Students Take Technology South of the Border
For Matthew Letterman, Ryan Brown and Betsy Matthews, juniors at UNC-Chapel Hill, an opportunity to teach computer literacy in Mexico led to a new awareness of the interdependence of people everywhere. The three are founding members of Technology Without Borders (TWB), a student club dedicated to helping people in developing areas learn or upgrade computer skills.
Inspired by Fr. Gerry Kelly, a Houston Maryknoll missionary, and funded by grants from a student advisor, proceeds from a yard sale and a gift from United Way, the three took ten computers to Matamoros, Mexico, last May. Living at a convent and working from an education compound there, they taught locals of all ages skills from typing to document management.
Sometimes “class” could seem a little chaotic. “We tried at first to have a somewhat formal setting,” Letterman laughs, “but some days the atmosphere was more like a daycare center. We taught both kids and adults, and organizing the different ages and skill levels was a challenge.” Another challenge was the weather. “When it rains there, everything stops,” Matthews recalls. “One day the computer center was flooded. We had to switch everything off, try to keep the equipment out of the water. Some classes were canceled.”
The youths’ teaching experience was also a learning experience. “It’s a poor country in some ways, “ Matthews says, “yet people had cell phones and dressed really nicely – it was really like two worlds.” Brown agrees. “Many of the roads are dirt,” he says, “but near the border you see billboards for Coca-Cola; there’s a Wal-Mart.”
The three also learned what many seasoned missionaries already know: One “mission” can lead to another. Brown recalls how one woman seemed to be having more than usual difficulty with the typing program they were using. After trying several approaches they learned that the woman was in fact illiterate, so they took her aside to work on the alphabet. “So you go there to teach computer literacy,” Brown says, but you wind up teaching other things as well.” Matthews remembers fondly the time she spent after class at the park playing with the local children.
Letterman recalls evenings playing soccer with kids he’d tutored, and how the teacher suddenly became the student. “I’ve played soccer,” he says, “but these kids were amazing. Some of the ten-year-olds were better than I was.
“So we were in their culture, and I think what we learned in general was that we needed them as much or more than they needed us.”
Letterman, Brown and Matthews spent almost a month in Matamoros. And they helped break in some other teachers who would stay on. The current plans for TWB involve sending more students to Mexico this year, and looking for new opportunities for projects to channel the enthusiasm of TWB members. “For the club, we want to get beyond where many people are fundraising and writing grant proposals so a few people can go on a trip,” Letterman says. “If we can make the right connections to find opportunities and get the funding for more service projects, I think this effort can really take off."