Jamal Myrick, director of UCR’s African Student Programs, or ASP, traveled to the South American country of Guyana in February to deliver 115 laptops to support education and employment opportunities in schools and underserved communities. The laptops, valued at $14,000, were spread across four organizations to develop internet cafes or computer labs for students, farmers, and rural village communities.

The effort was initiated during ASP’s 2023 trip to the country’s capital city, Georgetown. A conversation during an Emancipation Day celebration between Myrick and a local leader revealed that it often takes over a year to get the technology needed to start community computer labs. During that discussion, Myrick committed to a couple of laptops to jumpstart the initiative.

But “a couple of laptops” turned into 115 after Myrick pitched his vision to the San Bernardino Community College District, or SBCCD, whose board voted to support the Guyana project by providing laptops from their surplus division free of charge.

With the laptops in possession, Myrick and co-collaborators UCLA’s Kevin Graham and University of Guyana’s Melissa Ifill traveled through Guyana and completed the country-wide delivery. Myrick said the group was grateful for the opportunity to witness the effects of their work, build community, and see exactly where the laptops were going.

“The goal of this initiative was to reach across the diaspora and support communities that supported and showed love to our scholars and department during our visits over the past two years,” Myrick said. “We wanted to show that our communities win when we share resources and community across the lines without expecting anything in return.”

The laptops were distributed across four Guyanese organizations:

• Centre of Learning and Afro-Centric Orientation (COLAACO) African Cultural Development Association (ACDA): The only afro-centric private school in Georgetown, that helps underprivileged households give their children access to a quality education. A computer lab will be established to enhance computer literacy.
• Mocha Arcadia Village: A former coffee plantation purchased by former enslaved Africans following the abolition of slavery that is now a 4,000-person farming community surrounded by sugarcane. Unemployment and underemployment are common among youth in the community, but a partnership with the University of Guyana’s Institute of Research, Innovation, and Entrepreneurship, or UGIRIE, created an entrepreneurship program to enhance business education. Laptops will be used to support that program.
• Parbamel Community Centre: The development of three neighboring villages, Paradise, Bachelors Adventure, and Melanie Damishana has been a concern of villagers and former villagers who now live in the United States. A computer lab will be established at the community center to enhance youth computer literacy.
• Victoria Community Centre: This center, which focuses on supporting at-risk youth, is creating a computer space to strengthen their technological knowledge.