Catalog

Donation of Computers for Students from
less-privileged families

2020

Hong Kong

Project Description:

COVID-19 pandemic brought a new norm to our daily lives.  The pandemic has forced Hong Kong school students to take online learning while not all have access to computers and Wi-Fi at home. Instead, they may have to learn through mobile phone which was not paired with effective Wi-Fi network.  Even worse, doing and handing in homework by mobile phone was highly time consuming and frustrating, which caused much stress to the students.  Those from underserved families became disadvantageous under such circumstances.

The HKIA COVID-19 Volunteer Group launched a computer donation programme for general public, HKIA members and Registered Practices to donate used computers to underserved students. This also carried a dual meaning of giving a new life to the old PCs.  Cash donation was also welcomed for purchasing of data card for each computer.  To make the programme comprehensive, we collaborated with Microsoft HK who kindly provide learning software for all the donated computers.

A total of 45 computers were collected. They were refurbished and re-installed with software(s) and paired with data card.  We collaborated with secondary school and NGOs for distribution of the computers to needy students.

Description how the project contributes with humanity:

Education is pivotal to children’s growth.  Under the COVID-19 pandemic students had no choice but accepted online learning.  In this connection, computer played an important role when it comes to support effective learning. The computer donation programme empowered students in need to learn independently and effectively. It was a great way to make a positive impact on a student’s day-to-day life and their lifelong learning capacity.   The programme also served the dual purpose of giving a new life to the used computers which otherwise would be disposed of as useless equipment.

“The speed is faster. The screen is bigger. The software is better and more updated.  I can now use a keyboard to type.” This was the feedback from one of the students who received our computer.