Recycle and educate

Digital Aid is a registered charity who seeks a green approach to discarded computer hardware and provides them to those who want to be computer literate but do not have the resources.

We recycle and refurbish old computers, printers, monitors, and other material, and we donate them to educational institutions, non-profit organizations or low-income households who cannot offer their children access to information technology.

Our organization’s main aim is underprivileged children, because we believe that for the next generation computer skills will be a must for equal professional opportunities. We are trying to identify geographical areas or social categories affected by the “digital divide” phenomena, and to bring our contribution – and yours – to bridging it.

Currently we are organizing a program that aims to create several socio-educational centers in three schools in Romania with a high percentage of students from poor families; many of them belong to the rrom ethnical minority, having known problems of social integration.

We are installing on computers Ubuntu (www.ubuntu.ro), a Linux-based open source operating system that contains all applications children might need: web browser, document, presentation and spreadsheet software, drawing and graphics applications, and much more. The versions used are Ubuntu 9.04 or U-Lite (www.u-lite.org ), a light version for old hardware configurations.

We also try to collaborate with local NGO, public administrations and educational system, in order to best adapt our actions to the real needs of the communities.