Laptop Giveaway

ከዚህ በፊት በካናዳ ቀይ መስቀል አማካኝነት፣ ከካናዳ መንግስት፣ ማህበሩ በአገኘው እርዳታ፣ በCOVID19 በቀጥታም ሆነ በተዘዋዋሪ ለተጎዱና ገቢያቸዉ ለቀነሰ የማህበሩ አባላትና የአባላት ልጆች፣ ላፕቶፓችን ለመስጠት፣ በስልክ፣ በአካል፣ በኢሜይል ስንመዘዘግብ ቆይተናል። ይህ ምዝገባም ቀደም ብሎ ተጠናቋል። በመሆኑም በተሰጠዉ ቀነ ገደብ የተመዘገቡ አባላትን፣ የCOVID19 ፕሮቶኮል በማህበሩ ፅ/ቤት፣ ላፕቶፓችን ማደል ችለናል። የተመዘገበዉ የሰዉ ቁጥር ከአለዉ ላፕቶፕ በላይ ስለሆነ፣ ቅድሚያ፣ ለትምህርት የደረሱ ልጆች ኖሯቸዉ፣ በCOVID19 ምክንያት ቤት ለተጎዱ፣ ወይም ቤት የዋሉ፣ እናቶችና single moms አስተናግደናል። በመቀጠል፣ በCOVID19 ምክንያት፣ ከመስሪያ ቤታቸዉ ለተቀነሱ፣ ከዚያም ስራ ላጡ፣ ገቢያቸዉ ዝቅተኛ የሆኑ አባላትን እንዲያገኙ አድርገናል። በእዉነቱ፣ ይህ እርዳታ፣ ላፕቶፑን ተቀብሎ ቤት ለማኖር ወይም ለሌላ ጥቅም ለማዋል አይደለም። አላማዉ፣ ላፕቶፑን ልጆች ለመማሪያ እንዲጠቀሙበት፣ ስራ ያጡ ወላጆች ደግሞ ስራ እንዲፈልጉበት፣ አንዳንዴ ማህበሩ በZoom ስብሰባ ሲጠራ፣ ስብሰባዉን እንዲከታተሉበት፣ ማህበሩ ጋር በመተባበር የሚተላለፉ የአማርኛና የCOVID19 Awareness ፕሮግራሞችን ለመከታተል እንዲጠቀሙበት ጭምር ነዉ።

The Calgary Ethiopian Community Association, with a grant obtained from the Canadian Government through the Canadian Red Cross, has recently donated laptops to those members of the community who are directly or indirectly affected by COVID19. The laptop donation helps families living with limited income to search for jobs, attend online schools and trainings and get connected with the rest of the world. When the pandemic hit Calgary and the rest of the world, a higher percentage of families in our community didn’t have a computer at home, or if it’s a large family, one device was not enough. Today, with the help we made, at least 40 families have a laptop in their house. In this pandemic time, families not having a computer at home adds to the stress that affects their mental health and well-being. Since the arrival of COVID19, laptops became the new backpacks. Our job is to find ways to donate laptops and connect families to technology and reduce the digital divide. The digital divide or inequity will only going get bigger, especially in education, if we don’t work on getting a laptop for every individual and family in our community. We thank the Canadian Government and Canadian Red cross for their extended help, and hope to see more.