Apr 29 2009
the power of one computer for a chinese NGO
Today is the kickoff of TechSoup Global’s Partner Summit 2009. And in case you were wondering, yes, we tried to briefly cover the NGO/GONGO sector in China. John Fung, from HKCSS (our partner in Hong Kong and Macau), spoke this morning about how IT can strongly affect a smaller NGO in China. This can give NGOs the tools they need to become more effective. This is our TechSoup mission statement.
John spoke with a variety of NGOs in China about IT and technology. He gave one case study: an NGO working with HIV/AIDS in China. More about this group after the jump.
John talked about this small Chinese NGO that does general work with HIV prevention and treatment, and also works with children whose parents have HIV/AIDS. They have 7 on staff, 6 of them are actually carriers. They help 856 HIV carriers and 700 AIDS patients.
So what can IT do for an NGO like this? Use of technology helps the staff access a wealth of information beyond China, and they can learn of new treatment methods, clinical tests, and expert opinions from around the world. IT has enabled this NGO to exchange information with similar groups and form alliances. As a result, they have built best practices for their NGO and others.
They have gained respect from the government from their use of computers. How? They have ONE computer donated in 2004, and they all use it to manage the information. Yes, a single computer can make that sort of difference to a Chinese NGO. This NGO looks good before the government officials in their village–they are low education individuals who perform at a high capacity because of IT. As John put it, they are now “more than farmers”. This really is an amazing fact. It does not take much to build capacity in the NGO sector in China!
IT has allowed the staff to look up policies in other regions to discourage the government from acting illegally. They also can publish reports of government actions for monitoring purposes: things can be exposed through the internet.
My thoughts? Yes, this is a dangerous thing to do, but again, the power of information is crucial for NGOs that would normally have little power to combat the government. And the fact that other government precedents can be obtained really gives a small NGO (or citizen) a check upon the government.
As John summarized, IT can be implemented in a way that is immediate and practical. I wholeheartedly agree.
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