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—Rodrigo Baggio

By Paul Constance

Call him the geek with a conscience.

Rodrigo Baggio taught himself software programming at age 12, when his father gave him a Paralógica TK-82–the first personal computer widely sold in Brazil. "From that point forward I was fascinated by computing," says the 29-year-old Rio de Janeiro native.

But unlike other stereotypically self-absorbed computer enthusiasts, Baggio also showed an early interest in society. Even as he was mastering the TK-82, he volunteered as a coordinator at a sports program for street kids from Rio's notorious favelas. "That really shook me up," he recalls, "because it showed me a reality that was very different from mine."

At 15 Baggio volunteered to help manage the Rio office of an extractive reserve in the Amazon jungle. Soon he had designed environmental management software for the reserve that integrated satellite imagery and data from field studies. After a brief stint studying social sciences at Rio’s Federal University, Baggio was lured away by a job offer from Andersen Consulting, which put him to work as a programmer.

The corporate world proved too slow for the preternaturally restless Baggio. At age 22, with his father's help, he opened Baggio Informática, a computer and systems integration business. Among his early clients was a group of private schools that was so impressed with his work that they asked him to create a computing class that would complement the traditional curriculum. His class—which used interactive software to enliven subjects such as astronomy, anatomy and biology—was a hit. Through word of mouth, Baggio soon had more clients than he could handle. "I started making a lot of money," he says. "I bought an apartment, a car, a boat, cell phones."

By 1993, he was also feeling "very unhappy," Baggio says."I was so busy that I had dropped my efforts in the social area." One night he had a dream in which he saw poor children using computers "to discuss their own reality." The dream set off a chain reaction that culminated the following year, when Baggio formed the Committee for Computer Science Democratization (known as CDI in Brazil). His goal was to teach "computing and citizenship" to young people in favelas so that they could improve their chances of finding a job while discussing ways to tackle their communities' problems.

Baggio offers software tips to students at one of 107 computing schools in Brazilan favelas (Photo: CDI)

The idea was dismissed as crazy "by 99 percent of the people I shared it with," recalls Baggio. Eventually, through sheer persistence, Baggio found a Catholic Church in the Santa Marta favela that agreed to give him space to start the school. A large clothing store donated five state-of-the-art computers, and a nongovernmental organization agreed to coordinate everything. Possibly because of Baggio’s earlier exploits, local and national media mobbed the school on its opening day, giving the project much-needed publicity. "I went from 'madman' to 'visionary,' overnight," jokes Baggio.

During the first two days of registration, the school signed up 600 12- to 30-year-old youths eager to learn about computing. Baggio recruited volunteers to train local teachers and devised a flexible system of one- to three-month courses with either morning or afternoon sessions. The courses cover basic software applications like word processing and spreadsheets, plus more advanced subjects including computer maintenance. Students learn spreadsheets by processing figures on local health indicators; they use word processors to print community newspapers and pamphlets.

Tuition covers costs. Baggio's idea has spread like a computer virus. Since 1994, CDI has helped open a total of 107 computing schools in poor neighborhoods in 13 Brazilian states. Some 32,000 youths have already taken the courses. Though the schools continue to depend on donated computers and facilities, they are financially self-sufficient, thanks to a modest tuition fee, averaging $3 per month, that provides a decent wage for instructors—all of whom must live in the community where the school is located.

Most recently, groups in Japan, the Philippines and Colombia have invited Baggio to come and tell them how they can replicate his program.

His next goal? "I'm asking telephone companies to donate telephone lines so that all Brazilian schools can get Internet connections," he says. CDI has launched a new drive, called "Campanha Conectar" to also collect donated modems and other equipment necessary to hook up existing computers. "Today only three of our schools in Rio and two in Minas Gerais are connected," Baggio says. "But in three months, we expect half of our schools to be online."

For more information on CDI and their current projects, go to www.cdi.com.br

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