[NPMUG] Supporting Nicaraguan students with our Apple computers from Goodwill ...

[Dave Sevick]

We extend a  big  THANK YOU  to  Gran Pacifica http://www.granpacifica.com/ 
   for their efforts to educate their local community in Nicaragua.

Thanks to the diligent work of John Bauerlein connecting our computer  
recycling operations in Pittsburgh to the town of Villa El Carmen in  
Nicaragua ....

....  we now have another channel to send our computers.

Background:

Back in August 2008 we met with Janet J. Foerster, Project Director  
for CHESS ( Children, Health, Education, Supporting Services ) in  
Nicaragua .  She was seeking a way to get our Goodwill computers  
shipped to Nicaragua to serve the communities educational needs in  
Villa El Carmen.
http://www.chessnicaragua.com/

1.  We worked through the international shipping challenges of   
transporting delicate computers in bulk via slow moving freight at sea.

2.  We used the power of the Macintosh to choose languages in the  
System Preferences/International settings ... as well as the regional  
Nicaraguan language choice.

3.  We used the great open source application NeoOffice and added the  
Spanish language kit  .... and were able to provide Apples that work  
in their native language ... or perhaps English at a later time,  with  
a simple change in the settings.


So we are very happy to report that the first shipment has made it to  
the Gran Pacifica resort where their Information Technology team, led  
by Juan Martinez,  will use these computers in their community  
outreach missions for the local towns.  The goal is to educate young  
people to achieve high school educations.  In turn they can obtain  
better paying jobs at Gran Pacifica or any other company in the area.

This is a program that WORKS !

Dave Sevick

===============

History of our outreach with Apple User Groups in Pittsburgh ....

http://pghmac.com/iWeb/History.html

These are some landmarks:

2001 - North Side Common Ministries, Pittsburgh PA

2003 - Lighthouse Christian Foundation, Butler PA

2004 - Center For Hope, Ambridge PA

2006 - YMCA of Pittsburgh, Katrina victims in LA, MS and TX

2007 - Goodwill of Southwestern PA and Kuala Lampur, Malaysia

2008 - Goodwill of Southwestern PA and Villa El Carmen, Nicaragua

2009 - Goodwill of Southwestern PA , United Methodist Church,  
Allegheny County Department of Human Services

More to come  :-)


===============================================
Apple Recycling at Goodwill of Southwestern PA
Apple Outreach with Hosanna Industries
Apple User Groups from the Pittsburgh area
PGHMAC.COM website by Nathan Brentzel

Dave Sevick and Bob Donaldson
dave at davesevick.com - 724-779-0099
radonaldson at mac.com - 412-477-9188
-----
Peter Carras and Marty Swartz
pcarras+PAUGC1 at pitt.edu - 724-327-5870
marty.swartz at gmail.com - 412-818-8096

As  Apple users in Pittsburgh, we are taking local action
to keep the environment free from e-waste .....
===============================================





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