The staff, children and adolescents celebrate the event.
The El Manantial Day Care Center received a modern computer lab for the benefit of the children and their families on June 30, 2005.
A little over $50,000 was invested in this social cause, the cost of which was covered by donations from Microsoft, the Strachan Foundation, Soportes Xperto.com, S.A., and the Latin Club of the University of Aachen, Germany.
Microsoft of Costa Rica donated the 26 computers and the software, the Strachan Foundation donated the ergonomic chairs and air conditioning, Soportes Xperto.com, S.A., donated the materials and labor for the electrical installation, and the Aachen Latin Club of the University of Aachen, Germany, donated the furniture for the installation of the equipment.
Computer professionals provided by the National Institute of Learning and the Omar Dengo Foundation will be teaching the computer courses, training the staff and providing advice with respect to the operation of the lab.
Currently, the Roblealto Child Care Association runs three day care centers located in the metropolitan area, the Roblealto Bible Home Temporary Shelter and its Enrique Strachan School, and the Adolescent Graduates Program.
For 18 years, the El Manantial Day Care Center has been providing integral day care to children while their mothers work.
Located on the road to Desamparados, 75 meters west of the former Radio Reloj building, this is the Roblealto Child Care Center’s second computer lab. The first lab was inaugurated at the Roblealto Bible Home Temporary Shelter, located in San Jose de la Montaña, in Heredia, in 2003.
With the inauguration of the Computer Lab at the El Manantial Day Care Center, we move forward in the effort to use the computer to facilitate learning, while making it accessible to children, adolescents and their families who do not have this tool in their homes.
At the same time, this project seeks to:
1. Stimulate a desire in the children and adolescents to learn and investigate.
2. Provide a training resource for personal growth, acquiring marketable job skills, and improving their quality of life.
3. Train the target population in specific subjects relating to the improvement of their quality of life and strengthening of spiritual values.
4. Provide a training resource in computer programs, constituting a tool for personal growth, acquisition of marketable job skills and institutional development.
The Computer Lab will carry the name “Shirley Pierce” and has as its objective to provide access to technology so that the children, adolescents and their families can face the challenges imposed by modern society with dignity and responsibility, work and justice.
“Shirley Pierce was a missionary who worked with us when the Day Care Center began in 1987”… said Ingrid Selva, director of the Day Care Center. “She was an example of devotion and concern because the children learned to read and write and felt capable and loved”, added Selva.
| 
