Walking into the school computer lab in Kiryat Moshe, there is much commotion. Four or five children crowd around one of the two working computers yelling advice to the one student playing the only game available. Computers stand on the floor as if waiting in line for something, and blank screened monitors sit, disconnected on a table. Isaac Anidjar and Ilan Manoim, two of the participants on my trip took a look at the computer lab and decided that something needed to be done. There were eight computers in the lab, most of which did not work. Both Ilan and Isaac have much experience with computers and immediately set to work organizing the lab from the mess of computers and wiring, to a neat and orderly area with different workstations. They then proceeded to fix the computers and now there are 8 working computers with Internet access. Over the next few weeks Ilan and Isaac intend to run computer classes for the children aged 8-14 in the youth group “Chetz Kadima” for at risk youth. These classes will cover Internet use, word processing, and PowerPoint. Knowledge of computers has become a central part of our everyday lives and a basic part of every child’s education. Many families in the Kiryat Moshe cannot afford a computer. Were it not for the generous donations of the UJA of Greater Toronto, many of the children would not have the same opportunity to learn the basic skills required to use computers as do other children around the world. The games on the two available computers provide the children of Chetz kadima with entertainment allowing them to enjoy computer use, however, they are not learning computer skills. By teaching them basic Internet use and word processing, Isaac and Ilan will be providing them with the building blocks needed to participate in a technologically based society and help spark the motivation to continue learning. As the old saying goes, “Give a child a fish and he will eat for a day, teach a child to fish and he will eat for a lifetime.”
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