By Timothy Anderson, President, World Computer Exchange
One of SLA’s newest strategic allies is World Computer Exchange, an international nonprofit organization that has shipped nearly 22,000 used computers to schools, community centers and libraries in 34 developing countries. WCE is collaborating with SLA chapters around the world to help bridge the digital divide in their countries.
WCE is asking SLA members to identify special libraries, information centers and similar venues in developing countries that would benefit from having computers available to the public, especially to young people. WCE is also recruiting SLA members to help develop information literacy programs for the teachers and other trainers who run the classrooms, computer labs and Internet cafes where WCE equipment is installed.
Chicago to Pakistan
Chicago volunteers for WCE are readying a 20-foot container to Pakistan for the Afghan Welfare Center, partnering with the SLA Illinois Chapter, and testing donated equipment at a new storage space in Hometown. They are led by Jack O'Donnell, Kathy Mannion and Dustchin Rock.
The SLA chapters in Boston, Cincinnati, Denver, and Pittsburgh are considering with which WCE project they would like to begin. Dee Magnoni of Boston has decided to begin to improve the WCE website which offers useful technology resources for the schools, libraries, and universities that receive computers from WCE.
While WCE has helped expand the educational horizons of nearly 940,000 young people, its 384 partners in 56 developing countries in Asia, Africa, Latin America, Eastern Europe, and the Middle East have drafted plans to connect another 350,000 to the Internet. All that these organizations need to move ahead is $1 per child who will use these computers.
Leveraging Hardware
For example, a group of NGOs and schools being assisted by Peace Corps Volunteers in Honduras is ready to install 200 Pentium 3 computers and connect 5,000 youths. These groups are seeking sponsors to raise the final $5,000 needed to make its plan a reality.
WCE is also looking for university partners in developed countries interested in collaborating on distance learning and other exchanges with universities in ten African countries. An SLA member at a university in Tbilisi, Georgia is also interested in finding a U.S. partner university for their Georgian-American Distance Education Center. This is being presented to the SLA Education Committee.
Smaller donations can also be very valuable. Sue Johnson of SLA recently raised $2,000 to provide 20 WCE computers to a university library in Pakistan.
Environmental Toolkit
WCE has begun an eWaste Initiative which begins with the creation of a tool kit of information about toxins in computer equipment, risks to water and air, and existing disposal options in Latin America and the Caribbean.
Canada’s International Development Research Centre has just awarded a grant to the Fundación Cultural Quipus in La Paz, Bolivia to develop this tool kit in partnership with WCE. The second phase of the WCE eWaste Initiative is the development of a business plan for local entrepreneurs to pilot in establishing a model recycling center for inoperable computers in West Africa.
The tool kit must include translations of English materials into Spanish. It must also reflect the best information about recycling and disposal possibilities in Latin America. There's no better source of such data than the SLA chapters in these countries.
The same considerations apply to the West African project. A business plan is based on solid information, and SLA members could help greatly in ensuring that our proposal is feasible.
International Connectivity
Finally, WCE recently entered into a joint venture with WiderNet at the University of Iowa. This organization’s eGranary Digital Library provides 500 gigabytes of textbooks and other educational information and films for those who lack Internet connectivity. In Africa the eGranary allows learners to access its information on a university, school, or library LAN at 5,000 times the speed of the Internet in Africa.
WCE and WiderNet are working together to expand the number of libraries and schools that are using eGranary in English-speaking countries and looking for a donor to fund creating Spanish, Hindi, Arabic, and/or Portuguese versions of the eGranary Digital Library.
WCE is eager to hear from SLA members who can help find educational textbooks, films and other materials in Spanish and to arrange for them to be shared freely throughout Latin America.
Get Involved
Find out more about WCE at www.WorldComputerExchange.org.
Chicago donors can drop off working PCs, Pentium 3 and better, at 9717 S. Damen Ave. in Chicago. Volunteers and donors should contact Jack ODonnell at JODonnell@WorldComputerExchange.org. Outside of Chicago, if you have a large amount, contact Illinois@WorldComputerExchange.org.
If you have an interest WCE project or know of a library or information center that would benefit from a shipment of computers or the help of a librarian or information professional, please contact Barbie Keiser of SLA at mailto:barbieelene@att.net.
To learn more about WCE’s eWaste Initiative, contact Carla Heister of the SLA Environmental Resources Division at carla.heister@yale.edu.
Contact Kay Dixon about WCE’s Digital Library Initiative at KDixon@WorldComputerExchange.
