Project “ReciTec: Tecnology Recycling”

RECITEC PROJECT
2015
Project “ReciTec:
Tecnology Recycling”
COOPERATION ALIANCE BETWEEN THE ROTARY CLUB OF
SAN LORENZO (PARAGUAY) AND THE POLYTECHNIC
FACULTY OF THE NATIONAL UNIVERSITY OF ASUNCIÓN
COMMITTEE OF SERVICE PROJECTS AND COMMITTEE OF THE
ROTARIAN FOUNDATION
ROTARY CLUB OF SAN LORENZO | Paraguay
RECITEC PROJECT
Prepared by: Eng. María Elena García {[email protected]}
Contributors: Eng. Christian Parra Trepowsky, Ph.D {[email protected]} , Eng. José Riveros
Insfrán, Ph.D. {[email protected]} Eng. Andrés Ramírez {[email protected]}
1/11
RECITEC PROJECT
Content
Introduction .................................................................................................................................. 1
Background ................................................................................................................................... 1
Justification ................................................................................................................................... 1
General Purpose ............................................................................................................................ 2
Specific objectives ......................................................................................................................... 2
Goals .............................................................................................................................................. 3
Material Assets and Methodology Working ................................................................................. 3
Stages of the Project ..................................................................................................................... 4
Schedule ........................................................................................................................................ 5
ICT Budget ..................................................................................................................................... 6
Estimated Budget per individual project....................................................................................... 6
Budget – Global Summary............................................................................................................. 6
Budget for Construction Works .................................................................................................... 6
Funding .......................................................................................................................................... 7
Human resources .......................................................................................................................... 7
Beneficiaries .................................................................................................................................. 7
Desired Outcomes and Evaluation Mechanisms........................................................................... 7
Project Sustainability..................................................................................................................... 8
Communication and Dissemination of Results ............................................................................. 8
Registry of Rotary activities in beneficiary schools ....................................................................... 9
RECITEC PROJECT
Introduction
The Rotary Club of San Lorenzo, through its Committee of Service Projects, has analyzed the
proposal of developing this project from the viewpoint of San Lorenzo communities’ most
pressing needs. In this context, it has a established a strategic partnership with the National
University of Asunción, with the purpose of conducting the project known as "ReciTec", to
recycle technological components and put them to use in communities that need them, to
help in alleviating the digital divide and improving their quality of life. In particular, this project
will be focused in the area of "Literacy and basic education", which both Rotary International
and The Rotary Foundation have adopted as an area of interest.
This partnership will stimulate the synergy among San Lorenzo’s residents, creating also a
sense of belonging that can lead to substantial and tangible changes.
Background
In searching to create an effective and efficient project for serving their community, the Rotary
Club of San Lorenzo analyzed the merits of the proposal based in the experience of its
members within similar projects and in the experience of the National University of Asunción,
which has been engaging since 2007 in community through programs like "PC Backpack" and
"Tenonderã", by which the university has recycled computers, donated them to educational
institutions of low-income communities and provided training, both to teachers and students
of these institutions, on how to use and maintain these computers.
To achieve this alliance, The Rotary Club of San Lorenzo has signed a framework agreement
with the Polytechnic Faculty of the National University of Asunción, and is currently in the
process of signing the Specific Agreement No. 1 "Technology Recycling Project: ReciTEC."
These programs have a massive participation of students from schools that year after year are
trained in the efficient use of technology, numbering from 100 to 150 people annually. And
students and faculty staff of the University, competent in the efficient management of ICT,
participate of the project by volunteering, learning how to be supportive and sharing their
knowledge and experiences.
Both the Rotary Club of San Lorenzo and the University have a common goal: to serve their
community with social responsibility, and this is the main motivation to lead this project in
collaboration.
Justification
The many factors underlying the implementation and financing of this project are analyzed
following the guidelines of Rotary, which emphasizes that projects must address real problems
and should improve the living conditions of the community.
Real Problem of the Community: Students from high schools around San Lorenzo graduate
from high schools lacking the practice and basic knowledge about how to make use of ICTs,
essential in modern workplaces, such as the office oriented tools (e.g., text processors and
spreadsheets) and other more general computer management tools (e.g., the basics of
operating systems like Windows). This lead students to become functional illiterate when it
comes to ICT.
1/11
RECITEC PROJECT
Improve the living conditions of members of the community: Consequently, this project will
provide an opportunity for many young people to improve their incomes and thus, improving
also their quality of life, both of themselves and possibly also of their families and
environment. It will enhance the skills of people and the capabilities of the benefited
communities.
Improve job opportunities of beneficiaries: With these training courses, young people in the
most deprived communities will have an opportunity to develop their skills in ICT, learning the
needed competences for the effective management of a computer and its resources, leading
them to more easily obtain job opportunities that are in line with the basic requirements of
this century. As a result, there will be a reduction of the digital divide for the benefited
communities.
Involved community: The project will be open to the participation and contribution of other
members of the community, Rotarians, students and professors of the University, students and
teachers of high schools in San Lorenzo, companies and professionals in the area.
Available Resources: With contributions made by the Foundation, and others generated
through other activities, the project will have resources available to support the project. While
technology renovates, it generates technological waste this project will recycled and re-use,
based on the premise that discarded computers will exists still for a long time.
Goals and objectives with measurable results: The RECITEC project has clear objectives and
establishes short- and medium-term goals, with expected results that can be measured,
analyzed and corrected as more specific planned activities are developed in the project. In the
section on schedule and deadlines can view these expected results and how they are expected
to be sustainable over time.
Community Empowerment: Given the collaborative and supportive volunteering nature of
project, a synergy will be stimulated between the stakeholders, creating some networking
opportunities between academics, Rotarians and the entire community.
General Purpose
Recycle and donate computers to schools of San Lorenzo, aiming to those that have limited
resources, with the primary purpose of contributing to the reduction of the digital divide of the
most the underprivileged sectors of the community, facilitating access to the first employment
of youth in the community.
Specific objectives
The following have been proposed as specific objectives to accomplish in this project:
1. To promote the recycling of parts, contributing to environmental care.
2. Meet the requirements of the University’s outreach program, through endeavors that
serve the community.
3. Contribute to the learning of collaborative and supportive work.
4. Train teachers and high school students about maintenance and proper use of ICT.
5. Collaborate in reducing the digital divide among the citizenry of the country
6. Comply with the guiding principles of Rotary around the ideal of service.
2/11
RECITEC PROJECT
Goals
Depending on the objectives and needs, as well as according to the funds to be counted, the
project aims to achieve the following goals:
1. Initially, to provide at least 10 computers to the library of one or more institutions, or
contribute with a living laboratory for 2 schools.
2. Train at least 5 teachers from the schools involved in the use and management of the
"Linux" operating systems, or a similar type of Open Source systems.
3. Training in the basic tools for preventive maintenance of these equipments.
4. Within the possibilities of Rotary and the Polytechnic School of the UNA, adapt the
infrastructures of buildings, electrical systems, security and furniture of these schools,
for them to be used as a laboratories.
Material Assets and Methodology Working
For efficient realization of the planned activities, a methodology of work has been developed,
which will be performed based on collaborative work with community volunteers, based on
the respect for the environment, which implies recycling technological components as much
possible.
The Rotary Club will manage the gathering of funds from various sources, and the Polytechnic
School project will provide its technology laboratories, together with the highly qualified
human talent of its teachers and students.
The team will be composed of:





2 or 3 teachers of the Polytechnic School, who will be coordinators of outreach areas,
program directors, and heads of departments or teachers.
Students of technology programs of the Polytechnic School, working in groups of 5 to
10 students, one working as a team leader. Each of these teams will develop their plan
of activities.
1 or 2 coordinators from the Rotary San Lorenzo, who will be in charge of the liaison
and project leadership.
Other members of Rotary San Lorenzo, who will collaborate on the project.
2 or 3 teachers from beneficiary schools, who will be leading the project a posteriori,
to provide continuity.
3/11
RECITEC PROJECT
Stages of the Project
Stage 1: Obtention of the equipments for the
recycling and purchase of parts
Stage 2: Design and testing of the prototype
Stage 3: Presentation of the work in
the ETyC 2015
Stage 5- Delivery of
the donations to the
secondary schools
Stage 4: Training of the teachers
Stage 6: Diffusion of the results
4/11
RECITEC PROJECT
Schedule
The proposed 12 months schedule for the project is detailed in the following table.
Tabla 1. Activities Schedule
Activities/Months
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
Release / Signing of
Agreement No. 2
Parts procurement
Recycling process begins
Classroom reconditioning
Civil works
Delivery and Training
Presentation of Results
Project Closure
5/11
RECITEC PROJECT
ICT Budget
According to current market prices, to tune the computers that will be donated to schools,
they must be equipped with some new components, since otherwise they cannot be used
in schools. This requires to acquire some new motherboards, memory, hard drives,
processors, connector kits, keyboards, mouse, among other components.
Estimated Budget per individual project
Aprox.
Amount U$
Object of Expenditure
1- Equipment reconditioning
2- Equipment installation
3- Beneficiary Training
5.000,00
4- Parts procurement
5- Classroom reconditioning – Civil
works
6- Classroom reconditioning – Electrical
installation
7- Classroom furnishing
TOTAL AMOUNT U$:
2.600,00
5.000,00
5.000,00
Institution
%
Facultad
Politécnica de
la UNA
25
13
ROTARY
Global
Subvention
(U$ 15.000,00)
2.400,00
20.000,00
25
25
12
100
Budget – Global Summary
Project
1 Col. Barcequillo
2 Col. San Miguel Arcángel
3 Col. San Rafael
Aprox. Amount U$
School
Total
5.000,00
5.000,00 15.000,00
5.000,00
1 Col. Barcequillo
15.000,00
2 Col. San Miguel Arcángel
15.000,00
45.000,00
15.000,00
TOTAL AMOUNT U$:
60.000,00
3 Col. San Rafael
Institution
%
Facultad
Politécnica de la
UNA
25
ROTARY Global
Subvention
(U$ 45.000,00)
75
100
Budget for Construction Works
The need to adapt the classroom buildings to install laboratories requires some
construction related works to be performed: electrical installations, facilities for weak
signals, security installations, air conditioners, closed circuit cameras (due to the high risk
of robbery, linked to youth crime rates in the area), among others.
6/11
RECITEC PROJECT
Funding
This project will be financed with funds from the Regional Rotary Foundation, necessary for
the acquisition of components.
In addition, the RC-SL intends to seek other financing companies and institutions from the
community of San Lorenzo, and with funds of the club.
Human resources
The Rotarian Community is characterized by its vocation of service to the community,
responsibly and with solidarity. With this project, this dimension of the RC-SL will be fulfilled,
and it will only be possible with the commitment of all the members of RC-SL and all the
members of the university community of FP-UNA. Consequently, the following stakeholders
will be part of this project:






Teachers of FP-UNA.
2 or more officials from the Department of Informatics of FP-UNA
20 or more FP-UNA students from the programs of Computer Science, Bachelor in
Electricity, Electrical Engineering, and Informatics Engineering and others.
Members of the Rotary Club of San Lorenzo and other clubs who want to join.
Volunteers from Community
High schools beneficiaries
Beneficiaries
The programs of FP-UNA that precede RECITEC are actively working since 2007 with schools
around San Lorenzo, in low-income neighborhoods, where students of these schools lack basic
resources to obtain a good education in high schools. It is expected that the project will benefit
around 2.500 people in San Lorenzo.
The following schools will benefit from this project:
Low-Income Public Schools of San Lorenzo:
1.
2.
3.
4.
Colegio Choferes del Chaco - San Lorenzo
Colegio Barcequillo - San Lorenzo
Colegio San Miguel Arcangel - San
Colegio San Rafael - San Lorenzo
Desired Outcomes and Evaluation Mechanisms
As the project has an educational component from the point of view of the university, and
another from the point of view of schools, both components are evaluated based on the
results:
1. Increase in the number of teachers and students trained on the tools of the operating
systems and office automation.
2. It is hoped that through the development of prototypes, students of FP-UNA will
improve their skills and abilities in recycling computers. This result will be evaluated
7/11
RECITEC PROJECT
according to the grades obtained during the design process and assemble computers
using a Checklist.
3. Facilitating access to better employment to the youth of the communities involved.
These results will be evaluated based on the records of training and evaluation of
teachers and trained students.
4. Bridging the digital gap between citizens of the community in low-income
communities and marginalized sectors of society. This will be judged based on the
performance of the beneficiaries as well as the number of beneficiaries.
5. Introduce the Rotary work efficiently, it will be evaluated with a survey of
beneficiaries, as well as publications in the media, in the journal Aranduká and
Poligaceta of FP-UNA
Project Sustainability
The effectiveness of the proposal will be visible over time if sustainability and empowerment
of beneficiaries is achieved, which is based on the following points:
1. Highly dynamic technology, which generates obsolete computers in a short time,
allowing computers to continue to recycle.
2. The National University of Asunción has over 120 years of tradition and prestigious
experience, student volunteers will continue emerge to collaborate with their work in
fulfilling their university outreach, which is required to complete their programs.
3. Ability to solve a long-term community need, keeping the computer labs operative.
4. Empowering the community as an active part of the project, working to improve the
laboratories.
5. Sponsorship of companies to obtain financial resources for the maintenance and
operation of the laboratories.
6. Monitoring and project follow up by the Rotary Club of San Lorenzo.
7. The RC-SL will continue to have partners to contribute in a long-term project.
Communication and Dissemination of Results
Since the communication throughout the project is critical to motivate club members and all
those people and institutions involved, regular newsletters will be made to inform about the
progress of the project and its activities, and the difficulties that emerge in order to correct
them quickly. Here are the resources that will be used to keep the community informed:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
Presentation of project progress at regular meetings of the club
Rotary Events for presenting results.
Granting recognition to club members and other people as the project develops.
Visits by representatives of partner organizations.
Events of the club in the project site.
Broadcasting in official Rotary web sites (Rotary Showcase)
Alluding posters
Media reports
Social Networks and other media
Preparation of an academic or scientific article with the results that have been
achieved by the University.
8/11
RECITEC PROJECT
Registry of Rotary activities in beneficiary schools
1. High school Choferes del Chaco
2. Teacher of High School in a classroom
3. Rotary Member in a classroom of a beneficiary High
School
4. Installation of protection in windows
9/11