Shpresa Gjeca had not seen her three children in Albania for almost a year - but thanks to a unique NUI Galway project she is now able to chat to them on camera almost every day. Two Iraqi dentists, a Siberian economist and an Israeli Junior Cert student are also residents of the west coast's first "online global village" for asylum-seekers.
The busy computer room in Salthill's Eglinton Hotel, Galway, could also be the first of its type in the State, according to Brendan Smith, community/education officer with the Digital Enterprise Research Institute (DERI) at NUI Galway.
Not only have participants in the project such as Shpresa overcome severe isolation through learning how to link back to their homes with webcams, they have also set up their own individual and community blogs - or online diaries.
Shpresa and her husband, Osman Gjeca, a vet, and Baghdad dentists Adil and Huda Jafer were among some 48 asylum-seekers from the Middle East, Burundi, Nigeria, Kenya and Liberia who received web technology certificates yesterday from Minister for Community, Rural and Gaeltacht Affairs Éamon Ó Cuív.
Mayor of Galway Niall Ó Brolcháin (Green Party) also participated in the presentation.
In the Jafers' case, the blogs they have created include positive images from Iraq, such as Sunni and Shia groups marching together - the couple are themselves in a mixed marriage, which was why they had to leave with their two children.
Vladislave Korenblat (11) is a Russian/Israeli blogmaster who is currently at St Nicholas's Parochial National School, Galway. He has mounted an online photo gallery, while economist Dmitriy Vershinin has established links with local radio stations back in his native Omsk in Siberia.
