Ample loan access
Quito - March 10, 2009
The Technology and Citizenship School in Toctiuco works with the project Mi Barrio Amigo, Mi Barrio Seguro (My Friendly Neighborhood; an initiative that works on the safety of marginal or poorer areas).
The following courses were taught at the Technology and Citizenship School of Orve at barrio La Prensa: Chocolate Micro enterprises; Feel good about yourself; Protect your Environment…
There are more than 6000 beneficiaries of technology’s “democratization process”. Young and old, children and adults enter the Bank’s computer rooms and learn how to use the mouse, or programs such as Excel and Word. They overcome the barrier of being technology illiterate. They also attend nutrition, citizenship, and protection of the environment courses. Some schools even established a Firefighter Squad for the town of San Rafael in Santa Elena. The real objective of this program is to teach people how to use computers in their many ways. People that know and use technology to communicate with their community also have the ability to develop projects, micro enterprises, or send emails to their Representatives or other authorities and in this way be heard. This way, people overcome being socially excluded.
There is a key aspect to this: self-management. People that have the jeans contribute monthly with $3 approximately. Those who cannot afford to pay give their time as volunteers.
How did Digital Access begin?
Digital Access is a joint effort from all the Group’s companies: Unibanco, Banco Solidario, Orve Hogar and Almacenes Japón, in order to encourage digital access all over the country. It entails the following:
- Technology points of usage with no cost in some branches of the Bank and the other companies. The pilot project has four points at Banco Solidario.
- The creation of Citizenship and Technology Schools (EIC, in Spanish) in marginal areas. The Group supports five of them: Orve Hogar at La Prensa, Toctiuco (poor neighborhood in Quito that has more than 30,000 inhabitants), 5 Esquinas (another marginal area at Quito’s southern end), Llactanet (at La Mena II) and Humanista (at El Comité del Pueblo).
These schools are created with the communities’ organization and are run by it. The Bank’s support focuses on giving them computers and training for the teachers that come from within each of the communities. This is completed with Internet access that is given by Telconet and the CDI Foundation’s methodology (this Foundation’s objectives is to democratize technology).
Aside from offering technology courses, each school also offers growth opportunities as well as safe and healthy ways of entertainment for children, youngsters, and adults.
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