One of the District of Columbia’s scholarship recipients is Zarinah El-Amin. Zarinah is a graduate of Howard University’s class of 2001 in Computer Science. During Zarinah’s tenure at Howard, she was fortunate enough to receive the Open Door Education Scholarship in the Spring of 2000 and Spring of 2001. She congratulates the Open Door Education Foundation and the National Association of Computer Consultant Businesses for accepting the responsibility of giving back. Without this scholarship, Zarinah would not have been able to attend Howard University.

Zarinah’s computer science degree has truly been an asset to her hometown of Detroit and abroad. Following graduation, Zarinah worked to set up a small children’s computer lab at her mosque. However, it soon became clear that by focusing on every child being computer literate, many adults were left out and they wanted the same opportunities. Zarinah took action and she began instructing seniors who didn’t even know how to turn a computer on.

While Zarinah was working at the lab, she was waiting for her Peace Corp assignment to begin. When she was informed that her assignment was being deferred, Zarinah traveled to Egypt and became certified as a teacher of English as a Second Language. During that time Zarinah became acquainted with refugees being transferred to America with absolutely no knowledge of computers. So Zarinah decided to teach basic computer literacy and Internet skills. The students were determined and soon the four young men who had never heard of a mouse as hardware were now teaching their friends at local Internet cafes. This was amazing and to say the least, a pivotal point in Zarinah life. It is Zarinah’s hope that we can bridge the digital divide both abroad and at home.