Camara, the Irish charity and social enterprise that delivers education through technology to some of the poorest people in the world, has recycled its 20,000th Irish computer.
Rabobank in Dublin donated the standard PC after it had been replaced by a newer model.
A special education software package developed in Ireland will be installed on the reconditioned machine before it is sent to Camara’s Kenyan hub in Mombasa within the next two weeks. The computer will form part of a new computer learning centre which is being set up at a school in Lamu, north of Mombasa.
More than half a million children in Africa have already improved their chances in life through Camara’s Education through Technology initiatives.
Enrichment through education
“Our aim is to break the cycle of poverty through education and we are now at the forefront of delivering technology-enhanced learning. Each computer donated can significantly improve education prospects for at least 30 African children in just one year and an additional 20 adults through evening classes at the school,” said Cormac Lynch, CEO and founder of Camara.
“European Week for Waste Reduction starts this weekend and runs from 20-28 November and we want to call on businesses and individuals to donate their used computers to Camara so they can be used to provide vital education and help break the cycle of poverty in a highly efficient and cost-effective way,” Lynch added.
Once a computer is donated to Camara, the information on the hard drives is wiped to US military standards. The machines are examined to ensure they meet the minimum school requirements and if they pass, they are reconditioned, loaded with specially developed Irish education software and a special edition of Wikipedia and shipped to Camara computer labs in schools and education centres in Africa.
