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Success Story
Providing access to information technology and training
Telecenters Connect Romanians
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Photo: USAID/Jay Sorensen
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Radu Vasile, a volunteer who is blind, works about 20 hours each week in the Constanta telecenter.
“The idea behind this center is to help people understand the meaning of information technology in daily life... The setup is simple — they can come in and out as they please, and we put them through tutorials, courses, and we even create our own programs for retired people,” said Liviu Constandache, director of a USAID-sponsored telecenter in Constanta, Romania.
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A group of high school students make final preparations for a debate on the influence of technology on modern life, as the computer room next door begins its day. Liviu Constandache, director of this telecenter, walks around turning on computers, and a few volunteers check email.
“The idea behind this center is to help people understand the meaning of information technology in daily life,” Constandache said. “The set up is simple – they can come in and out as they please, and we put them through tutorials, courses, and we even create our own programs for retired people.”
The Constanta telecenter is one of a dozen such centers located mostly in northeast Romania. They are part of a USAID project that sets up centers like this one in both urban areas and rural areas, where Internet and even phones are hard to access.
Telecenters provide make telephones, Internet, email, faxing, and word processing available for either a low cost or for free. They also provide more advanced services such as computer training and support for computer-based businesses. This broad set of services attracts an equally broad set of clients.
“We get all kinds of people here – from age 12 to 82. We get people who know lots but have a more specific question or take courses. And we see others who have never used a computer before.” His favorite pupil is an 82-year-old grandma who learned to use a computer at the center and then bought one for home.
Rural centers can prove to be an invaluable communications tool. The telecenter in the village of Iana, for instance, saved the life of Silvia Ciobanu, who was born prematurely in the middle of a winter storm. The baby weighed less than 4 pounds, and her mother was unable to feed her. The blizzard made it impossible for the family to reach a hospital. But they could call it at the telecenter.
“We called the hospital and asked them how we could help,” said Constantin Codreanu, the mayor of Iana. “The parents wanted to try to feed her cow’s milk, which isn’t healthy for a newborn. The proper recipe, the proper procedure was explained to us by the hospital over the phone.”
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