MANILA, Philippines – A top non-government organization’s vision of providing knowledge about computers and the Internet to out-of-school youth and other marginalized sectors of society got a big boost with the recent donation made by Acer Philippines, Inc., the local office of one of the world’s top computer manufacturers, Acer, Inc.
AIHU Foundation, Inc., is a non-profit organization which sees to it that the long-term needs of the country in terms of quality education, skills training and values formation are met through love (“AI”) and care (“HU”) for their fellowmen.
The recent donation by Acer Foundation of several Acer desktops through AIHU’s Computer Van Aralan is for AIHU Foundation to be able to provide computer literacy to marginalized but otherwise deserving out-of-school-youth, students and even government employees who cannot afford to pay tuition fees in order to learn more about computers.
“We are glad that there are still organizations like the AIHU Foundation who look at education, IT education in particular, as a high-value subject with regard to helping people become more IT-savvy and competitive in the corporate environment, particularly the underprivileged members of society. This is just another small step for us in helping people become more exposed to IT; there will definitely be other steps for us to make in order to reach the objective of an IT-literate nation,” explains Manuel Wong, Acer Philippines general manager.
The Computer Van Aralan started back in May 2004 where the first Computer Van Aralan, a 35-foot container van with 15 computers inside, was established. From then on, three more Computer Van Aralan sites were put up in order to provide information technology training to various beneficiaries in areas like Manila, Bulacan, Quezon City, Laguna, Tarlac, Olongapo City, Bataan, Quezon, Bicol, Pangasinan, Aurora Province and Camarines Norte and Sur.
The Philippine Star July 29, 2010