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Mexico Computer Project
Project Lead: Jeseth Delgado Vela
Meeting Time: Mondays, 7-8:00 PM in ENS 340
EWB-AUS, in concert with the Rotary District 5840 Hunger Plus Committee of San Antonio, has undertaken a plan to install sustainable internet-enabled computers in the schools of several ejidos (rural communities) in the northern Mexican state of Coahuila. These computers will help the students further their education and will be a source of information for the entire community. The prototype system was installed during January 2010 in the San Miguel ejido a few miles away from Jaboncillos Chico, where EWB-AUS successfully implemented a sustainable water distribution system.
Project Details
EWB-AUS began its commitment to this region in March 2006 with its first project, a water distribution system in the ejido of Jaboncillos Chico. Jaboncillos Chico is a smaller town of about 40 people, and is only a few miles away from San Miguel. The people in Jaboncillos Chico will thus be able to use and benefit from the systems installed in San Miguel. The final implementation of the water distribution system was done in August 2008. The Rotary Club of San Antonio is also committed to Coahuila, providing food and gifts to children and pursuing various projects, including this computer project.
The ejidos are in the district of Ocampo, in northern Coahuila, which borders Texas along Big Bend National Park. San Miguel is 25 miles from Big Bend. Each of the towns has a population in the hundreds. The climate is desert, and many of the people in the region earn their livelihood by selling candelilla wax to the government – a difficult, labor intensive job that earns about 50 U.S. dollars a week.
EWB-AUS installed three satellite internet-connected computers in the community center of San Miguel in January 2010. Since the ejidos are not connected to the power grid, all of the energy is supplied through sustainable (solar and/or wind) sources. The goal is for the town to eventually take ownership of the system, by charging the adults in the communities a small fee to use the computers, while allowing the children to use them for free. A similar pay-as-you-go system for agricultural equipment has proved to be successful in this region in the past. To minimize these costs, EWB is using components that have low-power consumption, maintainability, and flexibility.