Community Voice

When Technology and Community Come Together
By Nguyen Phuong Vinh

I met Ms. Kayo, a resident of the Miyako Gardens Building, the first afternoon I started with Little Tokyo Unplugged. Christian, an intern before me also with the Little Tokyo Unplugged Project, needed to visit her to check the wireless signal at her house, so I followed him to her apartment. That first day, I had a feeling that the Internet was essential to her life when she went back and forth explaining to Christian the problem with her Internet signal.

After that afternoon, I saw her sometimes strolling around the Japanese Village Plaza in her wheelchair, and sometimes hanging out at the DISKovery Center. A person was busy at an age she should have deserved a rest; this induced me to want to talk to her. After several attempts, I was finally able to schedule a talk with her before I completed my internship in Los Angeles.

It was almost 4:00 PM at the DISKovery Center. Ms. Kayo was working on an assignment for the Advanced Computer Skills course. The Center offered several classes on computer skills for the Little Tokyo residents with a small fee, and even free in return for some volunteer hours. Ms. Kayo volunteered on Friday afternoons, answering phones and mentoring others. She often helped other students in the Beginner Course if they could not catch up with the class.

Looking at the complicated graphics and tables she was working on, I asked her if the computer class was difficult. She turned to me with assertiveness and encouragement filled in her voice and her eyes, "It is kind of difficult but you can follow." And I believed her.

As she talked with me, she was about to finish designing some name cards for her friends. When I looked at them, I could not help but exclaim “wow!”

"I just followed the professor's instructions."

Even when not requested, she loved to come to the Center to study, meet with people or browse the Internet. The Internet helped her keep in touch with her only daughter, get updates about sports events, and find services in the community. "I wish that the wireless network will expand to my house so that I can go on the Internet at home early in the morning or at night time when the Center is not open". Leaving the Center, I wish that the wireless project would come to her home soon. I also wish she would complete her autobiography soon to share with her daughter her life stories.