Do you have an old laptop that you don’t use anymore?

A Singapore-based non profit organisation is looking for pre-loved and new laptops to help blind children in Laos learn valuable computer skills to help them not only in school, but also university, and to even increase their work opportunities later in life. 
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Etch Empathy, an organisation that believes in social inclusion for everyone, will be giving the laptops to Home of Light, a school in the capital Vientiane that supports children between seven and 16 years who have varying degrees of sight loss. 

Currently, 50 pupils are sharing just two computers. Etch Empathy wants to build a computer lab of a further 11 laptops for the school. The impact of this would be huge for the children. Not only would they not have to wait so long to use a laptop, but the teacher would be able to teach 13 pupils at any one time, instead of only two.

Your laptop donation will help children who are blind to empower themselves at school, university and in their careers. Image credit: Etch Empathy

People with disabilities, such as blindness, face challenges of all types everyday. These laptops will help the children to empower themselves to live a more independent and fulfilling life. They will be able to communicate with others through email and social media, use multimedia like sound or video, use the Internet, and read and write documents. This means that children with total blindness will not be left behind and will be able to improve their literacy skills by accessing audio storybooks. Pupils who continue into higher education will be able to keep up in lectures by writing notes on a laptop, research essays online and submit work via email. School-leavers will fare better in the job market as employers prefer employees who can perform computer-aided tasks in a world that is increasingly dependent on technology. With your help, these children could learn skills that will benefit them for the rest of their lives.   

The Home of Light school for blind children in Vientiane, Laos currently has just two computers between 50 pupils. Your donation could change lives for the better. Image credit: Etch Empathy

If you have an old laptop lying around at home, because you’ve upgraded to the latest model, or indeed you want to donate a new one, please contact Aaron Yeoh, Co-founder and CEO of Etch Empathy, at
+65 9737 7837 or aaron@etch.sg 

Your preloved laptops must be functioning, have speakers in good working condition, come with a battery and power adaptor, and have OS Windows 7 or above. Please donate your laptop by 7 May.  

Look in your storage cupboards, search your bomb shelters, hunt around your old drawers, because that piece of (fully-functioning) junk that you haven’t used since 2011 might be someone else’s treasure and could change a child’s life for the better.

Find out more about Etch Empathy at www.etch.sg
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If you have a laptop to donate or any queries, call Aaron Yeoh, Co-founder and CEO of Etch Empathy, on +65 9737 7837 or email him at aaron@etch.sg  

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Author

Emma Nobes