Black Engineers Help DC Chapter

World Computer Exchange volunteers received a big boost of support this spring from the Baltimore Alumni Chapter of the National Society of Black Engineers.

Anikwenze Ogbue, the chapter's president, contacted WCE in January to say his group was interested in contributing its time and skills. "That was a delightful surprise," said Tom Graham, WCE's coordinator for the Baltimore-Washington area. "As we spoke, I learned that as a college student Anikwenze had helped refurbish a computer lab at an orphanage in Honduras and create guides in Spanish for keeping the equipment running. Those are exactly the sorts of things that WCE's volunteers have been doing in dozens of countries for more than 10 years."

Tom and Anikwenze arranged for the NSBE members to meet in March at a library in Columbia, Maryland, where they installed hard drives in dozens of donated computers. Two weeks later, some of those volunteers returned to help load the equipment for shipment to schools and orphanages in Tanzania.

"When I found the WCE website, I knew it would be a great group to share with NSBE-BMAC members," said Ogbue, a graduate of Ohio State University. "It's good to see there's an opportunity to do this kind of work after college."

The NSBE members found the hands-on installation work a valuable way to volunteer.  For Ellis Barksdale, extending the life of PCs reminded him that "we take for granted the usefulness of things we throw away."  Derek Westray said “it felt good to use my technical expertise to help someone halfway around the world." Robert Holder enjoyed the team aspect of the WCE project: "Learning from others when having to diagnose problems was an unexpected bonus," he said.