The digital village inside Barberton Public Library has a dedicated study centre and a reference library. There are duplication, printing, lamination, fax and bookbinding services, as well as computers loaded with Microsoft software and providing Internet access through a broadband connection. The upgrading of the centre also included upgrading of their copying and printing facilities. In other words, all members of the community can use state-of-the-art information technology, regardless of their means.

Ananda Godfrey, centre manager, says that in the mornings, a variety of adults use the centre. Pensioners keep in touch with their loved ones via e-mail, entrepreneurs use the Internet, tourists do quick banking transactions, parents help their children with school projects, and students study, complete assignments or submit assignments electronically. “Many unemployed people look for jobs on the Internet. In the afternoons, we’re packed with schoolchildren doing homework, finding information for projects, printing or copying – and sometimes, relaxing and playing games on the computers.”

With Dell’s donation, the bank of 17 over-subscribed PCs has doubled to a total of 36 and for the first time, the centre will be operating at full capacity. “We had over 2 500 members using 17 computers,” Ananda explains, “and we had to start limiting the amount of time they could spend. Children sometimes had to book a week in advance to get a place for as little as half an hour. We also couldn’t market the centre actively, because we couldn’t cope with our current capacity, but now we’re hoping to touch the lives of even more people in the Umjindi area.”

Dell is fully on board with this objective. The Dell Foundation believes that technology and education are two of the most powerful tools available to make a sustainable difference in the lives of millions of South Africans. It chose the resource centre as a beneficiary as part of a real commitment to empowering people through knowledge, and because the centre’s offerings open up new worlds of opportunity, connecting communities and assisting individuals in achieving their dreams of a better life.

Today, says Godfrey, computers are no longer specialised tools. They are a fact of life, a thread that ties education, work and home life. And the gap between those who have access to computers and the Internet and those who don’t is becoming wider. With Dell’s help and software from Microsoft, the centre intends to ensure that as many people as possible stay on the right side of the gap – particularly children, for whom the skills needed to retrieve, analyse and use online information is crucial.But the Centre is not resting on its laurels, in fact, now that it can accommodate more children, its next project is a reading programme. On the basis that literacy in South Africa is alarmingly below standard and that the country came last out of 40 countries and 45 education systems in a 2006 survey, the Centre next plans to install the Reading Excellence programme.

Working at the new computers are Garoneza Philander and Florence Sambo, assisted by Matilda Mndawe (middle).