8Ball Computer Recycling Program
The former Murdoch University based Students Without Borders program, the 8Ball computer recycling project, has been re-established by the Institute of Social Justice and Human Rights. The 8Ball project endured from 2004 to 2010, recycling, refurbishing and donating 55,000 superseded computers. The majority were donated to Western Australians who were without a computer and several thousand refurbished computers were shipped to overseas destinations, in particular to schools without computers in developing countries.
In the (October 5, 2012) article – The milk of human kindness – in the Melbourne-based newspaper Neos Kosmos, journalist Penni Pappas reported:
“He worked in the tertiary sector as general manager of the Murdoch University student guild, where he spent six years. This role gave him the opportunity to work with people from all walks of life. He worked with people from impoverished backgrounds, Indigenous students, and says his proudest moment in this role was when he founded and built Students Without Borders.”
“This became the largest student volunteer organisation in the country put together in 2004,” explains Gerry of Students Without Borders.
“One of the achievements under Gerry was the computer recycling program. 55,000 computers were sent to impoverished backgrounds and communities mostly in Western Australia and many thousands were sent to places in countries such as Uganda, Zambia, Senegal and India – where schools have never even seen a computer before.”
“There were hundreds of social justice programs that we got students involved in, but it was also a hands-on and practical experience in making a difference in communities. Most of them in outback communities remote but also international opportunities and my greatest pride now is that Students Without Borders has campuses in Iraq, Ghana, Senegal and Uganda,” Gerry tells Neos Kosmos.
The children of Bint Jbeil
The 8Ball computer recycling program’s first project for 2016 will be the shipment of between 500 to 800 refurbished computers – preferably laptops – to children in the Bint Jbeil district in southern Lebanon.
NSW Member of the Legislative Council and Opposition Whip, the Honourable Shaoquett Moselmane approached the ISJHR on behalf of Bint Jbeil’s children.
“Bint Jbeil has been subject to decades of conflict and occupation. The region was devastated with landmines during the conflict. Today it is a relatively impoverished region and if we can donate hundreds or as many computers as possible to the region’s schools, to the children, we will change lives for the better,” Shaoquett Moselmane.
“Obviously we cannot help all the children of Bint Jbeil but if we can help as many as we can then they in turn will be able to help many others in the future.”
Shaoquett Moselmane and the ISJHR have a long history of working together to improve the lot of others. The Honourable Shaoquett Moselmane raised significant funds that have made possible the donation of thousands of rough terrain children’s wheelchairs to Iraq, Lebanon, Syria, Libya, Pakistan and China.
Please email gerry_georgatos@yahoo.com.au or phone 0430 657 309 to donate computers for the children of Bint Jbeil.
