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When twelve of her students enrolled in the final stage of the Caritas Austria “Computer ABC Programme” in Vienna, their trainer Sophie Wogenstein was nervous. These women had overcome great odds to make it this far, and now were nearing an important test: certification via the European Computer Driver’s License (ECDL). The ECDL certifies that holders possess basic ICT literacy. For the women Caritas serves, it represents the prestige of accomplishment and a key to the workforce — the Austrian Labor Market Service requires the ECDL in order to access its employment services.
Many of the women served by Caritas come from the ranks of what Austrians call “the hidden homeless.” “I failed at my work, my family, and at school, so I will fail at this too,” Sophie recalls one student lamenting.
They have a long road home. Caritas takes anyone who walks in the door, precisely because no one else will. The women either live in Caritas housing facilities, or they are in severe financial straits and at risk of homelessness. Many are immigrants who also face a language barrier and cultural separation. Many others have little formal education, come from broken homes or violence, and have children but not the means to care for them. They have fallen through the cracks, and Caritas facilities are their link back into society. The Vienna office is one of nine offices nationwide, serving scores of different service centers. Through its urban setting Caritas Vienna encounters clients with the greatest challenges. And now ICT training and ECDL certification are part of the story.
“This learning thing”
In late 2006 Caritas Vienna began an ambitious program to bring ICT skills to these Caritas women. The pilot program consists of trainings delivered to the women where they are, often housed with their children or in centers receiving services. Elizabeth Miltner, the project coordinator, has worked with Caritas for five years and has learned that successful programs often must go directly to the women in need. When the programs do arrive, Elizabeth explains, they provide “a step out of the exclusion.” Exclusion from family, exclusion from society, and exclusion from “this learning thing” that they especially fear.
Rather than setting up yet another opportunity to fail — offering the courses at a single training center, and trying to get students there — Caritas devised a mobile training center. They were able to match the support of Microsoft Unlimited Potential with an in-kind donation from Fujitsu and Seimens to acquire several laptops. Together with software, salaries for trainers, childcare, and the existing Caritas service infrastructure, the trainers designed a program to address the unique needs of their clients. Training was broken into three phases: an introductory “Coaching” unit, Training I, which begins ECDL studies, and Training II, which leads students through the final steps and into the exam itself.
Elizabeth, the project coordinator, emphasizes the