Computers have almost no secrets for young Arlie Hamm, from London. The self-taught technician has been honing his talents for four years. Now 10 years old, he now wants to put them at the service of people in need.
Most families who don’t have a computer probably need one for work or school
observes Arlie, who spends long hours dismantling and reassembling computer parts.
I think it would be nice if they had one to do all that.
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Jeffrey Hamm supports his son, Arlie, in his project of repairing old computers and donating them to people in need.
Photo: CBC / Alessio Donnini
To help him make his wish come true, his father Jeffrey recently made a post on social networks, asking for donations of used or defective computers that his son could repair in order to then give them to poor people or to charitable organizations. charity.
I was surprised by the response. People in the region not only donated their old computers, which still work or need repairs, but we also heard some great stories. A mother told us that her son, who had followed the same path [qu’Arlie]now works for Disney
says Jeffrey Hamm.
A London hardware store even gave him nine computers on Tuesday.
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Arlie Hamm recently received a donation of nine computers from the hardware store owned by Chuck Bergeron.
Photo: Provided by Jeffrey Hamm
-It’s great. We kill two birds with one stone. I know they will be recycled well now and they help a young boy follow his passion
notes the owner of the business, Chuck Bergeron.
It’s really a passion, confirms Arlie, who even takes pleasure in taming old operating systems like Windows 98. Each computer is a unique puzzle that he must set out to solve, he emphasizes. .
With one of the computers, it was the hard drive that no longer worked. I went to get a replacement part and it works now. Sometimes there is no hard drive or the RAM is missing.
I’ve assembled a computer from scratch once in the past and when you know where all the parts go, it’s pretty easy because there aren’t that many. It’s quite easy to place them all. Repairs are even easier
notes the budding technician.
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Arlie Hamm often removes parts from one computer to use to repair another.
Photo: CBC / Alessio Donnini
His father finds that his son’s work has an important ecological impact.
Second-hand stores often don’t even resell computers, so they end up going in the trash. [Arlie] gives them a second life
he concludes.
With information from CBC’s Alessio Donnini
