The schools of Lagoa, Azores just received 50 used computers, thanks to the generosity of the Taunton School Department, the office of Mayor Ted Strojny and a group of people who volunteered to have the machines packed, shipped and set up at their final destination.

It all started last December, when Roberto Medeiros, Lagoa's councilor of culture, visited the area to exhibit nativity figures made by Lagoan artisans. Mr. Medeiros said he learned the school department regularly upgrades its electronic equipment, and he asked if the old equipment could be donated to his municipality's schools.

"Like any other school department, we dreamed of having our classrooms outfitted with computers, to enable our students a hands-on learning experience," Mr. Medeiros said. "But our budget would never quite allow us to get that far. So, when I learned of the substituted computers in Taunton, I had to ask.

"The request was immediately accepted," Mr. Medeiros said. "A group of very important individuals went out of their way to make this dream possible for our schools. Among them, Dr. Ragen D. Tiliako, district director of technology, Donald L. Cleary, superintendent, Teresa Torres, coordinator of the students exchange program between Lagoa and Taunton. They spared no efforts to help us."

 Mr. Medeiros said after he got the OK from the school committee, he was faced with the task of selecting 50 working units, preparing them and packing them for a trip across the Atlantic.  "That was when Mike Botelho, James Pickering, Brian Abair and Diogo Kruger, four technicians, volunteered to help with the next task," he said. 

"Then came Rose Ferreira, Nelia Camara and Gabi Thurman, three Taunton High School students who have been part of the tri-cultural student-exchange program involving the schools of Lagoa, Taunton and Montreal. They helped with the selection and packaging."

Mr. Medeiros said businessmen Jose M. Castelo of New Bedford and Edmundo Barbosa of Bristol, R.I., and New Bedford elections commissioner Maria Tomasia were invaluable with their help on everything from packaging materials to transportation to Logan Airport.

Mr. Roberto Medeiros thanking Superintendent  Donald Cleary and Ms. Ragen Tiliakos of the Taunton Public Schools, for their gift of  50 computers to the Public Schools of Lagoa. 

"If the efforts by all these individuals made this dream possible, I have to say that to make it a reality we still needed to get the computers to the Azores. That was when SATA-Azores Express came in. The Azorean airliner volunteered to take the crates to Ponta Delgada, free of charge. When I spoke with Nuno Puim and Lucia Botelho, of the Fall River office, I was assured of free freight and a free round trip for a teacher who went to Lagoa to tutor the schools on the programs installed in the computers."

Mr. Medeiros said hundreds of students from his municipality are now reaping the benefits of having their classrooms equipped with computers. "At last, our students from all our schools have a chance to integrate new technology into their learning experience. 

"We also want to set up computer parlors, outside of the schools, where anyone, including senior citizens, can come in and use the computers free of charge. "Everyone here is happy for having received this wonderful gift from the city of Taunton. We are grateful to everyone who helped us along the way. Only with the help of beautiful people like these, do certain projects make sense.  "It is because of such initiatives developed by Lagoa that our emigrant communities continue to feel close to their homeland. This is the way we feel, and this is the way we will continue to act in the future: bringing the two communities closer together."

Mr. Nuno Puim and Teresa Torres of SATA and Mr. Roberto Medeiros at the Ponta Delgada airport. 

Mr. Medeiros said a special relationship exists between his municipality and Taunton, and between their schools. He said other than the frequent student-exchange programs between the two schools, and the cultural exhibits he regularly brings to the area, his town received recently an ambulance, courtesy of the American city.

To learn more about this beautiful Azorean town you can visit its Web site at www.virtualazores.com/lagoa, or you can write Mr. Medeiros at Largo D João III, Santa Cruz, 9560 Lagoa, S. Miguel, Azores.

Pedro Amaral can be reached at 123 Ames St., Fall River, MA 02721, or at amaral3@aol.net

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