In staying true to its vision of providing access to information technology learning for underprivileged communities, Rentwise Malaysia has once again demonstrated that a committed CSR program can be both “green” and meaningful to society.
Working with Macquarie Malaysia, 20 remanufactured computers were given a new lease of life and deployed over 7 centres of the National Autism Society of Malaysia (NASOM) located at the Klang valley.
As a collaborative CSR program with Macquarie Malaysia, the desktop computers were handed over to Rentwise Malaysia. Drawing on its specialized expertise in remanufacturing used IT hardware, these computers were cosmetically enhanced by Rentwise. After being subjected to rigorous testing and repair procedures, the condition of the computers was restored to as good as new. This joint CSR effort between Macquarie and Rentwise saw the largest deployment of computers at NASOM Titiwangsa branch – where 6 computers were setup for students and 2 for teachers.
The National Autism Society of Malaysia (NASOM) is a society formed in 1986 by a group of parents and professionals with the aim of delivering lifelong services to the community of persons suffering from autism. It is a recognized charitable organisation and it strives to provide a range of support services to assist people with autism, especially children and their immediate family members. NASOM depends greatly on the support, sponsorships and donations from well wishers and corporate sponsors to help them fund their operations and activities.
Since its inception in 2013, NASOM Titiwangsa has been without computers. The centre has about 60 students aged between 4-21 years old and is run by 17 staff including the centre’s Co-Ordinator, Mano. These donated computers will be used by the students to surf the Internet and access educational applications such as Microsoft Word and Powerpoint.
According to Mano, autistic children have short attention span and various behavioral and communication issues. As visually inclined children, they respond well to animated materials and photos. These effective means help enhance their learning experience. Through this method, the children will not be easily bored and are more likely to sit in front of the computer for a long time.
“The use of technology such as the desktop computers provide a good solution to address personality traits exhibited by autistic children,” says Mano. NASOM Titiwangsa has a range of mild, moderate and severe cases of autism. The donated computers will be used to play educational songs and games to cater to this wide range of children with special needs. “In this centre, highly functional or mildly autistic children who are in the ‘mainstream inclusion’ program stand to benefit the most from using these computers,“ Mano adds.
The centre has a merit program to reinforce good behavior whereby children who behave themselves will be rewarded with 45 minutes of computer sessions during which they can use the computer for whatever purposes they wish. These children normally have sensory problems; hence in order to calm them down, the computer is used as a tool to reduce undesirable behavior.
“We are indeed very grateful for these donated computers by Macquarie and Rentwise because they will help enhance our students’ learning skills, reduce unwanted behavior, improve attention span and increase their focusing abilities,” Mano enthuses. Teachers would also be able to use the computers to prepare teaching materials.
Rentwise Malaysia is certainly hopeful that the children of Nasom Titiwangsa will greatly benefit from using these computers as IT skills will lead to a much improved quality of life.
More importantly, it’s been a truly rewarding endeavor as not only the remanufactured computers been used for a good cause; their very extended life span for this purpose will definitely make for a greener environment.
Rentwise Malaysia looks forward to partnering with organisations that wish to dispose of their old IT equipment. Our technical expertise and DOE-compliant remanufacturing and IT disposal processes enable us to refresh and extend the life span of old IT equipment for a greener world. Corporate organisations who wish to contribute to this CSR initiative or schools who are interested to apply as our program participants can get in touch with us.
