LERATO PHOLO
After more than 10 years, fixing old computers and giving them to the less fortunate, John Goodrich ’s initiative has grown a great deal from when he appeared on the GO! & Express more than two years ago appealing for work space and old computers.
John ’s plight received so much attention and many East Londoners came on board and helped by donating old computers for John to fix. The first phase of PC Wize was to fix old computers to give to rural schools and to also help train the youth to be computer literate.
The second phase is to teach computer illiterate or semi-illiterate people about computers.
“The first phase of the PC Wize project, Computers for disadvantaged schools is running well and we have just passed the 200 mark of computers given free to schools, orphanages and poor students.
“We are now ready to start the second phase, which is to spread computer literacy on the ground among disadvantaged communities.
“PC Wize will train a student in ICDL [computer literacy] course; the course will run for a month, two hours a day five days a week. We will make sure that at the end of the course the student is capable of training other students.
“The student will then receive one computer with all the ICDL training material loaded on it.
“The ICDL training material developed by PC Wize has step by step full colour examples and works so well that even semi-literate students have no problem learning,” Goodrich explained.
PC Wize needs sponsorship to train the ICDL instructors, and in this regard we appeal to the public out there for someone to help get things up and running.
“We need someone who is familiar with, and has experience in fundraising to join us and give us a hand.
“At the moment I am running the technician training course to build computers for the schools, I will also be running the ICDL training so there is no time for anything else and I do not have any experience in fundraising either.
“Please give me a ring on 072-140-1941 or via email at wize5203@gmail.com if you can help” Goodrich added.
