Columbia Opportunity Center

The Columbia Opportunity Center opened in May 2002 It is a pilot project that is providing one village in Belize's Toledo District with resources to help its young people increase their computer skills and develop their capacity to handle the challenges of their rapidly changing world.

Primary objectives of the Columbia Opportunity Center:

We are partnering with the village's primary school to extend the positive impact of the lab. IAIA donated the hardware to the school, and the lab is used by the school during school days. In the evenings, on weekends, and during school holidays, it is managed as the Columbia Opportunity Center, an internet resource lab. It has become a sustainable business that enables the school to afford continued maintenance and upgrades.

IAIA volunteers trained school staff and community members to learn about computer technology, to teach others, and also about the care and maintenance of a computer lab.

Although the center has teaching and training as an important focus, it also serves as a general resource for the residents of San Pedro Columbia. For example, villagers make use of its photographic, photocopying, and e-mailing services. They receive assistance writing letters, applications, and proposals, and get help interacting with various agencies and organizations. New craft designs are developed at the Center with craft producers, and written materials are developed promoting ecotourism efforts in and around Columbia.

After receiving a donation of ten computers from the Gateway Corporation, IAIA raised funds for shipping costs and other equipment and supplies, and in late 2002, two IAIA volunteers settled near the village to set up the center.

In 2004, the Center moved to a larger, more secure building, and in 2005, internet access became available, creating many new opportunities for the people of Columbia and its neighboring villages.

In January 2006, we made an exciting change. We moved our computer lab into a classroom at Columbia's primary school.

IAIA volunteers taught the primary school children computer classes during school days, and oversaw the operation of the community internet business during evenings and weekends, while the school staff and Opportunity Center managers continued to take on increasing responsibility for its operation.

After six years, in January 2008, the IAIA volunteers moved away from the village, and all of IAIA's supporters and volunteers are hoping for the continued success and positive impact of the Center under the complete supervision and control of the project's beneficiaries. Of course, we have remained in contact with our contacts in Columbia, and continue to support the project.

We are pleased with the success of the Columbia Opportunity Center and, in August 2007, IAIA volunteers, working with a group of teachers in the nearby village of San Miguel, set up an eight-computer lab there, and less than six months later, the Belize Rural Development Program, funded by the European Union, installed satellite internet service there and in a third village. Less than a year later, another internet lab was opened at the primary school in Big Falls Village, funded by the BRDP. IAIA volunteers served as support for the development of the lab, providing manager training and technical expertise. All of the labs duplicate the model of the Columbia Opportunity Center, serving both primary school children and community members, including the swelling numbers of students now attending high school and university.

We at IAIA feel that we came to the Toledo District at the right time to kick off a computer lab project that will impact the district for years to come. Thanks to all our friends and donors for helping us to succeed.

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