This translation is not completely accurate as it was automatically generated by a computer.
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A UMNS Report
By Kathy L. Gilbert*
7:00 A.M. ET March 8, 2013 | THOMAS, Haiti
Angeline, 12, looked at the computer screen in front of her and saw the world opening up.
“I want to use it for research. I would like to know a lot of
things,” she said. She was one of the first students at the Thomas Food
Project to sit in front of a monitor in her school’s solar-powered
computer lab.
For one man, even more exciting than seeing the children learning to
use computers was seeing them give thanks and sit down to a hot lunch
after the class.
“This is what it is all about,” said Warren McGuffin, director of
sustainability for the Thomas Food Project, which is supported by the
California-Nevada Annual (regional) Conference in the United States.
The Thomas Food Project was started when McGuffin and other members of a United Methodist Volunteers in Mission team came to Haiti after the 2010 earthquake.
“We saw kids eating mud pies and it broke our hearts,” he said. The
first thing the volunteers did was buy food for the children, but
McGuffin started looking beyond that one meal and knew the people
needed a way to earn their own money to buy hot lunches for their
children.
The idea for a computer lab
that could operate as a cybercafé and a “mini Kinko’s” after school
hours while educating the whole community made sense to him. That’s
when he connected with United Methodist Communications.
United Methodist Communications has a partnership with Inveneo, a business with a social purpose to provide a network of local IT partners in Haiti and throughout Africa.
Inveneo set up computers powered by solar energy and equipped for
operating in harsh environments. The company is partnering with United
Methodist Communications and United Methodist volunteers to bring
sustainable income and education to Haitians.
United Methodist Communications’ partnership with Inveneo led to a
partnership with Haiti Connected Schools program supported by the
Clinton Bush Haiti Fund, HP, Microsoft, Voila Foundation and World
Vision. The Methodist school in Thomas
is one of the first to receive funding from the program and a second
Methodist school in LeVeque is on its way to having the same system.
“Across Haiti, community-based information communication technology
centers are being installed,” said the Rev. Larry Hollon, top executive
for United Methodist Communications and a member of a team that
recently visited Haiti.
“Widespread access to Wi-Fi across the country, as in many other
parts of the world, hasn’t happened yet. But it’s no longer something in
the distant future. Low-cost, low-wattage computers powered by solar
energy, impervious to sand, salt and humidity, along with durable
‘ruggedized’ tablets are being manufactured now for global markets.
“The digital future is becoming the digital present.”
Food and water
Warren McGuffin shows the raised-bed garden where okra has been planted at the Thomas Food Project.
View in Photo Gallery
Phase One of the project is to improve the infrastructure. “Toilets before technology,” said Inveneo executive Bruce Baikie.
Rain barrels were set up and a water-purification system installed.
Gardens were started and propane tanks replaced charcoal pots for
cooking. Toilets were constructed.
Everything has been done after consulting the community about what their needs are, McGuffin said.
James Lazarre, a Haitian and manager of the Thomas Food Project,
said it is important to make the diet nutritional but also make it
culturally based. The Haitian team also includes a 24-hour security
guard, drivers and interpreters that work with United Methodist
volunteer teams.
Part of the vision for the school will include after-school classes such as cooking and music lessons.
Towering metal poles are anchored in concrete to support the large
solar panels. Safety and security were part of the design, Baikie said.
The panels power a bank of batteries and an inverter to make AC power.
The batteries can provide power for up to three days without sunlight.
Inveneo also trained two local firms to install the system and keep it running.
“A highly reliable solar-sustaining computer lab with teacher
training costs $45,000,” Baikie said. “That includes coming back five
times for additional training.” He added the cost for the system will
vary from place to place.
Investing in teachers
Solar panels power a computer lab at the Thomas Food Project. The
program is part of a United Methodist Communications effort to use
technology for development.
View in Photo Gallery
French-language content done in consultation with the teachers,
access to the Internet and teacher training is provided by
Inveneo-trained technicians.
Investing in the teachers is a key component to the success of the
project, McGuffin said. “Most teachers don’t receive a regular salary
and most don’t have any formal training.”
Decilien Lazarre, who has been principal of the school in Thomas for
more than 15 years, was all smiles as he watched the children’s
reaction to the computers.
“This is a very great thing,” he said. “It gives our school a higher
level of education, gives us advanced knowledge that is not currently
available in the community.”
Lazarre said the school has 143 students ranging in age from 5 to 18. Six teachers are in the computer-training program.
Sylné Guerdy, one of the teachers, said the first thing students will learn is how to write their names using a keyboard.
Cesarion Wilson, 15, and Stocklin Bima, 14, are interested in mathematics and science.
But just learning to open the computers “makes kids’ dreams come true,” Wilson said.
*Gilbert is a multimedia reporter for the young adult content team at United Methodist Communications, Nashville, Tenn.
News media contact: Kathy L. Gilbert, Nashville, Tenn., (615) 742-5470 or newsdesk@umcom.org.