Remarks on the official opening of Camara Education Offices
19 June 2013
Ladies and Gentlemen
Is mór mo shásamh bheith anseo inniu d’fhonn oifigí Camara Education a oscailt go hoifigiuil. Ba mhaith liom mo bhuíochas a ghabháil le John Fitzsimons as ucht an cuireadh a chur sé chugam agus ba mhaith liom mo bhuíochas a ghabháil libhse go léir as an bhfíor-chaoin fáilte a chuir sibh romham.
[I am very pleased to be here to officially open the Camara Education offices. I would like to thank John Fitzsimons for inviting me and all of you for the warm welcome.]
Camara is a leading example of how a valuable idea can lead to a very real positive social change. What Camara has achieved in a few short years with limited resources must be a source of inspiration to so many. Camara’s dedication to using technology to improve education in disadvantaged communities around the world and at home is such valuable work. That work stretches from Sub-Saharan Africa, to Jamaica, to Haiti and of course happens here in Ireland. Ireland has a strong tradition of supporting development and providing humanitarian assistance through its aid programme in over eighty countries and through this it is with others helping to build better futures for some of the world’s poorest communities. Camara has built on this tradition with a particular focus on improving the quality of education through provision of technology in its partner countries.
Founded seven years ago in Dublin the organisation has established a model of ‘education delivery’ that is sustainable and growing. Some 500,000 children in poor communities are now “digitally literate” through the provision of technology and training by Camara over this period.
Camara, as a brilliant idea quickly took off. It first occupied a one room premises on Ormond Quay and it didn’t take long to outgrow that space. Now again Camara has outgrown its premises and requires more space for its ever expanding work. When he started out in 2005, Cormac Lynch, founder of Camara intended to send only a single container-load of computers to Ethiopia. No one could have envisaged where this would lead. In the years since, Camara has provided eLearning Centres to over 2,000 schools in Africa, Ireland and the Caribbean, installed nearly 40,000 computers and trained over 11,000 teachers how to use the technology for learning purposes.
Camara’s success can be attributed above all else to a team of dedicated staff led by John Fitzsimons. Many of the staff are volunteers from diverse backgrounds and they bring with them important skills, knowledge and expertise. Volunteers include college students, unemployed skilled workers and recent graduates. It is through the commitment, energy and enthusiasm of these volunteers that so much has been achieved.
While the beneficiaries of the work of Camara are schools, the staff who work here also benefit through knowing that their efforts have a lasting and real impact on young people. In addition to this rewarding experience volunteers acquire the practical skills that will assist them in other fields of life and over the course of their careers.
While Camara initially focused on sending computers abroad, it soon became apparent that there was also a need in the disadvantaged areas at home for affordable technology and support. We are all aware that education can be the key to break the cycle of poverty and that is as true for Ireland as it is for Africa.
Camara’s vision for “an Ireland where world class education is accessible to all” is inspirational and we must all strive to make that a reality for the young people in our own country and those in disadvantaged areas abroad. Camara’s aim is to empower teachers in disadvantaged and under resourced communities to provide that world class education to all. In these difficult times Camara has enabled schools which might otherwise be unable to have access to the latest technology and benefit from the use of technology in teaching and learning.
Digital technologies have the potential to transform the teaching and learning experience as they open endless possibilities in classrooms. Wherever a student is learning around the world – access to a rich variety of digital resources can expand their horizon.
The use of technology in education has been proven to increase students’ engagement to create a more positive disposition towards school as well as providing teachers with more up to date, exciting and relevant ways of presenting and engaging with the curriculum. In disadvantaged areas this will have an even greater impact on students. Camara has thus made significant inroads in improving access to technology for disadvantaged communities by helping to close the well known ‘digital divide,’ enabling citizens to participate in their society.
Camara does not simply provide technology to schools – Camara’s comprehensive training programme means that teachers are confident and motivated to use technology in the classroom. Ireland is engaged in a period of considerable curricular change, particularly at second-level and teachers must be at the heart of that change and have a major role to play in ensuring the success in implementing change.
The use of technology in all parts of education is part of this change. It is the teachers who are at the coal face and they must be comfortable with the technology in their classrooms. That is why continuing professional development for teachers is so important. Camara has recognised the importance of this and hand in hand with the provision of the hardware has an excellent training programme in place.
Developing children’s capacity to use technology can impact, of course, on areas well beyond their educational experience. The use of technology has the capacity to transform lives in very fundamental ways, including improving their chances of obtaining a meaningful occupation or becoming involved in other rewarding opportunities after their school years.
Beyond personal experience technology has the capacity to add to and advance democracy, human rights and social justice globally in so many ways. We have seen now how use of technology has impacted on and supported democratic movements through, for instance, the Arab Spring in 2010. More recently social media has allowed the world to see what is happening on the ground in Syria, where there is a high level of media censorship. In this case technology allows Syrian people and international journalists to exercise their fundamental human right of freedom of expression.
In many ways today, technology is as powerful a tool as the pen and ink for freedom of expression. Václav Havel, the former President of The Czech Republic and a great creative spirit, regularly used pen and ink to defy oppression and to generate hope. A young Saudi woman named Manal Al Sharif continues his great legacy using technology as her tool.
Two years ago Manal Al Sharif made the brave move of sitting behind the wheel and driving around her city, Mecca, where women are forbidden to drive. Even braver however was the fact that she published a video of this seemingly everyday act on YouTube. As a result she was imprisoned for 9 days by the Saudi authorities. Her act of dissent was however awarded by the international community when in 2012 she was awarded the first ever Václav Havel Prize for Creative Dissent at the Oslo Freedom Forum. Today she is a worldwide symbol for human rights and the empowerment of women.
Technology is also assisting many poor communities in Africa. In fact the world’s largest field trial in mobile health technology is taking place in South Africa where ‘Project M’ is using direct texts to African men’s mobile phones to encourage them to get HIV testing.
These are valuable and life enhancing contributions of technology to our lives, and the work to ensure that disadvantaged communities and schools can share in the positive power of technology through equitable access reflects authentic solidarity.
Tréaslaím le Camara maidir lena bhfuil curtha i gcrích agaibh go dtí seo agus tá súil agam go leantar de. Tá sé aitheanta mar a d’éirigh leis an eagraíocht trí na dámachtanaí éagsúla a bronnadh oraibh, lena n-áirítear Gradam an Ard-Mhéara as a bhfuil déanta agaibh do Bhaile Átha Cliath agus dá chathróirí, agus in dhá mhíle is a haon bhuaigh Camara an Chéad Duais i bhFreagracht Shóisialta Chorparáideach ag Dámhachtanaí Tionscail Chumann Bog-Earraí na hÉireann.
[I congratulate Camara on its achievements to date and wish it continued success. The organization’s achievements have been recognized through a number of awards, including the Lord Mayor's Award, for a special contribution to Dublin and its citizens and in 2011 Camara won the First Prize in Corporate Social Responsibility at the Irish Software Association Industry Awards.]
Camara’s work directly improves the quality of childrens’ lives and gives them hope in their future. I hope these new premises serve you well into the future. I wish you well in all your efforts to achieve your very valuable goals in solidarity with young people everywhere.
Thank You.