Donate Old Computers To Charity

I just saw an organisation called CAMARA (in Ireland) being mentioned on ENN.  They will take old, working computers from individuals or organisations, refurbish them, install an OS and software and send them to Africa for training centers.  This is a way that a business or person can make a difference with a computer that might not serve their needs any more but way prove useful to a school in Africa.

This is the minimum spec:

• Pentium III+
• 128 Mb of RAM
• 5 Gb Hard Drive
• CD/DVD Drive
• 15" – 17" Monitors (flat screen or CRT)
• We always have a need for power leads, keyboards and mice.

As you can see, it’s pretty low based on a modern business machine.  If you’re doing an upgrade to Vista then you’ve likely got lots of  fully depreciated machines like this that can make a difference elsewhere.  Any business in Dublin that is donating more than 10 machines can actually get them to pick up the machines.  They also offer a process where they will securely wipe the hard disks to DOD standards.  If you’re really concerned about this then you should check out DBAN, a free tool that I highly recommend.

The machines are installed with LINUX and open source office products to be placed in training rooms.  They take in volunteers to go over to Africa, set up the room and provide training to teachers and students.

It’s a worthy cause.  The list of contributors should put concerns at ease.  It includes AIB, the Dublin universities, GE, government departments, AOL and Anglo Irish.  To them, I say "well done".

Give the site a look-see.  I hope that if you are outside of Dublin, this post might spur you on to find an organisation near you that can provide a similar service, either to a third world country or to some other impoverished area.

Credit: ENN.