SOLOY Community Technology
& Learning Center
Ngobe-Bugle Area, Chiriqui Province,
Republic of Panama

Background

This technology center is an open window to the world of knowledge for our noble homeland. It helps us to realize our highest potential of knowledge. - Victorino, a local teacher.

Four years ago, Microsoft® granted $106,800 for a Community Technology and Learning Center in the remote mountains of Chiriqui, home to thousands of the Ngobe-Bugle indigenous people of Panama. Their only access to education has been schools established in the mountain villages by FUNDESCU (Foundation for Development and Culture) and operated by volunteer indigenous teachers. Mona Foundation partnered with FUNDESCU and Microsoft to establish a 15-station solar-powered computer lab.

Over the past four years, in an area where there's no running water or electricity, and where poverty and “hungry months” reign, CTLC has served thousands of Ngobe from all walks of life and provided them access to information, education and communication: Elementary and high school students, the Municipal Treasury (for word processing and accounting), local educational institutions, artisan cooperatives, ecotourism groups, tourist, environmental groups and coffee growers. Mrs. Sanchez, a Ngobe and CTLC manager, reports that the Ngobe women who've participated in the free courses that were offered “feel valued” and “thank the Mona Foundation.”

This year, four Microsoft Unlimited Potential courses including Computer Fundamentals, Internet Fundamentals, Word Processing and Spreadsheet Fundamentals were offered to several organizations. To everyone's surprise, nine Ngobe women finished the entire sequence of four courses. In all, 1,200 participants have participated in general CTLC courses and 1,000 people regularly use the Center for Internet access.

Connecting People

CTLC is not about setting up computers on the top of a remote mountain. It is about connecting people who have no access to other means of communication with the rest of the world and to the vital information they need in order to chart their own course of social and economic development. With the help of this CTLC, the Ngobe-Bugle community is well on its way.

Needs

$500 Windows Shutters/Dust Protection
$350 Solar Power Maintenance
$3,800 Satellite Internet Service
$500 Staff Training
$3,120 Administrator Salary
$200 Teacher Training
$915 Administrative Assistance
$360 Administrative Expenses

How You Can Help

Please contact us or send your tax-deductible contributions to:

Mona Foundation
218 Main Street, Suite 404
Kirkland, WA 98033
(425) 743-4550
Email: monafoundation@monafoundation.org
Online: Contribute Online with your Credit Card Here