Carson High senior to help children in Ghana

Porfirio Jauregui, a senior at Carson High School, is applying to some of the nation’s most prestigious universities — Stanford, Harvard, MIT — with the intention to study computer science and business.

“I would like to be surrounded by some of the greatest minds in the country,” he said. “I want to go out there and create technology that revolutionizes the way the world works.”

Although he likely has the credentials to be admitted, he knows he will need to rely on scholarships, grants and other sources of funding to pay for it.

“My family by no means has a lot of money,” he said. “The only reason I can have a life of privilege is because of the kindness of others.”

And he wants to extend that kindness to others who may also be in need. As part of his senior project, Jauregui, 18, is teaming up with The Let Them Be Kids volunteer organization to help students in Ghana.

“It’s just really important that everyone has access to education,” he said. “I take it very personally.”

Jauregui is setting up shop this week in the back room of Comma Coffee. He will be there 5-8 p.m. tonight and Friday to work on people’s computers to remove viruses, install anti-virus software, make them run smoothly, and teach anyone who is interested about the basics of using a computer and the Internet. While the service is free, he will be accepting donations for Let Them Be Kids.

Let Them Be Kids recently helped build classrooms for the Anyirawase L.A. Primary School in the Ho Municipality of the Volta Region of Ghana. However, the school still is in need of teaching supplies.

Rather than provide books and other materials, which would be costly and soon outdated, Jauregui said, the program aims to supply the school with an Internet connection and computers.

“They plan to send solar powered generators, laptops, and a satellite connected Internet receiver,” Jauregui said. “This would supply them with a ‘do-everything’ educational tool that always has the latest information. It also opens up relevant career opportunities to the children. These careers would include software engineer, systems analyst, and network security specialist among the other careers that are growing exponentially.”

Donations are also being accepted at http://www.gofundme.com/5j19bo.

“The kids in Ghana could really use this because they have a strong community like ours, but are missing the resources that we have,” he said.” It’s why I decided to do this project in the first place. I’m just glad that the community I live in is so generous and supportive. I’ve never seen a bad side of Carson City.”