Let’s go to Costa Rica. But why? One reason could definitely be that Costa Rica is one of the countries with the highest biodiversity in the world, which is not only interesting for veterinarians. But the reasons why I went there were: First, I had to leave the US. I had been living in California for a year now but still on a tourist visa, which meant that I only could stay legally for the duration of 6 months and then had to leave the country for some time. The second cause to go to Costa Rica was to practice my Spanish. And my third motive was that there I would volunteer for a local NGO as a website designer since they urgently needed a new homepage.
Have you read my blog post A vet goes ICT? Well, then you know why I was living in the US and started to learn some basics in programming. Hence, I was both eager and excited to go to Costa Rica for a couple of months.
In a tiny, rural village I lived with a host family in their basic, traditional Costa Rican house, eating basic, traditional Costa Rican food, rice and beans three times a day, seven days a week, accompanied by some vegetables from the garden. None of my family members and no one else from this tiny village was speaking English, let alone German.
No one had ever heard of Austria. Most of the approximately 300 residents only received a primary school education.
Hence, the NGO in town, with the mission: Teach the people English, equip them with computer skills, so they will enjoy a better and wealthier life – since nowadays both skills are an absolute must in order to find a good job.
And I would be part of this splendid project. Wonderful.
Learn English & how to use a computer and you will have a better and wealthier life
Quickly I was adopted by my family as their seventh child and got to know a great number of the community members. Just as quickly I was disillusioned by this well-sounding project when I noticed that most people were more reluctant about that wonderful opportunity than delighted.
But why?
Well, that might have something to do with the fact that hardly anyone had a computer in order to use the gained expertise. There also weren’t many jobs available in that tiny village that required the capability of utilizing a computer. And frankly, I also couldn’t see how one could make use of a computer when picking coffee beans.
But the founder was clearly disappointed with these ignorant and ungrateful people who were not following the instructions, thus missing out on their opportunity to success and prosperity.
Yes, it’s true. My host family has not been holding much money nor have they been successful (whatever that means). They never have traveled or been to a movie theater. They eat rice and beans three times a day and on special occasions, like Christmas, Coca-Cola is served instead of water. But they laugh all day long and seem to be content with their simple lifestyle.
However, content they were with their life, it was not so much with their washing thing (I wouldn’t call it a machine). Compared to the river-washing it was an improvement but, still, it was an imposition. Since I have been treated like a family member during my stay (and even up to now) I wanted to leave a farewell gift before leaving: A brand-new washing machine. Thus, I ran a fundraising campaign.
Key theme: NMICT&D
“Kristina, where is your ICT-approach in this blog post” I hear my professors ask. Yes, yes, true, true, sorry, yes, you’re right, I let myself carried away. My ICT-approach in this? I’d like to talk about the internet behavior of the people in this tiny village.
Yes, it’s true, nearly every single person in my rural Costa Rican village is having a smartphone and though the internet is neither fast nor reliable they heavily use their mobile devices: To chat in WhatsApp groups, to post selfies on Facebook, to watch makeup tutorials, to play video games or to order new shoes (which then is paid in rates).
“Well,” says a friend from Austria, “every family member has a smartphone?”
“Yes.” I nod.
“Well,” says this friend from Austria, “I don’t see why I should participate in a fundraising campaign in order to buy a washing machine if they all have a smartphone.”
“Why not?” I ask.
“Well,” says this friend from Austria, “smartphones are expensive, so they could save money in not buying them and instead purchasing a washing machine, right?”
“No.” I think.
“Or,” says this friend from Austria, “they should use their smartphones to study remotely. For example computer science in a college in order to develop technology that can empower people to realize their potential.”
Okay, okay, those weren’t exactly the words my friend used, but you get the point, right? We from the so-called developed world, expect that poor(er) people from the developing world use their resources well. And if they do have the opportunity of having internet access plus the device to enter the World Wide Web we expect them to use it wisely, for education for example.
Work before pleasure!
But what about you? Do you use technology to change the world? Or at least to alter your own environment to live an abundant life that is lacking dissatisfaction, emptiness, or boredom? No? So why shouldn’t others be tempted to watch funny YouTube videos instead of educating online lectures? Just because one might have less money than you, this one should be more ambitious?
Don’t get me wrong, I do think that technology should be used reasonably and should be seen as an extremely helpful instrument to reach personal goals. But it’s not up to you, nor any NGO, to define these goals for me. Not everybody is interested in pursuing a career. We should accept that. But we should encourage and support those who are eager in climbing the ladder, however high that might be. So if you want to support someone you should approach this person bottom-up in order to meet his or her needs, to reach his or her goals, not your own ones.
And in the case of this tiny Costa Rican village, this NGO would have done a better job instead of teaching how to correctly use a computer, briefing the eager internet users on internet safety: on how to create secure and strong passwords and its importance; on how to recognize and not fall for phishing emails that target to get your personal information; on how to stand up to bullies; on how to avoid the download of malware; on how to protect their children seeing offensive images and messages or pornographic and violent content; and not last in importance: to be mindful that the internet provides both fake news and useful data.
Equipped with that awareness the internet using community could have been inspired to also utilize their entertainment-device for receiving information and knowledge for personal, social, and economic development.
