Code for success: Hong Kong computing school trains refugees to work in IT
NGO RefuGeek teaches practical tech and design skills to asylum seekers so that they can better their lives. Its first graduate is working as a systems engineer in the US
More than two years after moving to the United States, Sivasuthan Somasundaram still misses life in Hong Kong – even though his time in the city was spent as a refugee.
The 25-year-old Sri Lankan has certified as an IT systems engineer and now travels across the country from Seattle to New Jersey on contract jobs. But he might have been struggling in low-paying jobs in the US if it weren’t for the free training he initially received from BSD Code and Design Academy, a computer training school in Hong Kong with an offshoot in Bangkok.
Somasundaram is the pilot student in a programme that BSD initiated to teach practical technology and design skills to refugees so that they can better their lives. It has since been formalised as a non-profit venture, RefuGeek.
BSD co-founder Chris Geary got the idea of offering such training to refugees after taking part in a charity coding event with Christian Action in 2012.
The NGO serves disadvantaged communities in Hong Kong and China, particularly displaced people. Among other things, Geary learned that Christian Action runs classes to give refugees useful skills for work in housekeeping and warehousing, which started him thinking about how his company might help them through technology.
“When refugees get resettled, one of the first things they need is a job, and one of the growing industries is technology,” Geary says. “We thought this would be an incredible opportunity because it’s within our resources to support, and we can build a curriculum and even train volunteers [to teach].”