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EDUCATION
MAZII - CONNECTING THE YOUNG AND OLD THROUGH TECHNOLOGY
By Joel I. Klein, Michael Lomax and Janet Murguía
Meet Andrea Lawrence, Executive Director and Founder of Mazii. Mazii is an organization which seeks to bridge the gap between the young and the old by bringing them together through technology. Through her Golden Technology program, she sets up labs in senior centers to teach seniors how to use the computer. This business extends a beautiful and fulfilling message to help others. Through Mazii, she gets the young people to help the older adults with technology. “We can teach them to use their computer, cell phone, or even the remote control,” Andrea said. “It is a wonderful experience to watch the young helping the old,” she explained.
Andrea, who is originally from Jamaica, went back to visit taking her 8 year-old son. Her grandmother, Birdella Campbell told her that if she had gotten her a cell phone, that they could have communicated. Andrea said that this was the moment it all became clear to her as to what to do. She watched her son help her grandmother learn to use the phone. She said it was at that point, “I could imagine grandmothers all over the world using technology.”
Soon after that, she was laid off from work and began selling her etched glasswork, as she is also a fabulous artist. She used the sales from the art work to begin the business of teaching the elderly.
She started the first class at the Boulevard Senior Center in East New York. The seniors were so elated with the program that they got together and wrote a grant to have Mazii teach them technology. Since then, Mazii has graduated more than 200 seniors, from ages 50-96 including those here featured with New York State Senator, Marty Golden who came out to congratulate the seniors and to issue their certificates for completing the Golden Technology course.
Andrea Lawrence is very skilled and compassionate in her approach to building her organization. One of the student teachers professed, “ I would do anything to help Andrea and Mazii. Mazii is a Greek term meaning, “bringing people together.” Andrea Lawrence is doing just that.
In addition to her sheer love and passion for bringing people together, she is educated in the field of Computer Science in which she holds a Bachelor’s Degree, and she holds two Master’s Degrees, one in Instructional Technology, and is currently working on a Doctorate in Organization Leadership. The youth leaders involved in the program, (shown above) are learning keens skills too, as they undergo intensive technical training, sensitivity training, entrepreneur and corporate training.
Mazii has other great programs like the Technology for Everyone, and the Intergenerational Film Festival where older people are making movies about their lives.
If you would like to learn more about technology for seniors, and Mazii, contact Andrea Lawrence at info@mazii.org or call 718-492-6960 www.mazii.org
