The challenge
Brazil’s young people face some serious social and economic challenges, particularly those growing up in the country’s sprawling cities and surrounding areas. It is estimated that 7 to 8 million Brazilian children live and or work on the streets, one third of the country’s youth are illiterate, and as many as 1.8 million youth between the ages of 7 and 14 do not attend school. In a 2006 study in Brazil, 54% of those surveyed never used a computer, and 68% had never accessed the Internet. Challenged by poor schools, entrenched poverty, inadequate job preparation programs, and little or no access to information technology, Brazil’s young people find it difficult to gain the skills they need to enter the job market.

The initiative
As a result of a US$200,000 grant from Travelport, young people in the Sao Mateus district of Sao Paulo have an opportunity to gain marketable skills in ICT that will help them be successful in the marketplace. Travelport employees around the world, supported by the company, raised the funds. The program, entitled "Disseminating Technologies", will help to narrow the digital divide through efforts to teach, motivate, and inspire children to learn more about using computers, the internet, and marketing communications skills. Participants will also learn to utilize local resources to develop and implement projects that address critical needs of the communities in which they live. The program will increase such learning opportunities for approximately 2,020 children, adolescents and young people located in vulnerable communities in the periphery of São Paulo.

This project is based on an experience that was initiated in 2001 by Fundação Abrinq, a leading Brazilian NGO and IYF partner, and Hewlett Packard Brazil entitled the "Digital Garage Program", which aims to disseminate concepts and methodologies related to digital inclusion, as a way to contribute to young people’s educational process and their communities’ development. Part of the new "Disseminating Technologies" program will improve the professional and personal opportunities for 20 young people who developed their ICT skills through the "Digital Garage Program".

Goals and strategies
The project strategy is to enable former students of the Digital Garage Program to have the opportunity to improve their ICT skills and know-how, gain new perspectives in their personal/professional projects and have a remunerated practical experience. At the same time, they will play a critical role in sharing and disseminating their knowledge of ICTs with children and young people in their communities through the schools and community centers. These young people/ trainers will in effect become community social change agents, having a direct impact on their own communities through their work with the students and young people in the area of ICTs.

At the same time, this project will collaborate with the schools and act as a catalyst to:

• Enable students in public schools to have access to knowledge related to the use of ICTs.
• Ensure the school community will use the computer labs on a regular basis and will develop a plan to ensure the continuous use of ICTs within an educational context.
• Create conditions to maximize the use of the computer labs in the public schools, which tend to be under-utilized, and contribute to improving the low quality of formal schooling and the use of innovating tools.
• Offer opportunities for teachers and managers of public schools who have limited or no ICT skills to gain some basic knowledge of and new approaches to the use of ICTs in the educational process.

Objectives and Expected Outcomes

The project’s objectives are to:

• Offer ICT learning opportunities to students in public schools and children, adolescents and young people in the communities.
• Provide 20 youth students who graduated from the "Digital Garage Program" with the opportunity to acquire professional experience related to ICTs, thereby increasing their prospects to enter the job market.

Among its expected outcomes: Young people in schools and communities centers will gain practical experience in the area of ICT and acquire new perspectives on their personal/professional projects; increased use of the computer labs by the staff of schools and community organizations; and greater demand for computer labs as a means to facilitate the teaching-learning agenda for students.

Partnerships