Rohingya and the Digital Divide
How the Burmese Rohingya Community of Wisconsin is addressing the needs of the community and increasing digital access and literacy
By Andrew L. Trumbull
Rohingya in the United States face severe language and technological barriers that stem from years of persecution, interrupted education, and denial or lack of access to many services and opportunities that we have. When they arrive in the United States, for many these barriers are overwhelming and there isn’t enough time for them to learn all the systems and technology, let alone hope to acquire a high level of English acquisition and literacy.
While cell phone use is more universal in the Rohingya community, computer use is less frequent, especially so for adults. Rohingya have had limited access and experience using PCs, so learning how to use one while struggling with English is very challenging. Rohingya need access to technology, especially because they have had limited access before their arrival, and certainly because technology plays an ever-growing role in our lives, in our education, and how we get things done.
Here in Milwaukee, the Burmese Rohingya Community of Wisconsin (BRCW) is addressing some of these needs by providing technical training, implementing tech-forward education programs using platforms like DynEd, Khan Academy. We also fulfill needs by sourcing, fixing, and distributing PCs and other hardware and tech. Last year we purchased and donated 200 Koss Headsets, and have sourced and donated over 60 laptops and desktops. We also assist Rohingya in getting set up with inexpensive internet for their homes, and make sure that every student has a Chromebook to use during remote schooling.
The pandemic posed serious challenges to our operations and we had to move to technology- based solutions seemingly overnight. It was already clear that we needed to address the digital divide, but the pandemic exacerbated those needs to a great extent. To bridge the divide, we moved our outreach efforts online and offered remote tutoring over the summer and helped place over 20 tutors during the following remote school year. It has been far from an ideal situation, but in hindsight perhaps these events will serve to remind us how important digital access is, and how important it is for vulnerable and hard to reach communities to gain access.
We would hope that every community that struggles and toils with technology receives the support they need to make sure the baseline digital needs are taken care of, and that everyone in this country can grow up with equitable access to technology. In this day and age access to the internet is essentially a utility; we wouldn’t allow someone to be denied electricity, gas, or water — the same should be true about internet access.
Andrew Trumbull is the Co-founder & Managing Director of the Burmese Rohingya Community of Wisconsin, a member of the AAPI Coalition of Wisconsin.
To contact the Rohingya Community if Wisconsin, call (414) 502 8893 or email them at info.brcw@gmail.com. To learn more, visit their website at and Facebook at @BRCWMKE.
