Uploading Everyone
The Duang Prateep Foundation is taking a megabyte out of the digital divide
with its computer courses in low-rent Klong Toei
Middle-aged mums sitting in front of computers isn't a common sight in Thailand,
but Nittaya Pummanonliving, 48, is among the low-income Klong Toei residents
making the great tech leap forward thanks to the Duang Prateep Foundation. Teaching
basic computer skills to residents of the slum-laden Bangkok district has proved
a remarkable success, improving lives and livelihoods.
Nittaya had poked at computer mouses in shop before, but the PC had always been an enigma machine to her. “When I first tried to control the cursor on the screen, it was really difficult,” she chuckles now. “I complained that the desk was too small – there wasn't enough space to drag the mouse around!”
Now she's becoming a whiz with Microsoft Word and Excel and plans to apply
her new-found knowledge in her work for a government rural-funding committee.
“The computer makes it easy to work on a lot of documents because I can
save and print as many as I want. I used to use a typewriter, and of course
you can't make corrections or make multiple copies so easily on that.”
Nittaya has a computer at home – the same one she's bought for her son
and never dared touch in case she caused havoc to the boy's work. “That's
not a problem for me anymore,” she says.
Raya Tang-ngam, 37, is a garland vendor who's also going hi-tech with the foundation's help – after managing to “break” a computer on her first attempt. “My uncle gave me a computer but I didn't know how to shut it down - I didn't know you needed to shut down the system before turning it off, so when I switched it off immediately, it broke.”
How things have changed. Raya has abandoned her old hand-written invoices in favour of computer print-outs and also uses her PC to process the rental payments her aunt collects from 20 tenants. “At the end of the month, I have to write the details of each house – the rents, utilities payments and rubbish-collection fees The details differ with each house so there was a lot of work involved, but now I can use the computer to make it so much easier.”
The benefits of the foundation's computer course have spread throughout the Klong Toei community. Khantong Dalad, who runs the foundation's IT centre, says the project is a collaboration with Microsoft ( Thailand ) that extends from basic use to graphics. It bridges the digital divide that has kept Bangkok 's underprivileged from taking advantage of the new technology. Microsoft's Community-based Technology Learning Centres now operate in 16 countries throughout the Asia-Pacific region, he says.
The foundation's courses last 30 hours, Khantong says, with two instructors teaching around 30 people in each course. “Our students' ages range from under 10 to 60,” he adds. “We started the first course last year, and almost everyone has passed the basic level”. Microsoft's role in the programme ends in July, Khantong says, but the foundation plans to continue its training course indefinitely to give everyone a chance to keep in touch with the latest technology – and spread the word. “Now I can share more with my children about computer knowledge”, says garland seller Raya. “Instead of being in a separate world, we can get together and speak the same language. If one of us picks up some new skills or computer tips, we can share it.”
- Asina Pornwasin, the Nation