Peace Corps volunteer Elisa Molina is working with community members of Guaitil de Santa Cruz, a small artisan community in the northwestern Guanacaste province, to equip the classroom of its elementary school with desktop computers, accompanying furniture and equipment. The space needs to be remodeled and secured, and electric installation must be redone.
The project aims to teach students of the local elementary school – which serves two nearby towns – computer skills, word processing and modern software proficiency, and facilitate community members’ access to digital technologies in order to increase their chances of entering the job market as well as the profitability of their existing small businesses (cooperative, pottery shops, microcredit bank, etc.). As the Costa Rican government emphasizes growth in the IT sector and computer skills become a requisite part of any Costa Rican job applicant’s resume, the students and residents of this community run a serious risk of being left behind.Â
Tico Times readers can help ensure that doesn’t that happen. Monetary donations, 100 percent tax-deductible in the U.S., may be made to the project online at http://1.usa.gov/skolcomputerlab, or contact the project coordinator at 8967-0354 for information about in-kind donations. Follow the project on Twitter @moliee92.
