Recycling computers for Africa
Friday, July 20th, 2007
Driving back from Ennis this afternoon, I heard an item on RTE Radio One on the Camara Project, which accepts computer equipment from companies and individuals, refurbishes it and sends it to schools and other educational institutions in Africa which is in dire need of IT equipment and know-how.
The minimum requirements for the computer equipment is a PIII (Pentium 3 chip) PC - they don’t accept MACs because these are difficult to maintain and fix in Africa. First thing they do is wipe the Hard Drive completely to guarantee that the old data cannot be retrieved in future. Then they install a Linux-based Operating System (long live Tux!), and some educational programs including a HIV/AIDS awareness program. The refurbished machines are then shipped out to several countries in Africa, where they are put to excellent use.
This strikes me as a tremendous project as it avoids perfectly good computer equipment being dumped and contaminating the environment, and in the process it recycles the equipment so it can be used in health and education in Africa. So if you are upgrading your computer equipment don’t just dump it - visit the Camara website. Or just send them a donation.
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