September 22, 1998
Window to a new world Towards a brighter tomorrow. Glenn Holthaus opens the window to computing for children and teachers at Pattaya School 4. Believing computer literacy is necessary in the Information Age, the Pattaya Computer Club resurrects old PCs to give the Kingdom's poorer school children the tools they need to get ahead in life Karnjariya Sukrung For many city children, Windows 95, the Internet and email are as familiar as fried rice. With a computer, they send electronic mail at the speed of light to friends across the world, page their favourite dee-jays to request songs, make new cyber-friends via chat rooms and catch upon the latest news and information on the Net. However, the nearest most of the Kingdom's children get to a computer is seeing one on TV. And if they do have one at school, it's normally a sacred object locked away from meddling children's hands. So it was a big day for 12-year-old Nopparat Ketjae, a Prathom 6 pupil, when he got his first opportunity to draw with a computer. As Nopparat moved the mouse, learning to synchronise his hand and eye, a mountain appeared on the screen. His two friends watched on in awe and excitement. "This is great. This is fun," one said. "I want to have a go." Back when the class of 50 at Pattaya School 4, Chon Buri, had just two computers and no trained members of staff, Nopparat's friend could have waited forever. However, thanks to the Pattaya Computer Club, the school now has 10 desktop computers for the children to use. "We never thought we would have the chance to touch and play with the real thing," beamed Nopparat. The person who made all this possible is Glen Holthaus, chairman of Pattaya Computer Club. "To learn the computer, children need to touch and play with it," said the 53-year-old retired US Marine doctor. "There's no way they can learn from merely looking at the square screen and reading a textbook." In general, most Thai students attending government schools learn about computers as part of their secondary education curriculum. But with many quitting schooling soon after, the chances of these children becoming computer literate is small. This is also the case at Pattaya School 4, where many of the children leave to join the low-paid labour market after finishing Grade 6, Mr Holthaus added. "While we say we're living in the age of digital information, many of the children are lagging behind," he said. "And they will never catch up with other kids and the fast-running society if we don't give them the computer know-how now," he continued, adding, "At the very least, children should know what a computer is and how it works. "Being born and growing up in the bottom-low level of society doesn't mean they have to be like this for the rest of their lives. They can have a better life and better jobs if they get the opportunities. And these days, computer literacy is quite important when it comes to getting a good job." Active in several Pattaya-based charity organisations, Mr Holthaus has already helped the country's orphans and handicapped. However, it was only recently he realised the Kingdom's ordinary children from poor backgrounds also needed his help. "One day, a child came up to me and said he wished he was an orphan," said Mr Holthaus. "I was shocked and asked him why. He answered it was because orphans have everything from people's donations but he has nothing at all. That hurt here, you know," he continued, pointing to his chest. Believing he can do something to effect change, Mr Holthaus, under the umbrella of the Pattaya Sports Club, launched a "New Computers from Old" project last January. "We wanted to give computers to children but we lacked the funding. So instead of buying new PCs, we took donations of old, unused computers and updated them," explained Mr Holthaus. As word of mouth spread among friends and computer companies, a number of old and broken computers and parts started to arrive on his doorstep. Before long, his shophouse residence looked more like a computer junk yard. "People gave me junk," he chuckled. "Most of what I received was very old and basically unusable and obsolete. Although it meant I had a lot of work to do, I was happy to make all this 'junk' work again," said the self-taught computer programmer. A family affair. Mr Holthaus' wife, Jaruay, shares her computing skills with the school's teachers. --Smith Sutibut Assisted by club members James Costa and Jakob Languaard, he dismantled the PCs, fixed the broken parts and then cobbled bit and pieces together to create new, functional computers. As for software, Mr Holthaus stuck to Windows 3.1 since most of the rebuilt computers were old and could not support Windows 95. "Although it is an older version, it's adequate to teach children the fundamentals of computer use. The kids can learn a lot from it such as report writing and printing. There are also a lot of games the children can play," he explained. Assembling the computers took him and his team around three months. Altogether, the eight "old-turned-new" computers cost the club around 56,000 baht, with the money coming from the Pattaya Sports Club. For the other expenses that cropped up here and there, Mr Holthaus used his own money. He soon found out, however, that helping the youngsters attain computer literacy did not end with simply giving them the machines. One week after the computers were handed over, Mr Holthaus learned they were simply collecting dust in the lab. None of the school's teachers knew how to operate them. "We realised we'd missed something very important," he said. "We forgot about giving them knowledge." He thus planned to set up a computer training workshop for the teachers. But he and his team do not speak Thai, and the Pattaya School 4 teachers do not understand English. So, he turned to his Thai wife for help. Mrs Jaruay was reluctant at first. With only a Prathom 4 education, she could not imagine working with computers. But she finally agreed to her husband's request. "I agreed because my husband said I had to do it for the sake of the poor children of my country," said the 41-year-old housewife. "So I forced myself to learn." Every day, Mrs Jaruay sat down in front of a computer screen with her husband to learn the basics. Once she got the knack, she started learning by herself from computer know-how books. Three months later, Mrs Jaruay was confident enough to conduct a six-week computer workshop on Saturday mornings for 15 teachers from the Pattaya 4 School. The lessons were basic; how to correctly turn the computer off and on to avoid damage, and using Windows 3.1. Now, all 15 teachers in the school are passing on what they have learned from Mrs Jaruay to their pupils. With adequate computers and well-trained teachers, headmaster Piyarot Jamkrajang plans to make every pupil from Prathom 1 to 6 computer literate. Following the success at Pattaya School 4, Mr Holthaus wants to expand his computer literary programme to other schools in the area. But this means he needs more computers and parts. Mr Holthaus, however, is optimistic about his future plans now the Pattaya Computer Club and other charitable organisations in Pattaya and Rayong come under the umbrella of the United Charities of the Eastern Seaboard. Members of the umbrella organisation, formed six months ago, include two Lions clubs, two Rotary clubs, the Pattaya Sports Club, the Pattaya International Ladies Club, the YWCA, Rayong Ladies' Club and a number of French-speaking clubs. "With all of us working together, we are better able to channel our charity efforts in a more cohesive direction," said Mr Holthaus who is vice-chairman of the umbrella organisation. "This means we can help as many Thais as possible instead of duplicating efforts and stamping on each other's toes in a rush of benevolence." Meanwhile, Mrs Jaruay is busy learning new software programmes to prepare for the bigger challenges ahead. "I'm learning Windows 95 just in case we can afford more advanced computers in the future," she said, adding with a smile, "Like my husband, I'm hooked on computers now." Info for donations : Name of organisation : Pattaya Computer Club Address : 313/82 Moo 10, South Pattaya 3 Road, Nong Prue, Banglamung, Chon Buri 20260 Founder : Glenn (Jeep) Holthaus Tel : (038) 424-998 Fax : (038) 723-273		Classifieds Jobs Property Entertainment Investment Education Travel Sales Learn English Weekly Database Horizons NiteOwl Student Weekly Real Time Special We Care Street Art Back Issues Last Month Archive Company Servcies Subscriptions Advertising Annual Report
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