DePauw's CTEP Delivers Technology to Elementary School in Costa Rica

March 19, 2005

CTEP Costa Rica 2.jpg March 19, 2005, Greencastle, Ind. - An elementary school in Costa Rica now has access to the information superhighway, thanks to DePauw University's Community Technology Enhancement Program (CTEP). One of DePauw's 361° technology initiatives, CTEP accepts donations of computers that are no longer needed by their previous owners, refurbishes them, and donates the machines to individuals and organizations who need them but may not have the financial resources to obtain them. In January, a Winter Term in Service team from DePauw brought goodwill and technology to the Central American country.

More than 20 DePauw students spent three weeks in Costa Rica, painting a high school and completing construction on a women's center in two towns about 100 miles apart. The students also donated several computer systems to Dicari Elementary School, located in a small community in Río Frío, Costa Rica, which also serves as a high school in the evenings. The government of Costa Rica provided for the construction of a computing center in the school, CTEP Costa Rica.jpg but never supplied the facility with the actual machines.

"The team lugged the cardboard boxes full of computer equipment through Indianapolis and San Jose airports with much awkward effort," says David Hafley, a DePauw junior who served as program officer. "While getting the computers to Costa Rica was no easy task, the reward and appreciation that showed on the faces of the principal and the few students at the school was priceless."

The donated computers were needed by the school system to maintain the requirements passed down to them from the Minister of Education for technology in Costa Rican classrooms. Formerly used on the DePauw campus, the computers were refurbished for their new owners.

To date, CTEP has donated 320 computers, with the vast majority being distributed to individuals and organizations in the Putnam County community. Other recipients of CTEP technology have included the Charles A. Tindley Accelerated School in Indianapolis and the residents of Quito, Equador.

"This is a great example of neighbors helping neighbors, whether they're down the street or half a world away," says Bob Hershberger, associate professor of modern languages and film studies at DePauw and coordinator of CTEP. "DePauw is proud of CTEP and couldn't be more pleased with the impact its having on our community and world. Now more than ever, it's vital that people who don't have the means to acquire technology for themselves have access to the world of information and learning that computers can provide the gateway to. The program also serves to underscore a key component of a DePauw education -- that service to others is a key component to a fulfilling life. Our students are reaching out to others and learning more about their world, and themselves."