CAI Running Short of PC Monitors; Appeals to ICT Community for Urgent Donation

The UK based charity organization, Computer Aid International recently appealed to the IT professionals to provide computer monitors in donation so that the organization can meet demand for computers by schools and hospitals in developing countries such as Africa and Latin America.

In a press release, CEO, David Barker said that the organization is currently in need of over 2,500 monitors per month, but it is currently only receiving 30 percent of its requirement. Accordingly, the company appeals to individuals or companies that have unwanted monitors to get in touch, as their donation could make a huge and immediate difference to hundreds of people. In Ethiopia, for example there are still only seven PCs per 1,000 people, while in Uganda there are 17 and the company said that the donation can go a long way to reduce poverty and facilitate improved education and healthcare in some of the world’s poorest countries.

“Just one refurbished computer can provide 6,000 hours of further use – enough to educate 60 children to a vocational level in IT and significantly increase their employment prospects. Alternatively, one computer can also allow a rural doctor to communicate with specialists in cities, thereby allowing them to provide life-saving medical treatment which they might otherwise have been unable to diagnose or carry out,” Barker noted in his appeal.

Companies as well as individual consumers these days largely go for the TFT and LED monitors, which last longer than the traditional monitors and that is why users no longer need to upgrade their monitors at the same three to four years intervals that they used to do. Nowadays companies go for an upgrade of their base units every three to four years, while monitors are upgraded every six years. This creates a shortage in the supply of donated monitors.

“Most companies refresh their base units every three to four years, however results from a recent donor survey show that most people do not upgrade their monitors at the same rate and the use of longer lasting TFT and LED monitors means that screens might only be refreshed every six years”, Barker said in a statement.

Through a press release last year, the then CEO of CAI, Tony Roberts informed that a number of organizations and individuals were provided with 100 percent Pentium 4 or equivalent PCs with a minimum of 256 Mb RAM (News - Alert) computers by Computer Aid International, among them were Bauchi State Agency for the Control of AIDS, Tuberculosis, Leprosy and Malaria (BACATMA) which got 30 units of laptops and five units of desktops.

Madhubanti Rudra is a contributing editor for TMCnet. To read more of her articles, please visit her columnist page.

Edited by Jennifer Russell