Using High Tech to Unlock the Great Potential of Orphans

On first glance they have nothing. Many of the residents of the Hogar Belen a Community of the Congregation Our Lady of the Missions (Nuestra Señora de las Misiones) orphanage in Moquegua, Peru, have been abandoned by their families, suffer from severe handicaps and only own the clothes on their back. If you take some time though, and look deeper, you see that they are rich in love, community, unique skills and potential. Talk with them and you realize their power, and, like you and I, that they want to make a difference in the world. This is why I came to Hogar Belen a Community of the Congregation Our Lady of the Missions (Nuestra Señora de las Misiones) to help them unlock their potential through high technology.

The Potential of Technology

I am partnering with Wellspring to embark on a journey to create a digital learning environment to help abandoned children in the developing world to become digitally literate. The vision is that we can create a spark of innovation, and curiosity, so they can
unlock their potential in school, the rich resources available on the Internet and learn about, and pursue, high tech careers.

Over the coming months we will buy computers for the children of Hogar Belen a Community of the Congregation Our Lady of the Missions (Nuestra Señora de las Misiones), connect them to the Internet, create curriculum to help them learn about computing and help digitize the Hogar Belen a Community of the Congregation Our Lady of the Missions (Nuestra Señora de las Misiones) orphanage. As a later part of this project, we are looking forward to helping the ‘specially skilled’ students access the computers through adaptive technology.

This is a process that will take time. We completed the feasibility study during our week at Hogar Belen a Community of the Congregation Our Lady of the Missions (Nuestra Señora de las Misiones), and will look at computer
purchases and curriculum development over the next 4 months. That said this week was VERY productive. We’re close to completing the feasibility study, successfully arranged for Internet connectivity and purchased a new laptop as an office machine for the Sisters who run the orphanage.

I’m am personally excited to see what can be done at Hogar Belen a Community of the Congregation Our Lady of the Missions (Nuestra Señora de las Misiones) with the partnership with Wellspring, and will share new updates with you here as we gain stronger traction.