Talk:Projects/BoomingBang
1. Project Title & Shipment Detail
Name of Project: Charikar, Afghanistan
Shipping Address You've Verified: As date gets closer we will send you the correct Charikar school address or use the ABLE office in Kabul or a contact at Roshan as a distribution center. Number of Laptops (or other hardware) You Request to Borrow: 300, XO Laptops. 100 per school, one boy's school,Hazrat Noman, and two girl's school, Hura Jalali and Malalai. All three are in Charikar. Loan Length—: 24 months, possible extension if things go well.
2. Team Participants Name(s) & Contact Info: (include all email addresses & phone numbers) Jay Corcoran, jay@wringinghands.com, jc2670@columbia.edu, corcoran.jay@gmail.com, work: 212-854-7545, cell:646-552-8795. Mashal Samsoor, ABLE Supervisor, 0093799331512
mashal007af@yahoo.com, mashal007af@hotmail.com, mashal007af@gmail.com Employer and/or School: Please see attached resume for more information.
Past Experience/Qualifications: Jay Corcoran, Documentary Filmmaker, PBS, NHK, CBC and others. Most recent project was an Internet documentary on the Afghanistan Centre at Kabul University. Current: Manager of career management digital media resource center at Columbia Business School.
Mashal Samsoor, Supervisor, Afghanistan Centre at Kabul University (ACKU), Box Libraries Extension Program (ABLE).
3. Objectives Last year I worked on an Internet documentary on the Afghanistan Centre at Kabul University, founded by Nancy Hatch Dupree. The organization provides books and school libraries for new literate Afghans. While visiting a high school in Charikar I asked a few students what they wanted. One student, Mohammad Sharif, said he and his classmates wanted computers. They are tired of war and want computers "to be their teachers." For your information I have included a link to the short video interview. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ciTdxKunWf4 Our objective is to deliver 300 computers to the Hazrat Noman, the boy's school in the video listed above and 100 laptops each to Hura Jalali and Malalai, both girl's school. We would like to establish computer labs in rural Charikar, about a 90-minute drive from Kabul City. We will designate local teachers who will maintain the computers, teach the students, and develop a curriculum. I have also included the link to the ACKU videos shot in 2009. I would like to make the same for the OLPC-Charikar, once the computers are secured. http://www.dupreefoundation.org/afghanistan-videos.htm
4. Plan of Action Plan and Procedure for Achieving the Stated Objectives: We realize there is a large OLPC presence in Kabul and would welcome any collaboration with the local team, at the same time we realize the many priorities and commitments of OLPC and other organizations such as USAID. We would like to assist with the local group and target the students in Charikar. From the video you can see there is a need, but Charikar also served as the pilot program for the first ACKU Box Library in the mid 1990's. Strong community relationships have been forged over the last decade with local teachers and the provincial council. Bringing the OX laptops to a community that has a history of, and prides itself, on the education of their children, makes the most sense. Once the computers are secured I will work with Mashal to identify teachers who would be willing to supervise the project on a day-to-day basis. Once that is in place we will work with ABLE, USAID/ASMED's regional manager and the OLPC Afghanistan Technical Implementation Team in making sure the teachers have the computers 4-6 weeks before the students receive their computers. During those 4-6 weeks we will ensure that 4-8 days are devoted to training the instructors on the laptops. I also have a contact at Roshan, a leading Afghan telecommunications firm, who has assured me if we need any logistical assistance, he and his team would be happy to assist. We also need to establish an ongoing curriculum around the computers so the students are always learning. We can set semester objectives for the students, for example, find six online resources for information about agriculture, and write a 750-word paper from what you have learned. The teachers who manage the computers can also assist in developing the curriculum. If Charikar is a success, we can then reach out to the other schools and provinces where ACKU has established relationships 5. Needs Why is this project needed? Charikar students have asked for computers to help educate them about the world. Children can no longer be the collateral damage of political corruption and war. It is our duty as world citizens to provide these young people, our future leaders, with the necessary technological resources that can assist them in reaching their short-and long-term goals. Charikar is a poor rural area. The schools I visited have no electricity and the students feel they have very little hope for advancement. Giving these young minds the chance to enhance their education and increase their opportunities through technology is not only an imperative, it is a human right. Millions of children around the world, especially in the west, have the technological resources at their fingertips. The children of Charikar, and other war-ravaged communities within Afghanistan, should have access to similar resources that can lead to increased educational and career opportunities. These children have fallen behind their peers from the rest of the world at no fault of their own. It is up to global citizens to make sure those who have expressed a need for educational resources acquire them so they can reach new personal and occupational heights. In the greater OLPC/Sugar community? The more schools and provinces where OLPC/Sugar programs are established, the better. Charikar can serve as an example and the teachers and students can serve as a mentor, like Istiqlal High School in Jalalabad, to other schools and provinces who want computers in their schools.
Outside the community? Once the students become fluent on the Internet, a world of opportunities are open to them. They might also qualify for part-time jobs within their community, helping in offices, medical facilities, any business that has computers. We can also partner students with schools in the US and Europe. Have them mentor each other. Teach each other about their way of life. Perhaps collaborate on an international project.
Why can't this project be done in emulation using non-XO machines? It can, as long as the computers work as well as the XO machines and work without electricity. The key element is getting these young people connected to the vast information available to them.
Why are you requesting the number of machines you are asking for? There are over 500 students at each school. To supply each child with a computer would be challenging. To provide enough laptops for two or three computer labs where students can visit, like a library, would be manageable. If we need to upgrade or expand, we will. Will you consider (1) salvaged/rebuilt or (2) damaged XO Laptops? Yes, As long as they work and do not continually break down.
6. Sharing Deliverables Project URL—where you'll report specific ongoing progress: I can start a word press/tumblr blog and also add updates the OLPC wiki. http://wiki.laptop.org/go/OLPC_Afghanistan/Deployment_News How will you convey tentative ideas & results back to the OLPC/Sugar community, prior to completion? I can keep and update a blog, once the computers are received we can have the students contribute their own thoughts, in their own language, but we can translate into English. How will the final fruits of your labor be distributed to children or community members worldwide? As a documentary filmmaker I hope to apply for a travel grant to document the arrival of the computers and conduct a follow up visit six months later to chart the progress. While the video is being made, we can keep up the blog, record audio updates in Dari and Pashtun, and partner with a local radio station for updates. Will your work have any possible application or use outside our community? If the shooting goes well I can possibly make a short documentary on the challenges of bringing technology to war-torn areas. Having worked in video for over 15 years, there are fewer mediums that are as powerful at raising awareness and support than video. If yes, how will these people be reached? Website, blog, press releases, video, audio/slide show, radio, tv, film festivals. Media is one of the few bright spots in Afghanistan. We can pitch a short web-i-sode or audio cast to one of the radio/tv stations, and create a monthly update. Have you investigated working with nearby XO Lending Libraries or Project Groups? No, but am happy to, I have no contact information and have emailed a couple of times to the general OLPC mailbox and have never heard back. I am grateful for any contact information.
7. Quality/Mentoring Would your Project benefit from Support, Documentation and/or Testing people? Yes. Teachers' input into Usability? Yes How will you promote your work? As I said above, I can write, blog, write for education journals, but most powerful, I can create engaging videos that tell the story of OLPC impacting the youth in Charikar. From these images, other people might be inspired to support this initiative. We can have students write their own testimonials and send them to schools in other provinces. Maybe have senior students in Jalalbad and Charikar choose a school and implement a XO laptop program from A-Z. This allows them to not only teach what they have learned, but puts them in roles of leadership and the ability to develop those skills. Can we help you with an experienced mentor from the OLPC/Sugar community? If YES: specify the kind of Ongoing Mentoring that will benefit you most. Someone who will respond to my questions within a reasonable time, 3-7 days.
8. Timeline (Start to Finish) Please include a Proposed timeline for your Project life-cycle: (this can be in the form of Month 1, Month 2, etc rather than specific dates) Include a couple milestones, even if tentative. Month 1 Write project and research alternative programs and find networking contacts/mentor. Find the contact information for someone who has done this in Afghanistan. Month 2 Re-work the proposal and re-submit, if required. Month 3 Secure 300 computers Month 4 Work with ACKU, USAID, Roshan to work out all logistics and training. Apply for a travel grant to document the process on both ends, e.g., the OLPC team as they gather the computers, deliver them first to the instructors and train them, then prepare them for the students. Spend a couple of days at the schools before the computers arrive. Try to capture the anticipation of the students before the computers arrive, ask them what they hope to learn from having computers, do they think their lives will change in any way, if so how, etc. Work with teachers to develop objectives for program. Month 5 Travel to Kabul and Charikar and document what I described above. Also document if there are any hurdles, the resistance some community members might have for technology, etc. Month 11 Travel back to Kabul and Charikar and document progress. What are the benefits, challenges, what have we learned, what can we do better, what can we repeat, and how can we help another school who wants XO laptops. Month 16 Premier the OLPC documentary at the Kabul International Film Festival. Specify how you prefer to communicate your ongoing progress and obstacles! Blog updates and/or use the Wiki.
[X ] I agree to pass on the laptop(s) to a local OLPC group or other interested contributors in case I do not have need for the laptop(s) anymore or in case my project progress stalls.
