Peace Corps
WCE Relations with Peace Corps
WCE reduces its sourcing costs 5% on Pentium 2 & 3 desktop sets if Peace Corps volunteers are involved in helping a recipient Partner in a developing country with funding, planning, training and/or installation. (Not applicable if WCE provides a financial Sponsor for a shipment.)
While WCE is not formally a partner of Peace Corps, we are pleased to be in Partnership with the groups and governments assisted by Peace Corps volunteers.
WCE Partner organisations in many countries have the assistance of Peace Corps volunteers. (See 45th anniversary: Article 
)
WCE is in informal communication with Peace Corps volunteers in 51 countries. (See: PCV Relations ).
Here is a one page summary of Peace Corps - WCE relations in Word.
"This great gift, to my way of thinking, is made possible by WCE, that arranged for the computers, a sponsor for the shipping, and worked closely with one of our Peace Corps Volunteers who recruited another 25. I am just very happy for the Salvadoran students at ITCA who will learn to be computer technicians partly because of these computers and for the youth who will have an opportunity to learn and use them in the schools."
Michael Wise, Peace Corps Country Director, El Salvador
WCE is an institutional resource partner in USAID's dot-EDU. USAID has provided funding for WCE used computer shipments to Bangladesh, Guatemala, Macedonia, Malawi, Mali, Moldova, and Senegal. USAID/Georgia has donated computers to WCE. The WCE Board of Directors has also voted to enter into partnerships with USAID in Kenya, Mozambique, Namibia, and Uzbekistan - but these shipments have not yet gone forward. - Summary of USAID Relations.
WCE is a source for computers for projects and schools assisted by PCVs. Here are the 12 shipments that we have sent to PCVs in 9 countries to date:
| Country | Computers | Schools/Centres | Youth |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bolivia | 208 | 14 | 3,000 |
| Bolivia | 10 | 1 | 200 |
| Ecuador | 850 | 50 | 6,200 |
| Ecuador | 46 | 8 | 1,030 |
| El Salvador | 439 | 46 | 12,070 |
| El Salvador | 462 | 52 | 15,500 |
| Ghana | 100 | 4 | 3,500 |
| Guatemala (Macs) | 351 | 20 | 10,000 |
| Malawi | 200 | 20 | 7,000 |
| Moldova | 389 | 40 | 10,000 |
| Senegal | 20 | 1 | 500 |
| Tanzania | 20 | 2 | 730 |
| 3,095 | 258 | 69,538 | |
| Cameroon (soon) | 20 | 1 | 880 |
| El Salvador (July) | 400 | ||
| Philippines (Aug) | 1,000 | ||
| Uganda (July) | 20 | 1 | 120 |
These are links to the implementation plans for the above shipments: (Friends of Ecuador provided part of the funding for the 850 sets that we shipped to schools assisted by PCVs in Ecuador.
- Ecuador Empalme Plan
- Bolivia Azurdy Plan
- Cameroon Tiko Plan
- ElSalvador ADHU and PCV Plan
- Ghana PCV Plan
- Guatemala San Martin Plan
- Malawi USAID Plan
- Moldova ConnectCahul Plan
- Philippines Cebu Plan
- Senegal Gossas Plan
- Tanzania Bihawana Plan
- Uganda Child Plan
- Morocco Ministry Plan
- Namibia TTRC Plan
- AUI Proposal '06
The above project for Moldova was posted on the Peace Corps website until it was successfully completed and now the following project for Bolivia is posted.
Some PCVs were recruited by the country office in Jamaica to help with installation, organization, and orientation for some of the 17 schools receiving computers as part of a 20-foot container arriving in August 2007.
During November 2006, 46 Pentium 2 computers arrived for libraries and schools in southern Ecuador to replace for free computers damaged in a flood after they were delivered to Peace Corps Volunteers in Ecuador. WCE had previously provided 75 motherboards and hard drives to repair many of those damaged in the flood.
In January 2007 WCE shipped a shared 20-foot container to Kumasi, Ghana. 100 of the computer sets will go to 5 secondary schools with 5,000 students that are being assisted by PCVs.
The proposed Bulgaria and Philippines shipments are for thin-client installations and using far less expensive Pentium 1 and Pentium 2 computer sets.
WCE expects to be shipping in June of 2007 a third 40-foot container of 400 Pentium 3s for schools assisted by PCVs in El Salvador. In late November of 2006, the WCE president and Director of Operations met with Peace Corps Country Director Mike Wise and Stephanie Kramer and PCV Jared Bell in San Salvador.
It looks like WCE volunteers in St. Louis are going to seek Sponsors in a four-month campaign to raise the final 1/3 of the sourcing and shipping funds for a container to schools and groups assisted by PCVs in Honduras once they are able to send their first third of the needed funds along with a letter of financial commitment from a Rotary Club in Honduras. WCE takes on ten Sponsor campaigns per year. In 2006 these raised $100,000. 2006 Sponsor Campaign Summary .
WCE has shared containers planned for the second half of 2007 to Bolivia, Cameroon, Ghana, Honduras, Senegal, and Uganda. Let us know if you would like us to consider others or if you are interested in alottments of 20 sets in these ! (There is also the possibility of another shared container to Kenya this year.)
We also have received plans for similar shipments from PCVs in Ecuador, Kenya, Morocco, Namibia, and Zambia. Their implementation plans are below:
We have recently received a plan from a PCV in Zambia.
WCE also offers online consulting in project planning, partnership development, fund raising, shipping logistics, technology support, telecentre management, digital libraries, e-waste disposal, sister-schools & distance learning.
WCE also try to introduce our Partners in countries who are about to receive computers to Peace Corps so that they might be able to receive help with installation and orientation when the computers first arrive. This is especially important in the following Peace Corps countries to which WCE expects to ship during 2007:
AFRICA: Of the 24 African countries with Peace Corps volunteers in this region: WCE has shipped to 13 and has Partner organisations in 16 and has contact with PC in 19 of them. Likely WCE shipments to Peace Corps countries in this region during 2007: Cameroon, Ghana (AUI), Guinea, Kenya (AUI), Malawi (AUI), Mali, Senegal (AUI), Tanzania, Togo (AUI), Uganda (AUI), and Zambia (AUI).
AUI: denotes 10 participating universities in WCE African Universities Initiative. (universities in D.R. Congo, Mozambique, and Nigeria are also participating)
LATIN AMERICA: Of the 25 Latin American countries with Peace Corps volunteers in this region: WCE has shipped to 6 and has Partner organisations in 10 and has contact with 19. Likely WCE shipments to Peace Corps countries during 2007: Bolivia, Ecuador, El Salvador, Haiti, Honduras, Mexico, and Paraguay.
EASTERN EUROPE, MIDDLE EAST & ASIA: Of the 19 countries with Peace Corps volunteers in this region: WCE has shipped to 5 and has Partner organisations in 9 and contacts with Peace Corps in 13 of them. Likely WCE shipments to Peace Corps countries in this region during 2007: Bangladesh, Georgia, Jordan, Mongolia, and Philippines.
Kay Dixon is the WCE Peace Corps Relations Manager.
Please be sure that family and friends making a donation to WCE to get computers to the school or project you are assisting write (1) the name of your country, (2) your name, and (3) Peace Corps on the check or on the entry form if they are donating online for you by credit card. Donate Now.
If someone is going to do a counter deposit to our account at Bank of America or wire funds into our accout - an e-mail just before will make sure this gets credited to you because sometimes we do not get all of your info from the bank for several days.
Checks should be made payable to World Computer Exchange and mailed to WCE at 936 Nantasket Avenue, Hull, Massachusetts 02045 USA.
We let you know as soon as funds arrive and if we have an e-mail address - we send a brief thank you to the person donating for your computers.
