NEWS: NGOs find help in tech

The Star

By CHRISTY LEE S.W.

Local NGOs (or non-governmental organisations) are realising that technology can be instrumental in helping them make the best use of their limited resources.

"Technology is becoming an integral part of our operations and we realise that understanding and mastering those tools could help expand and manage the diverse areas involved in our line of work," said Ghani Ibrahim.

He is executive director of Yayasan Salam Malaysia, which organises volunteer service programmes in various fields, especially in the areas of education, health and community development.

"The first UP Day, which was held last year, was a real eye-opener to us," said Ghani, who was speaking at the recent Unlimited Potential (UP) Day event – part of Microsoft Corp's UP initiative to promote digital literacy in Malaysia.

DEEP IN DISCUSSION: Mok (left) and Simon in a discussion during Microsoft’s Unlimited Potential Day in Kuala Lumpur recently.

"We learned how to set up and manage our own websites during one of the technical sessions, which means we now do not have to spend hundreds of ringgit on an external website hosting service," he said.

Annual affair

While Microsoft mostly focused on providing technical know-how at last year's UP Day, this year it helped the NGOs by also organising team-building activities and open discussions.

"After listening to the feedback on the first UP Day, we decided to have a mixture of technical and non-technical sessions," said Iriani Zulkifli, community affairs manager at Microsoft Malaysia.

"In addition to that, this year's UP Day also highlighted three important issues – communication, fundraising and media," she said.

Sandra Simon, project co-ordinator for the Young Women's Christian Association, also saw benefits in UP Day.

"The team-building activities and discussions have allowed us to find out more about what other NGOs are doing. Before this, NGOs did not have a platform where we could network (with each other)," she said.

Mok Chee Meng, a Lions Club district chairman, agreed. "It has given us the opportunity to co-operate and facilitates the sharing of resources with other NGOs," he said.

He said the Lions Club had its volunteer management web system (which enables people to easily sign themselves up for volunteer work via the Internet) that it could show to other NGOs because most of them would require a similar tool for their activities.

The club's activities includes caring for more than 5,000 children in 90 orphanages around the country.

Mok said the organisation also uses computer programs to help track the academic progress of each orphan.

"It would be hard for us to track the development of every child, but using technology has made the task a lot more manageable and helps reduce operational costs," he said.

Helping hand

Under a UP initiative, which is one year old now, Microsoft has been contributing cash grants and software donations, among others, to registered NGOs.

"The grants and aid provided to us through the initiative have also allowed us to expand our outreach," said Simon.

She said YWCA was able to expand its computer literacy project to five other states when Microsoft awarded it with a cash grant last year.

"You can see how it benefits the youths living in rural areas, single mothers and also senior citizens. Previously some of them never owned an e-mail account, but now they're regularly using e-mail to correspond with us," she said.

Ghani said Microsoft has also helped a lot by providing software and educational material to the ICT (information and communications technology) centres that Yayasan Salam has set up to train its volunteers.