“Your Obsolete Irish PCs Can Help Those Less Fortunate” – Minister Eamon Ryan Visits Computer Refurbishment Charity, Camara

Eamon Ryan T.D., the Minister for Communications, Energy & Natural Resources today as his first public engagement as a Government Minister, visited the charity Camara, based at North Wall Quay in Dublin 1.

Camara are a registered Irish charity, staffed primarily by volunteers who work exclusively with some of poorest nations on Earth in Sub-Saharan Africa (www.camara.ie).  They do three things:

• They take in second hand computers, refurbish them and send them to schools and colleges in Africa.
• They send out groups of volunteers to train African teachers in basic computer literacy and more specialised technology areas.
• They produce computer training materials and educational multimedia content in areas such as HIV/AIDS.

Speaking at Camara’s computer workshop in inner city Dublin, where they accept and refurbish PCs, Minister Ryan praised the pioneering efforts of the charity and their volunteers: “I specifically chose to visit Camara as my first public engagement. They are a tangible example of a charity whose innovative and environmentally responsible policies benefit not only Ireland through reducing the waste we generate and send to landfills, but in turn schools and colleges throughout Sub-Saharan Africa.”

“Camara estimate that Africa needs 270 million additional computers to give it the same level of computer coverage that exists in Ireland today. However with an average per capita income of less than $1 per day, and millions of people starving, this region has other priorities for its money. Ireland in contrast will throw out over 4 million working computers over the next 10 years,” continued the Minister.

The Department of Communications, Energy & Natural Resources have already donated 74 PCs and 141 Monitors to Camara and I understand that they have already been sent to Kenya, notably the Gatota School in Nairobif Makuru slum. I would now like to call on other Government Departments, the wider business community and indeed the public at large to consider taking the same small step of donating their obsolete IT equipment to Camara. Through these small actions we can provide a powerful tool to help children and teachers in Africa build a better life for themselves,” he concluded.

ENDS