In the near future, secondhand computers from the Seattle area may begin new lives in schools and small businesses in rural villages in Chile.
InterConnection, a nonprofit organization based in Wallingford, has begun a campaign to send thousands of refurbished computers to Chile for distribution to lower-income areas.
Many local businesses and residents have donated old and used computers to InterCon-nection to be fixed and sent to Chilenter, a nonprofit organization located in Santiago.
Charles Brennick, founder of InterConnection, hopes to send around 4,000 computers to Chilenter in the next year.
"[Chilenter's] goal is to distribute 7,000 computers this year," Brennick said, adding that 2,000 computers would come from the Santiago area.
According to Brennick, the computers are distributed all across Chile, with many going to rural schools that cannot afford them.
HELPING OTHERS
Brennick formed InterConnection after his experience working in Costa Rica with an on-line travel magazine.
"I visited many out-of-the-way ecotourism projects and helped them build websites," Brennick said, adding that it led to more business in those areas.
The problem, Brennick realized, was there still weren't enough computers for people to access the Internet.
"It was great that we can provide them with websites, but they need computers," Brennick said.
After he returned from Costa Rica, he formed InterConnection, which not only fixes old computers, but provides computer training to lower-income people in the Seattle area. In exchange for completing the 25-hour training program, each volunteer worker receives a free computer.
Since 2003, Brennick said, 224 volunteers have completed the training program and received free computers. These workers, having learned how to disassemble and repair the computers, have been helping fix the computers that are being sent to Chile.
A large number of the computers donated to InterConnection have come from Total Reclaim, an electronics recycler that receives many computers and monitors from local businesses and individuals.
"When we find equipment that has residual value, we send it to InterConnection," said Craig Lorch, co-owner of Total Reclaim.
Total Reclaim has been donating computers for three years, and Lorch estimates that they sent 5,000 computers to InterCon-nection last year. Lorch believes that this will help in improving the quality of life in places like Chile.
"We all know that education and access to information is a really powerful tool for people to improve their lives," Lorch said.
This current campaign, he said, will help bridge the electronic divide.
MORE COMPUTERS NEEDED
InterConnection has already refurbished 800 computers to be sent to Chile, having started the campaign in February. Brennick estimates that it could take between 10 minutes or a few hours to fix a computer, depending on what is wrong with it.
He said he is primarily looking for Pentium III computers and newer, along with monitors built in 2000 or later.
For Pentium II computers and older, InterConnection charges a $5 handling fee, and for monitors built in 1999 or earlier, they charge $10.
InterConnection, 2222 N. Pacific St., is open for donations from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday through Friday, and from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Saturday. [[In-content Ad]]
