Many thanks to the City of Dublin Education and Training Board (CDETB) and particularly Andrew Connolly, CDETB’s Regional Literacy Co-ordinator, for their generosity in assisting with a laptop loan scheme for Ruhama service-users. Funding for the laptops came from Adult Literacy for Life, an initiative that ensures that literacy is valued and supported at every level of society.

For many Ruhama service-users, the scheme has provided them with their first laptop that will provide a window into a world of connection, entertainment and education. Service-users will now be facilitated in engaging more fully in many of Ruhama’s services, including trauma therapy, peer support and the many online training options we offer.

More broadly, access to digital technology ensures that service-users can participate fully in other aspects of modern life. For example, a range of public services from immigration, housing and education applications to social welfare support payments, are difficult and cumbersome to access without digital technology. The laptops will assist them with academic access, future career prospects, and full participation in today’s technologically driven society. Our service-users strive for their independence and their own laptop means that they will be less reliant on others in navigating the often-complex world of online bureaucracy. For many it will give them a portal to communicate with their families in their home country and keep them connected with their families, friends and support networks through social media.

Education and Development Officer Trish O’Brien said:

‘Having competent digital literacy skills and access to technical devices has become an essential component for everyone in today’s modern society.

In Ruhama we come across clients who have never had access to the digital world and those who have exemplary ICT skills but who are left with nothing after their experiences in the sex trade or of being trafficked. We are committed to improving digital literacy and increasing educational opportunities in ICT for all our students.

This laptop loan scheme is providing a lifeline for many and making life so much easier for others.  It will help us in our quest here to support students to realise their education goals.

We are grateful to be able to collaborate with other education providers in the community and hope to continue to do so long into the future.‘