Eugene weekly., February 03, 2005, Page 13, Image 13

BY KERA ABRAHAM
Guatemalan children work with
computers from Eugene.
Classrooms Sans Borders
Partners in Solidarity provides equipment for Guatemalans.
E
ugene resident Matthew Rutman
was working as a volunteer in rural
Guatemala in 2000 when a local in-
vited him to a meeting of parents and teachers
who were trying to build a new community
school. They showed Rutman their current
facility — made of cinder blocks and wood
planks — and told him about their dream of
setting up a well-equipped school for their
children. That’s no easy task for the poorest
people in one of the world’s poorest coun-
tries, where few children receive more than
elementary educations and indigenous kids
often lag behind urban ladinos (Guatemalans
of Spanish descent) in terms of education and
technological skills.
In 2001, Rutman set up Partners in
Solidarity (PS), a nonprofit with bases in
Eugene, Portland and Quetzaltenango,
Guatemala. With the help of local computer
techie Michael Board and other volunteers,
Rutman sends annual shipments of comput-
ers, classroom furniture and medical supplies
to rural Guatemalan communities.
Rutman, now 30 years old and a teacher at
Elizabeth Page Elementary School in
Springfield, and Board, 27, salvage damaged
or surplus classroom furniture from the
Eugene school district for the project. “We’re
just redistributing things phased out by 4J,
like metal chairs and desks and chalkboards,”
Board says. MacRenewal, a Eugene non-
profit that refurbishes and recycles comput-
ers, has donated more than 400 machines to
PS in the past three years. “We’re dedicated
to empowering people who don’t have access
to technology,” MacRenewal Administrative
Coordinator Lorraine Kerwood says.
Once a year, PS volunteers pack palettes
full of computers, medical equipment, chalk-
boards, chairs, desks, wheelchairs, bicycles
and filing cabinets into 8’ X 8’ X 40’ contain-
ers for shipment to Guatemala. To date, the
project has provided computer labs for more
than two dozen Guatemalan schools and non-
profits. To pay for shipping and other costs,
PS raises funds through grants, donations and
benefit events. Rutman and Board work for
free, without an office, while maintaining
their 9-to-5 jobs.
Rutman emphasizes that the donations are
not an outright gift to the Guatamalan com-
munities; rather, they are part of a coopera-
tive effort. “There’s an association some-
times of the indigenous people looking for
handouts from the patrón (boss),” he says.
“Basically, we’re just providing requested
materials and putting them in the hands of
indigenous leaders. If you’re not letting them
have ownership of the project, nothing’s ever
going to get better.”
Teachers in participating communities
are required to attend workshops on com-
puter use and troubleshooting. And, because
computer theft has been a problem, commu-
nity leaders sign a legally-binding contract
to protect the donated equipment and never
to sell it. If the equipment is neglected or
stolen, the community becomes ineligible to
receive donations in the future. “To accept
these materials, the community has to invest
in their protection,” Board says.
There is also an incentive for taking good
care of the equipment: more computers the
following year. Most schools receive five
computers and one printer the first year, but
one school that has participated for three
years now has 15 computers.
Some people question PS’s intentions in
bringing technology to rural communities
that have gotten by for years without com-
puters. But Rutman says that a lack of mod-
ern education allows companies and govern-
ments to exploit the region’s native peoples.
“The indigenous population has always pro-
vided the sweat for Guatemalan goods,”
Rutman says. “Whether it’s pickin’ beans or
makin’ Levi’s jeans, they’re doing it. Giving
them access to a better education is going to
help them in the situations that they’re al-
ready facing.”
Based on the project’s success to far,
Rutman and Board plan to expand PS. As the
organization gains funds and momentum,
Board hopes to establish a local office and
work for the project full-time. PS has sent
80-100 computers to Guatemala per year,
but this year Rutman and Board are aiming
for 400-500 computers, and they hope to
eventually deliver the materials to rural com-
munities as far as Nicaragua. “This project is
my life’s joy,” Board says. “Once you get
down south and see people’s faces light up, it
makes this so worthwhile.”
PS needs donated storage space and
medical supplies for the next shipment of
materials to Guatemala. For more informa-
tion, visit www.partnersinsolidarity.com.
To donate a computer to MacRenewal, visit
www.lanecrrc.org
FEBRUARY 3, 2005 13