During difficult economic crises, suburbs suffer the greatest contradictions of contemporary society. That is where one may perceive a marked inequality in income, economic conditions and the availability of common goods as opposed to other areas in the city. This is a condition of unease that directly involves over one third of the metropolitan population, according to the final report presented by the Parliamentary Commission investigating on the conditions of safety and deterioration of cities and their suburbs.
During the lockdown period in which schools were closed, four 18-year old students in Milan founded PC4U to guarantee access to digital didactic activities to all students [see ISTAT (in Italian): Spazi in casa e disponibilità di computer per bambini e ragazzi, 2020 and Openpolis, Disuglianze digitali. La povertà educativa nell'emergenza Covid].
“This was a spontaneous initiative to fight against digital inequality during the pandemic,” explains Alberto Manieri [@albertomanieri1] who met with Emanuele Sacco, a student at the Istituto salesiano S. Ambrogio in Milan.
“We collect used computers and recondition them with the help of an expert to redistribute them to students and families who do not have one,” explains Alberto. “Especially one of them truly felt the unease created by the gap existing between richer and poorer families in Milan and decided to seek out a solution.”
Alberto was pleasantly surprised by the intelligence, social sensibility and generosity of the students. “I was truly moved,” he confesses. This has led to the addition of a new node in the collaborative network against educational poverty in Milan, where the FMD is already present with the Phyrtuyal Innovation Gym model and the OpenSPACE partnership [see (in Italian): Il divario digitale è un’ulteriore dimensione della povertà educativa].
The last PCs of the season are currently being delivered. In September, we hope to all begin again, together, and support these young and enterprising agents of change.
