computers, and gave up summer break time to learn how to use the computers. They are also trying to get access to an internet connection and on-going system administration support. You can see more pictures of the school. The parents are all chipping in every month to pay the computer teacher’s salary. They expect the internet connection in January.
Although literacy rates in Huajuapan are high, only 47% of people graduate from elementary school and only 23% attend some high school.
We were excited to be bringing the students of “18 de Marzo” computers that will enable them to learn about technology and to learn more effectively with technology. All of the computers will be installed with free and open source software. Once the internet is installed, we hope the kids will be able to keep in touch with kids around the world and with their parents in the United States. Virtually every kid in the school had at least one parent absent, working in the States.
Both the town of Huajuapan and the “18 de Marzo” school are very interested in increasing the level of technology literacy of their citizens and students. The Universidad Tecnológica de la Mixteca is located in Huajuapan.
Please consider donating some money or computers to our future projects. Money will be used for shipping the computers to schools and to buy any additional computers or equipment (like cables, routers and a printer.)
To help fund shipping and computer equipment, please click on the donate button to the right.
If you’d like to donate a used computer, please send mail to donations@kidsoncomputer.org.