OLPCorps Africa

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Welcome to OLPCorps Africa, a new student-based, grassroots OLPC initiative.
Please join our OLPCorps Mailing List to receive important updates about OLPCorps Africa
Can't find what you're looking for below? Try our Frequently Asked Questions page.

Notice there's room for discussing things in the Talk Page
We've posted a notice asking for comments. Please help translate it and pass it on. If you want to get involved in a support role, please see our Support Committee page.

How to Write a Project Proposal

Thinking about starting your proposal? Not sure where to start? This section should answer some of your questions. Don't be afraid to ask questions & collaborate - we're better as a team. Keep in mind, up to 100 teams are receiving 100 XOs each.

In the end, all teams will be working together for 10 days in Kigali before deploying. Our goal is to form a network of African deployments which support learning for years to come. Before your team applies, consider the following suggestions we've outlined below.

Proposal deadline is by March 27th. Send yours to <OLPCorps@laptop.org> with the following title: "OLPCorps_YourUniversity_CountryinAfrica_LastName". Proposals will not be considered if they exceed the 750 word limit (hyperlinks are ok), are submitted in a language other than English, do not mention technical and NGO support, or do not focus on children & learning.

Accepted Proposals will be announced April 10th.

Below are a few helpful guidelines from the OLPCorps Team which must be covered in designing your proposal.

Proposal formatting:

  • Proposals must be in English.
  • Length of Proposal must not exceed 750 words.
  • Hyper-linked text is allowed throughout the proposal.

Proposal contents:

  • Answer the basics: who, what, when, where. Most importantly, KEEP IT CONCISE AND DIRECTLY TO THE POINT.
  • How will you work with children? Are the children in school from June-August? Are they on break? Address how you will deal with children and learning with their schedule.
  • Who is the local partner? How will you follow-up? Partner with groups capable of maintaining the deployment after you leave. Is there an academic institution, NGO, community organization, etc. willing to oversee the project after August? Do you have family ties in the community? What's going to happen when you leave?
    • Include a letter of support from the local partner (this doesn't count towards your 750 word limit). Make sure you show that together you're capable of handling the receipt of a 230 kg package of laptops and equipment. Where will you store the equipment during the deployment?
  • How will this impact 6-12 yr old children? All proposals must be about kids 6-12 years old and their learning. A proposal gets stronger as soon as the group can show that children are the agents of change, not just the objects of teaching.
    • Stick to OLPC's Core Principles: child ownership, low ages, saturation, connection, and free and open source.
  • Describe your project's financial needs. As an attachment (that doesn't count towards the 750 word limit), provide a brief budget for the project. Include travel costs (to Kigali and your deployment community), housing for 9 weeks (can your local partner help here?), and other project-related expenses. Remember that OLPC will only grant up to $10,000 and that you do not need to include XOs, accessories, or Kigali accomodations in your budget. If you have a creative project-based idea that needs funding, let us know.
    • Be realistic with your budget. It will determine how much money you'll receive.
    • But also be economical where possible. If we think a team's budget is wasteful or unrealistic, we will consider that in evaluating the proposal.
  • How will you provide financial support after you leave? OLPC is dedicating significant time and resources to create learning environments throughout Africa! How can you show that your team can provide financial support after you leave?
    • Research your university's grant programs, student associations, alumni networks, and other avenues of funding to sustain your deployment.
  • Communication - do you share the language of the school or community where you will be working? If not, how will this be overcome?


Note: Upon acceptance, you will be asked to provide proof as a student. This will be verified by the dean of your department, for instance.


Publishing Project Proposals

As you develop your team's project proposal, you should post it to the wiki. This is the only way the OLPCorps team and the OLPC community can provide feedback for your proposal before the submission deadline. Please note: you still must e-mail your proposal as described above by March 27th. Below are the steps to publish your Project Proposal wiki page:

  • Step 1: Create your own project proposal wiki page
  • Step 2: Enter your information in the newly created wiki page. Click on the "Edit" tab of different wiki pages (especially OLPCorps examples and this page) to see how to write and format the wiki.
  • Step 3: Connect your Project Proposal to the main OLPCorps wiki page (this page). In your short summary below, type the following to link your Project Proposal to this site: OLPCorps_UniversityName_Deployment Country, which should be the same format as your Project Proposal URL.


OLPCorps Africa

OLPCorps Africa Applicants

Below is a regularly updated list of teams across the globe applying to OLPCorps Africa. Missing a key component to your proposal's design? Need a technical lead? Need a pedagogical lead? Working in an off-grid environment? Here's your chance to partner up with like-minded students to change the world. Power in numbers, right?

Indiana University (IU)

Under the auspices of One Here...One There, a non-for-profit org. driven to mitigate educational disparities in sub-Saharan Africa, the Indiana University OLPC chapter is comprised of mostly liberal-arts students with an interest in alternative learning environments and international development. With technical support through the Kliptown Youth Project (KYP), the IU OLPC chapter distributed 115 XOs (15 thanks to Larry Weber) to 3 separate rural primary schools in Limpopo, South Africa from Aug-Sept '08, in addition to establishing power and internet. The team continues to support South African OLPC deployments in various ways, including its first XO Camp in Johannesburg, networking and support for future deployments, and the like. IU OLPC is applying to the OLPCorps Africa program with the hope of saturating the already participating schools in South Africa. Contact Joe Peoni (jpeoni@indiana.edu) for any questions relating to our program. IU OHOT is looking for a team member to assist in translation, specifically to/from Sepedi.

Global Minimum (GMin), Harvard, Princeton, Indiana University, etc

GMin- www.gmin.org , is a dynamic international organization based on the principle that we can use minimal resources to reduce some of the world's larger problems to a minimum through well-researched and executed projects. Of course, one can think of it as the "least we can do". We work predominantly in Sierra Leone at the moment- where we have successfully carried out Malaria Eradication projects and recently, distributed about 30 XOs to a small community in Sahn Malen, Sierra Leone. GMin will apply to the OLPCorps Africa program because to us, this is one of the best ways to improve education on a grass root level. For more information, contact info@gmin.org

Cornell OLPC

A team led by socially conscious Information Science students from Cornell is planning a trip to deploy laptops in Mauritania. One team member’s brother is currently in the Peace Corps in the town of Tidjikja teaching at a primary school. We have held two meetings so far and are confident about the team that we are putting together. We have both technical expertise and a direct contact currently on the ground in our deployment area, which will remain for another year after the laptops are given out. This will enable a smooth transition for the laptop program and make sure that the program continues to succeed after the summer project is finished. We will continue to edit our proposal as more information becomes available. If anyone wants to collaborate, has questions or is just generally interested feel free to contact us at eal95@cornell.edu. Our website is www.cornellolpc.com, at the bottom you can find our draft deployment guide/project proposal.

UMB OLPC

OLPC University of Massachusetts Boston: UNCHOSEN AFRICAN COUNTRY

Members: Olesia Plokhii, John Keniley

PROPOSAL/MISSION/MANIFESTO: Our goal is to turn children into agents of change by empowering them with new media tools—a computer—to be citizen journalists. Using word tools and multimedia apps, we hope to get FLIP—a small, handheld camera the size of a phone—to sponsor our mission and donate 100 flips to our community so we can incorporate word, audio, and video to create a story of each child’s life that will ultimately be broadcast to other XO laptop-participating countries and the USA, promoting a global network of educated youth. An integral part of the child’s project—uploaded on a sharing site that is blog-enabled—will be to document the effect of AIDS on children and their families, with a focus on creating AIDS awareness within the community. PLEASE ADD SUGGESTIONS HERE. email: olesia_p@hotmail.com, jkeniley@hotmail.com

Mount Holyoke Tanzania

I am currently working on a proposal for this targeting Tanzania. Awaiting feedback of an NGO confirmation. Will be putting up regular updates!!

Jamii OLPC

Real, sustainable development comes from the people who make cities, towns and villages communities.

This is the foundational principle of Jamii OLPC (Jamii means "community" in Kiswahili). Please visit our OLPC wiki page for more information!

SEEKING: A Pedagogical Lead!! Are you a graduate student with a background in early childhood education, who is interested in working with a small, dynamic and experienced team? Check out the position details here, and email JamiiOLPC@gmail.com to apply!

UPDATE: We are currently in the process of confirming a partner school. We are in discussion with an interested school in Tanzania, as well as in contact with several other interested individuals connected with schools in Tanzania and Kenya. In the interest of creating the most sustainable project, we are engaging in in-depth discussion with the schools before a partnership is solidified. However, we hope to have a confirmed partner by March 16, 2009.

Stanford University

We are three Stanford Students interested in working with a primary school in Africa this summer to implement a health education and collaboration program using the XO laptops. As a group we have extensive experience in international health and working with nonprofits. One of our team members is the Managing Director of FACE AIDS, a national student run nonprofit dedicated to mobilizing and inspiring students to fight AIDS in Africa, and our other two members work for the national team. We all have strong academic backgrounds in global health and social justice as well as experience working in under served communities, both domestically and overseas. More information to come on the details of our project!

If you're interested in working with us, please contact us at marlene@faceaids.org


University of Pennsylvania OLPC

Developing Brighter Futures

We are a team of students from the University of Pennsylvania interested in working in a rural region of southwest Cameroon to improve education. We know that a better education for youth leads to a better and stronger community. With the OLPCorps we will have the opportunity to partner with the United Action for Children, a NGO that works with rural English speaking communities between Mamfe and Buea in Cameroon. The main school of the UAC is the Jamadianle School in Buea which serves a growing population of 615 elementary school students. Collaborating with the UAC we have developed a series of projects related to computer literacy and education that will be implemented this summer to enhance their mission and continue their goals of providing a strong education and community center for this rural region.


Utah State University OLPC

The XO Go core team brings both students and professionals from Utah State University and the UNGANA Foundation together during June 2009 for a collaboration founded on local expertise, holistic creativity, and vocational empowerment. Fundamentally, the XO Go Program empowers an already impressive youth, building global support networks and fostering creativity in a real-world setting. The XO Go core team will implement and deploy XO Laptops to the orphans of Gisenyi, Rwanda, focusing opportunities for English education, money-management, and community support.

Interested? Check out our working project proposal: http://wiki.laptop.org/go/OLPCorps_USU_Rwanda [1]

Please contact ashley@unganafoundation.org for questions, comments, and ofcourse, welcomed collaboration.

Royal Institute of of Technology (KTH), Sweden

School: Royal Institute of Technology (KTH), Stockholm, Sweden
Team Name: OLPCorps_KTH_ETHIOPIA
Team Memembers: Kidis Getachew, Bemnet Tesfaye, and Luelseged Asrade
Deployment Location: Bahir Dar, Ethiopia

Proposal
We are a team of three international master’s students in KTH, Sweden. We are applying for the OLPCorp Africa project in order to deploy XOs in a small primary school called Yekatit 23 found in the town of Bahir Dar, Ethiopia. Since all the team members are originally from Ethiopia, we will have no obstacle related to language barriers and luck of local knowledge. Our understanding of various problems in education present in developing countries is not a mere theory, rather it is more of a personal experience that we all have undergone through and it’s something that we would like to change. Our local knowledge and experience couples well with our technical background in IT as noted in the [about us section].

So far we had three meetings, and we have answered questions related to identifying deployment location and appropriate local partners and determining how we should localize existing contents and create new services. Currently we are working on other practical issues including budgeting and establishing a formal agreement with our local partners. Specifically, we are working towards convincing the Ethiopian Engineering Capacity Building Program (ECBP), which deployed around 5000 XOs in the year 2007(see [OLPC_Ethiopia]), to be our local partner. So far the main challenge has been getting the initial contacts in ECBP. The next obvious thing to do will be to demonstrate how our small sized deployment could be part of previous deployments. In order to facilitate this, we are receiving appreciable support from our colleagues at Bahir Dar University and from Yekatit 23 primary school.

If you need more info about the team go to http://wiki.laptop.org/go/OLPCorps_KTH_ETHIOPIA
To contact us send an email to merha<at>kth.se. We welcome all questions comments and suggestions with great value.

Bucknell OLPC

Learning Through Exploration, Communication, and Innovation.

Participating School: Bucknell University
Deployment Location: Umuariam, Nigeria

The Bucknell OLPC team is committed to bringing 100 XO laptops to a rural primary school in Umuariam, Nigeria. We have an established contact (family based) from the school who will be able to support the project once we leave.

  • Exploration

We are dedicated to the constructionist pedagogical techniques advocated by the OLPC Association. We believe that learning through exploration is one of the most effective educational techniques we could employ.

  • Communication

We do not learn alone. We are social beings. As such, we felt it was important to include a strong communication component into our proposal. We have accomplished this through a proposed collaboration between a US primary school and the deployment school. The students will be provided with blogs and a student partner from the collaborating institution. In this way, the students can share and learn from one another in a highly expressive and personal way.

  • Innovation

The innovation is provided by the OLPC XO laptops, and we fully intend to utilize these machines to their maximum ability.

We welcome all questions or comments. Please direct all correspondence to: kyleolivo@gmail.com
Project Link: [Bucknell OLPC]

University of Delaware OLPC

A rough draft of our proposal is located here: [2] Please contact Jeff - jjm4114@yahoo.com - if you have any feedback whatsoever. Constructive criticism is welcome and appreciated!

We are a group of three Masters students at the School of Urban Affairs and Public Policy at the University of Delaware [3], proposing the deployment of approximately 250 XO laptops to St. Pius Academy English Primary School in Tarakea, Tanzania. One of our team members is an international student from Tanzania with an extensive local network including family and colleagues in Tarakea. A second team member has both visited and developed relationships with community members in Tarakea through initial development of a volunteer tourism program to support local schools in the area. We have confirmed a classroom partnership with an identified school in Durham, North Carolina, to promote cross-cultural learning through virtual sharing of local information, student-led identification of community needs and collaborative problem solving. We are in the process of receiving letters of support, pricing internet-delivery to Tarakea, soliciting donations of GPS units and digital cameras, and creating/identifying an existing collaborative fundraising website that aggregates individual charitable donations similar to Kiva.org [4], GlobalGiving[5], DonorsChoose [6], and Global Literacy Foundation [7] to facilitate the provision of funding to meet student-identified community needs and, if needed, to provide partial funding for the project.

California State University San Bernardino (CSUSB) OLPC

XO KV (Kiddies vision) 6-12 is the proposed project program name for the OLPCorps Africa grassroots initiative in Nigeria that will give kids limitless access to knowledge as well as a new age of development in their educational system and community. The main goal of the program is providing training for children between the ages of six to twelve years old, especially kids from extremely low-income areas. XO KV6-12 program will focus on providing young kids access to digital technologies and information by introducing them to powerful ways to use them. This opportunity will help them to be in a better position to make a future difference in their communities and the world. It is expected that by providing such information to young minds, it will have direct and positive effect on their academic and community development. CSUSB OLPCorps Team is uniquely qualified for the OLPCorps project because of our team’s ties to the proposed deployment country. The OLPCorps CSUSB Nigeria Team is comprised of two Nigeria citizens that are graduate students in the Computer Science and Engineering Department of California State University San Bernardino. Our extensive memberships in IEEE (Founding members of IEEE CSUSB Chapter)-http://groups.google.com/group/csusb-ieee-student-chapter, ACM (Association for Computing Machinery)-http://www.acm.org/, GFA (Greetings from America)-http://www.greetingsfromamerica.org/, EAC (Education Advising Center) Abuja US embassy-http://nigeria.usembassy.gov/prog_08092007a.html, Cyber Defense CSUSB Team-http://insecuresystem.org/pages/csusb-network.php, CSE Club-http://cse.csusb.edu/cse.CLUB, and NYSC Charity group-http://www.nysc.gov.ng/ will be of great technical as well as professional value in the OLPCorps Africa.

A Measure for Growth

For more information about our team feel free contact us @ smugs2che@gmail.com or blog @ myspace.com/keleonye XO Symbol OLPCorps.jpg OLPC CSUSB XO KV6-12 Logo


Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) OLPCorps Team

We are working on getting our proposal together. Our NGO has yet TBD, but several promising candidates have been found. We will post more details as they become available.

NOTICE: We are looking to set up an impromptu meeting with other teams in the Boston area in the interest of collaboration and discussion. If you are interested in attending the meeting or wish to provide input to this meeting, and would like more details, please contact oderby at mit.edu. We are still trying to find other teams in the area, so if you are out there and reading this, please let us know that you exist!


University of California Berkeley (Cal) OLPCorps Team

We are a small team of 3 undergraduate and graduate students at Cal with diverse academic backgrounds covering Computer Science, Linguistics, Business Administration, and Development Studies. The Cal OLPCorps team is currently in discussions with FORGE to deploy XO laptops in Zambia. We are still in the process of determining whether the Meheba Refugee Settlement in rural Zambia and its government-operated schools have the capacity to engage with a large number of XO laptops. Otherwise, we are considering deploying XO laptops to a primary school in Lusaka, Zambia. Additional details to come as we begin to finalize our plans with FORGE in the next few days. Please e-mail any suggestions or comments to jessyueh at berkeley.edu.

Dalarna University & Royal Institute of Technology_Sweden

Universities: Dalarna University & KTH, Sweden
Team Name: OLPCorps_Ethio_Swed
Team Memembers: Dagmawi Tesfa, Demerew Tesfaye
Deployment country: Ethiopia

Proposal

Individuals

  • Sandeep purohit: hi i have masters in sociology with 7 years of work experienc in development sector. Currently doing my MBA at Mississippi State university. I am really interested in doing this project.So any body wants to make a team with me than please send me a email on : Sandeep_kaku77@yahoo.com
  • Max
    I am a Social Computing Informatics student at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor. I have the technical know-how of a computer science student, but with an understanding of the social implications of technology. I am well versed in computer technology and can help with any technical tasks. I am a strong supporter of the OLPC endeavor and would sincerely love to do my part to bridge the gap. Shoot me an email at mstoller@umich.edu.
  • Jordan Skowronski-
    I will graduate from the University of North Carolina - Asheville in May 2009. I'm currently 22 and a Multimedia Arts & Sciences major with a concentration in interactive design. Last semester, I studied abroad and traveled around the world. It was an experience that has changed my perspective. OLPCorps would be a culmination of my skills and values. I speak English and a bit of Spanish. I'm looking to be part of a 2009 team. Please email me (tangelos2@hotmail.com).
  • Rochelle Nakhid-
    Hi. Im a student at Agnes Scott College in Decatur, Georgia and Im really intersted in finding a partner to work with on this project. I speak english, french and portuguese so Im quite open with regard to choosing a country but I would prefer a portuguese speaking country because I feel like they are generally underserved. Please contact me at rnakhid@agnesscott.edu, 443-600-5180
  • Bryant Lee
    I am potentially interested in doing this. I am a 3rd year Ph.D. student in computer science at Carnegie Mellon University. I already have a Master's degree in CS from the same university. I would love to get involved in spreading technology and creating social impact, but I don't have a team or local partners as of yet. Let me know. Personal homepage with my email address: http://www.cs.cmu.edu/~bryantl/
  • Prabhas Pokharel
    I am very interested in doing this as well. I am a graduating senior in Computer Science at Harvard University, and am planning on working with technologies in the developing world in the future. I have an XO at home, and have played with them, and I know some of the specifics, but I'm planning on having my enthusiasm and technical experience push me forward. I'm really interested in the logistics and nature of getting to people with technology, and not just the technology, although I'm not sure I know a lot about this already. Contact welcomed. http://prabhasp.com. pokharel AT fas harvard edu
  • Martin Mohr Olsen
    I am 27 and a student at the University of Aberdeen in Scotland, doing a joint honors in International Relations and Sociology. I am a 1st year undergrad, but am currently working on research for my Masters thesis which will involve the OLPC. I am not a programmer and I do lack knowledge of Sugar, but I am still very computer literate. I am interested in the teaching/learning aspects of the OLPC (and computers in general), and intend to base my thesis on how best to utilize open-source software and open hardware in the creation of a curriculum. I would be very interested in the logistics, fundraising and preperations for this trip. If possible, I would like to bring a second member starting her bachelors in Nutrition and Public Health this summer. My blog is at: http://www.mohrolsen.com and my mail is mohrolsen@gmail.com. Give me a ring!
  • Eric Anderson
    I am a 21-year-old 3rd year student studying English, Informatics, and Global Business at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, though I am at Bristol University, UK until this summer. While I've never gotten my hands on an XO, I've published writing about 'em, and have been seeking an opportunity to practice what I've preached. This looks like it! I have worked with children on sustainable green construction in Guatemala, and have written a bit to assist with Long Way Home's advertising and fundraising. Off the top of my head, I am interested in using the XO to empower children through organized sports, fluency in New Media, AIDS education, and green initiatives, but I'm up for anything. I am currently applying for funding through my Honors college, so all I need is a team! I'm buddied up with one other, a Master's student in D.C., and we're looking to join together if possible. My travel writing and New Media blog is http://ericsblog6.blogspot.com/ . I know time's ticking, so shoot me a message at eranderson6@gmail.com.
  • Adrienne Rogers
    I am a 24 year old 1st year graduate student studying Social Work at The University of Tennessee. I have just heard about this project and would love to get involved with a team. I am very interested in international development and social justice issues, and think the OLPC program is a great way to get involved in these things at a grassroots level. I am also really interested in what OLPC is doing for education and empowerment for the children that are receiving the laptops. I see this as not only an opportunity to allow 100 children to receive a resource that will benefit them in many ways, but also as an opportunity to partner with some like-minded people that I can learn from and have fun with along the way. I do not have a ton of technical experience, but can offer leadership, networking, and creativity skills. I am organized and efficient, love coming up with ideas, making goals, and being part of a group. I would also bring experience in working with and training youth, working with volunteers, event planning, and some grant writing. There is not much time left, so please let me know ASAP if you are interested in another member for your team! rogers.adrienne@gmail.com Thanks and good luck!
  • Becca Nelson
    I am a 23 year old graduate student studying communications/business at Rochester Institute of Technology. My final capstone is a technical document explaining how to make a solar powered computer center--to write it, I am staying in Kijabe, Kenya. I've made many connections in Kenya on my multiple trips and volunteer adventures---several organizations come to mind who could use 100 laptops, so i'm hoping to find teams to help them out AND to join or create another. I can offer African experience, communications and writing, project management/organizational abilities. Thanks for reading! nelson.rebecca@gmail.com .
  • Jeremy Pesner
    I am a graduating Computer Science major at Dickinson College. Last summer, I did research into Educational Gaming in Immunology at the University of South Carolina. A fellow major from Dickinson also came to USC and did work with the OLPC, developing what also turned out to be an educational game. We both submitted papers detailing our work to ACM and were accepted to the ACMSE conference of '09. I am looking to either continue development on this game by porting it to the OLPC, or else create an entirely new one centered around teaching different knowledge and skills. The other major is also interested, but owing to the schedule of his classes abroad cannot attend the orientation dates (which means we'd need at least a third partner so that two can attend the orientation). If this sounds appealing to either fellow students or local partners, please contact me at pesnerj@dickinson.edu.
  • Markos Gobena
    I am a graduate student in Intelligent Systems Design at Chalmers University of Technology,Sweden. I am originally from Ethiopia and I have lots of interest to get involved with a group and help out children in my country. I know the ins and outs while it comes to deployment of such projects in my country and that could be a tip for the team. I have also managed to create contact with a local NGO that is willing to help in the same regard. I am now looking for a partner who would like to join me with the rest of the stuff... please contact me at markos@student.chalmers.se.
  • Rose Nyanga
    I am a teacher by profession with more than 10 years of experience in the Kenyan Secondary schools and primary teacher colleges. For the last three years, I have been working with the Kenyan Government as a research officer. At the moment, I am also on a government scholarship as a Ph.D student at a local University studing biosafety and biotechnology policies at a local University. Having been a teacher with so many connections to local school communities, including my rural home town, this is an ideal location to deploy a team. My rural home is an area near the second largest city in Kenya called Kisumu so it is a computer compatible area because there is electricity. Please contact me if you would like to work together: nyagahdrd@yahoo.com

NGOs

If you are an NGO based in Africa interested in working with a student group to carry out such a project, or if you are working on your own initiatives with educational programs that are, please list yourself and your project here : your name, your project name, where you are based / where you are working, and how to get in touch with you.


Trees for Clean Energy Network and Magoso School

Trees for Clean Energy Network has been working with schools and communities to promote environmental Education. This project of OLPCorps will open up Africa since it will give opportunity to African child to tell their story, learn more about health, environment and development. This will also enable the children exchange ideas and learn from children outside Kenya. Currently almost all children under 12 years have no idea of what is a computer and even their Teachers. I look forward to working with one of Corps in Magoso school and assisting him or her to develop this great idea to children of Magoso school.

Radio Station in Malawi

Hi, I am Gloria Masanza and i work as a sub-editor at a privately -owned radio station in Malawi, Central Africa. I have a friend working with the American Peace Corps in the country and she told me about the one laptop per child program. I have become so fascinated with the program since she told me, and we are working to link up with an organisation which is already working on children's rights. So I would like to know how we can get the intern teams visit us and see what we can do for our children. There are a lot of children here in Malawi who cannot even explain what a computer is, and over 90 percent of Malawi's children have never seen a computer, so this may just be a stepping stone, to the future. My e-mail is gmasanza@yahoo.com.

Children Rights International - Ghana right!Fight child labour!

This is Bright Appiah, briahus @ yahoo.com, the director for Child Rights International.
We have interest in a team visiting or serving as station in Africa.

Our commitment is to provide an ongoing voice for children and also reaffirm the faith of young people’s hope for a better future.

Please visit our website Children Rights International. thanks


Kijabe Primary School (Kenya)

My name's Becca Nelson and I'm currently living in Kijabe Kenya working with Kenyakidscan.org. There is a rural kenyan school nearby that would benefit deeply from 100 laptops--and has an infrastructure in place to handle the years following your team's departure. In addition, there is a school of about 120 children in Nairobi (slum area) that also would benefit and has accountable, technical people in the vicinity.

Let me know if you're looking for a kenyan adventure. :). thanks! nelson.rebecca@gmail.com.


The Ungana Foundation

As a result of the 1994 genocide, Rwanda gained one million new orphans, still surviving today as the potential new leaders of Rwanda's future. Orphaned children around the world face many obstacles including depression, lack of home support, minimal education, and hindered self-development. Starting June 2009, the UNGANA Foundation seeks to alleviate these odds by introducing 'Goals for Goals' to the ambitious youth of Gisenyi, Rwanda. Utilizing developmentally responsive activities, the 'Goals for Goals' program creates a space where Rwandan children can express creativity and voice and empowers the children with the life skills necessary to improve their own circumstances.

The Ungana Foundation is working on setting up an OLPCorps program in Rwanda for Summer 2009, but we need help - notably with IT setup and long-term funding. Please contact Ashley Linford, Programs Associate for more information at: ashley@unganafoundation.org

www.unganafoundation.org

Madagascar School Project

The Madagascar School Project is a small NGO based in Alexandria, Canada. In October 2008, we opened our elementary school in the rural village of Ambatoharanana, Madagascar. In a culture where a child's potential is often minimalized, the school has validated them as contributing members of their society. It is amazing how in such a short period of time, the children (and hence their community) have grown in terms of knowledge and new attitudes. Imagine what more could be accomplished if each student was provided with an XO to engage the global community and to equipe them with skills to ensure their competency in a world increasingly entwined with technology. For more information on the MSP, please visit www.madagascarschoolproject.com. If you are a team or individual seeking affiliation with an NGO and our work and philosophy are of interest to you, please contact me, Joseline Beaulieu, at holycatfish@sympatico.ca . I'd love to hear from you. The MSP may be a small organization but we can provide a team with excellent support. Thank-you for your interest. Hope to hear from someone soon.

Joseline


Blessing the Children International

BCI (Blessing the Children International) is a nonprofit organization working with several hundred children in Ethiopia, Africa. We regualary send teams and individuals to Ethiopia to work with orphaned, abandoned and impoverished children. We are completing construction on an elemenary school, and also sponsor/support over 100 children's care & Education.

Visit our website: Blessing the Children (www.BlessingTheChildren.org) Or email us at info@BlessingTheChildren.org

The Township Baseball Academy-Philippi Township, Cape Town, South Africa

We are a registered South African Non-Profit Organization employing a unique intervention model for at-risk township youth, combining the physical and social benefits of team sport with principles of achievement, positive communication, and discipline, borne through experiential education on the playfield, and transferred into the classroom. We work with a group of approximately 200 children, most aged 6-13, have access to an indoor activity center, and conduct year-round programming 3-4 days/week in baseball and academic enrichment. We would be delighted to hear from groups interested in working with our committed group of children in Cape Town. We currently utilize 8-10 American exchange student-volunteers through the University of Cape Town so we have familiarity with facilitating volunteer programming. Please view our website: [8] and contact Executive Director, Ian Edelstein, e-mail: ian@townshipbaseball.org, for more information.

Girls' Mentoring Centers in Mauritania

Peace Corps Mauritania supports 22 Girls' Mentoring Centers across the country specifically designed to help underprivilged girls who have a strong interest in academic pursuits. The centers are supported by the local communities and run by Peace Corps Volunteers and locally trained mentors ensuring a better opportunity for longer standing sustainability. For more information, contact Ginger Tissier at gtissier@gmail.com.

Kasumba Nursery and Primary School, Mubende, Uganda

Kasumba Nursery and Primary School is located in the rural town of Mubende which is 160kms from Kampala City in Uganda. The school has a kindergarten for children 4-6 years and a primary section for children between 6 - 12 years.

Mubende District is among the poorest performing districts in all academic levels in the country, and requires a lot of uplifting in terms of computers, books and other resources. The school is surrounded by more than 15 other primary schools whose performance is relatively poor. This school and the surrounding schools can benefit very much from the support and training that can be provided by the OLPCorps during that period. The school uses English as medium of instruction to the children. The school has the infrastructure and the teachers who can be trained to further the work of the project within the school and the surrounding schools.

We shall be excited to have a team of OLPCorps who can come to this school and contribute to its development and the surrounding environment.

For more information contact: kasnursery@yahoo.com

Other Ways to Participate

We're looking to reach university students across the world to participate in the OLPCorps Grant Program - this is a global learning movement. If you can translate a short one page letter from English into any other relevant language, e-mail OLPCorps@laptop.org to help out. You can also edit these wiki pages, too.

Please request to join our Sunday 4PM or 6PM EDT conference calls.

Newer Minutes from Sunday's Public Call -- March 8th 6PM - 7:30PM.

Please join our OLPC Grassroots Mailing List for public discussions about OLPCorps Africa.


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