Another Week Beyond – 2337

Comms Team Another Week Beyond, digital access, digital literacy, digital literacy

Dear Friends, Last year, our Board set out to explore how technology may empower our efforts for better programme outcomes. As such, with the support of the Info-Tech Board Committee, we introduced technology to those who have not been able to reap the benefits of a digitalised lifestyle. 5 mothers who were not digitally savvy learnt to set up a store on Shopee without capital and leveraged artificial intelligence to identify saleable products.  After the initial training, 2 mothers managed to operate their online store for about 6 months, and another is still operating today. Operating an online store had its challenges but we …

Another Week Beyond – 2136

Comms Team Another Week Beyond, digital literacy

Dear friends, 3 interns have been supporting 5 children to participate in an online reading programme at home. These children live in the same housing block and a significant part of this endeavour has been troubleshooting whenever the digital tools and access we provided were not working optimally.  Our interns realised that often, it was not faulty equipment but the lack of confidence navigating the digital space. Nonetheless, they are much heartened by the efforts our members are making to explore and embrace this space. A father who was not digitally literate, humbly welcomed our interns to show his 7-year-old son how to log …

Another Week Beyond – 2048

Comms Team Another Week Beyond, digital literacy, Employment

Dear Friends, Our Digital and Family Competence Enabling Team (AWB – 2033 & AWB – 2037) finished their 3-month stint and we were speaking with the 4 women involved to better appreciate their experience. This was their first experience with white collar work and were entrusted with coordinating applications for digital and financial assistance after some basic training in the use of spreadsheets.  All 4 women are recipients of such assistance themselves, have heavy care-giving responsibilities and were only able to take on this task because they had the flexibility to organize their own work hours. These women were proud that they met …

Another Week Beyond – 2039

Comms Team Another Week Beyond, digital literacy, volunteer, youth

Dear Friends, 2 brothers in their 60s, told us that they were finding it difficult to stay in touch with their families in Indonesia. Without SMART Phones, calls were expensive and being illiterate, texting was not an option either. They lamented that sometimes, by pressing a wrong key, $10 to $20 worth of pre-paid data is depleted without a connection.  So, we lent then a used SMART phone each and showed them how they may reach their families on WhatsApp without cost. It did not take long for them to catch on. As boatmen who made a modest income, they decided …

Another Week Beyond – 2037

Comms Team Another Week Beyond, digital literacy, digital literacy, Employment

Dear Friends; After helping to  process one cycle of financial assistance,  the women on our  Digital and Family Competence Enabling Team (AWB- 2033) told us that they really valued the flexible work hours that enabled them to attend to their children and household matters. Working from home on a computer was an entirely new experience that they savoured. The efforts of these women have helped us reach more families whose household income have been badly reduced by COVID-19.  As on today, we have committed $2.6 million to 1571 families and by end of this month, we would have disbursed $2.1 million. These …

Another Week Beyond – 2031

Comms Team Another Week Beyond, digital literacy, digital literacy, Donations in kind, Education, youth

Dear Friends, We continued to learn from our interns. This time, from those who were helping us with our efforts at providing internet connectivity to our members.  They coordinated the distribution of donated pre-loved devices and often found themselves trouble shooting when members had difficulty connecting to wi-fi or were simply fumbling with an unfamiliar device. They made it clear to us that facilitating internet connectivity was not just a matter of providing a device or wi-fi connection but an ongoing promotion of digital literacy and this begins by removing barriers to learning and help seeking.  A parent approached us hesitantly …