New Technical Center Built in Peravia Province

New Technical Center Built in Peravia Province
Peravia, Dominican Republic  3/20/2012

This new center seeks to meet the needs of the communities around Sombrero and to provide an education in values through their educational actions as well as to train men, women and young people to be respectful, responsible and enterprising members of the community.

“We are opening a place that is unprecedented in the province of Peravia, a place that, in addition to the information tools it is putting at the disposition of our young people and students, there is also computer and information technology equipment …

The Technology Training Center (CTC in Spanish) was handed over to the community through the Office of the First Lady. “This Technology Training Center is what the Villa Sombrero community hoped for and needs,” said Altagracia Suriel, Director of Social Programs for the Office of the First Lady.

Ms. Suriel said that with this Center, First Lady Margarita Cedeño de Fernández is seeking to meet the needs of the communities that lie along the periphery of Sombrero. The hope is that it will educate the members of these communities to be honest and responsible entrepreneurs and free to develop their lives, which will lead them to live these values.

Suriel said it was a cause for joy to be handing over this CTC to the residents of Sombrero on the part of the First Lady. She said the new Center will open the doors to knowledge and contribute to reducing the digital gap that exists among the residents in this area. “You will have access to Information and Communications Technology (ICTs) which offers degrees and technical training that will open the door to employment and enable you to reach new horizons in your lives.”

Suriel stressed that young people will have access to the Internet to look up information that will open doors to the world of social networks, knowledge, the formation of values, awareness of health issues, among other activities. Likewise, in the community library, young people can do searches and consultations, their homework and have the opportunity to gain intellectual enrichment.

She said the First Lady was also providing a local radio station so that the community can hear its own voice and disseminate information through programs and training, education and health issues, especially about HIV/AIDS, dengue and leptosprirosis. The radio will also educate people in the areas of morals and civic duty to make them better citizens and better Christians.

Senator Winston Guerrero said the flower, called Margarita (daisy), is one with a beautiful scent that can be sensed near and far. In the case of Bani, Margarita’s perfume was felt several weeks ago with the opening of a modern Technology Training Center in the marginalized neighborhood of Las Colinas which will benefit young people as well as the older residents.

“We are opening a place that is unprecedented in the province of Peravia, a place that, in addition to the information tools it is putting at the disposition of our young people and students, there is also computer and information technology equipment unlike anything else in the rural communities of Bani, or in the province of Peravia. We have a modern radio station with a broadcast reach of 15 kilometers which will be used to impart learning about the formation of values and information of social values that are of importance for the interests of the community of Sombrero and its neighbors,” said Mr. Guerrero.

Doris Cabrera, coordinator of the Management Council of the CTC, said the struggling men and women of Sombrero see this project as a dream come true because of its sumptuous and grandiose nature. “Thank you to the First Lady for fighting for us and for providing us with the tools for those who have no other resources and can now build a career, take a technical course, support his or her family and obtain knowledge.”

Likewise, Giraldo Martínez, vice president of the Young Leaders, thanked the First Lady for the CTC, referring to her as a lover of development for the youth of the Dominican Republic.

Details about the CTC

A Space for Hope was built for children between the ages of three to five wherein they will receive excellent early education in order to awaken their intelligence levels, reach their maximum potential and cognitive capacity, motor skills, communication and socializing skills.

The center has 30 modern computers connected to the Internet with access to quality educational programs that carry certification from the National Institute for Professional Technical Training (INFOTEP in Spanish) and from the Technological Institute of the Americas (ITLA).

In addition, they will be able to use the date bases, educational programs on the web, take courses in digital literacy, explore sources of information about jobs, send and receive faxes, among other facilities.

There is an office and information area, a conference hall, a multi-purpose room for meetings and planning educational and cultural activities that will benefit the community.