OLPCorps Jamii OLPC Tanzania

Jamii OLPC

“Jamii” means community in Kiswahili, and is the foundational principle of Jamii OLPC's OLPCorps Africa proposal:

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

A partnership between Matemwe School in Zanzibar, Tanzania and numerous international team members, Jamii OLPC is a small but experienced multi-national, multi-university team applying to the One Laptop per Child 2009 OLPCorps Africa program.

Jamii OLPC hopes to be accepted into the OLPCorps Africa program and provided with 100 XO laptops to begin an XO Library at Matemwe.

Children are the future; if equipped with education, tools and opportunities, this generation can take up the battle to improve the lives of their families, community and country--and win.

This generation can make a difference.

Our school partnership, team members and proposal are all currently works-in-progress, but stay tuned to catch the latest updates as Jamii OLPC grows from an idea into a real opportunity to make a difference.

You can also email us at JamiiOLPC@gmail.com!

Matemwe School (Matemwe: Zanzibar, Tanzania)

Matemwe is a fishing village, located on the north east coast of Zanzibar, Tanzania. For years, Matemwe was isolated from the rest of the island by an arid, rocky coral rag which lay to the west.

In 1993 the road from Mkwajuni was paved with tarmac, and a new era of communication with the outside world began. In 2004 the electricity line was finally extended to the village and the Matemwe School.

Matemwe School is a Government School with 1400 children enrolled, from the ages of 7-18.

Some students walk more than 10kms to reach the school, and teachers are paid less the $2USD/day. Most of the students come from families whose main means of support is seaweed farming or fishing.

At Matemwe School, facilities are minimal and there is forever a shortage of school supplies, but the desire for education burns in the hearts of all.

Visit Matemwe School’s official website here.

Project Panga Magae

In January 2006, Matemwe School began a journey toward a dream.

This dream grew from a seedling planted in October 2004, when a privately donated Compaq computer was installed in the Matemwe School library. As teachers received computer training for over a year, the Matemwe community began to rally around the idea of teaching their children to become computer literate. Valuable technical skills would open many doors for the next generation; something had to be done.

So, in January 2006, Project Panga Magae was officially started.

Project Pagna Magae is a collective effort by Matemwe School officials, teachers, community leaders and international supporters focusing on “bridging the digital divide” for the children of Matemwe.

Over the past three years, Project Pagna Magae has made significant progress:

• The parents themselves raised funds to build a new computer classroom, which was completed in 2007.
• After much hard work and saving to purchase the project’s first two computers in December 2007, it was discovered that the School Library was too low to receive an internet connection.
• Determined, the community came together to construct “a formidable timber tower to erect and support some powerful wireless equipment.” The school now has good, fast connectivity with Zanzinet.
• Right now, there are 10 computers in the Computer Centre

Yet, despite all of the efforts of the school and community, 10 computers in a school of 1,400 is no more than a raindrop in the ocean.

Only 15 students are currently able to participate in a computer class. Also, due to the high utility costs (ie. electricity and internet connection) the computers must primarily be used to run an Internet Cafe for tourists.

This provides just enough income to support the computers’ upkeep, but limits the access that Matemwe students and community members have to the lab.

Jamii OLPC & Project Panga Magae

The Matemwe School and community have made a commitment to providing their young people with access to and education about technology. They have built this project from the ground-up, surmounted numerous barriers that have risen to block their path, and remain committed.

For this reason, Jamii OLPC and Matemwe School are applying to OLPCorps Africa for 100 XO laptops to begin an XO Library in the Matemwe Library and Computer Centre. These tools will help Project Panga Magae flourish and grow, and provide the means for Matemwe to move closer to attaining the dream they have already worked so hard to realize.

The XO Library will primarily serve the youngest generation of Matemwe School students; classes standards 1 - 6 (7-12 yrs) will rotate in-class computer use throughout the week, and the XO laptops will be available for the children to sign-out and take home each day.

OLPCorps Proposal

This is a work in progress!

Jamii OLPC team members will be using this space to collaboratively create our proposal.

In the spirit of openness, transparency and above all, community, this process of maturation for our proposal will be visible not only to the entire OLPC community, but the internet as a whole! Looking forward to hearing your feedback and constructive criticism.

Asante sana! Thank you!

Language: The two official languages of Tanzania are Kswahili and English. All of the international members of Jamii OLPC are English-speaking. Sam, our Project Coordinator, speaks conversational-level Kswahili. Jackie, our Pedagogical Lead II, also speaks conversational-level Kswahili and will provide training materials and instruction (where geographically possible) to the non-Kswahili speaking members of Jamii OLPC.

Jamii OLPC Team

The Jamii OLPC team is made up of three units: the international unit, the local unit, and the advisory unit.

Cooperation and collaboration between the three units is of paramount importance to the success and sustainability of the project. Because of this, the members of all units will be featured here.

You can also access all of the full position descriptions and team member bios on the Jamii OLPC: Team page.

International Unit

These individuals are responsible for direct communication with OLPCorps, and will be participating in the fieldwork aspect of the deployment.

Click on the position title for a full description, and on a team member's name for a full bio.

Position	Name	Country	University	Major	Email
Project Coordinator & Political Lead	Samantha Burton	Canada	Carleton University	MA Mass Communications (current)	Samantha.V.Burton@gmail.com
Technical Lead	Daniel Drake	United Kingdom	University of Manchester	BA Computer Science (graduate)	dsd@laptop.org
Pedagogical Lead	VACANT position description
Logistical & Financial Lead	Laura Tribe	Canada	Carleton University	MA Mass Communications (current)	Tribe.Laura@gmail.com

Local Unit

These individuals are the backbone of this projects success and sustainability. They are providing invaluable ongoing insight throughout the planning process, and will be key leaders during and following the deployment.

This information will be provided following a March 19, 2009 meeting at Matemwe School.

Advisory Unit

These individuals and groups have a wide range of expertise and experience related to the OLPCorps project. They have generously offered their time to advise Jamii OLPC on a variety of aspects involved with our proposal.

Name	Country	Occupation	Relevant Experience
Dr. Josh Greenberg	Canada	Assistant Professor, Carleton University, Communication Studies; Director of the Centre for Voluntary Sector Research and Development.	research: media and communication activities in broader strategic planning on the part of NGOs, non-profits and social movement/activist organizations
Dr. Jason Nolan	Canada	Assistant Professor, Ryerson University, School of Early Childhood Education	adviser on adviser on curriculum and pedagogy of technology; research: social technologies for young children, identity construction online, technology and play
Dr. Daniel Paré	Canada	Associate Professor, Ottawa University, Department of Communication	research: ICTs for international development, internet governance and regulation, Political economy of ICTs, science & technology policy
Dr. Sandra Smeltzer	Canada	Assistant Professor, University of Western Ontario, Faculty of Information & Media Studies	Centre for Independent Journalism, Malaysia; Western Heads East Advisor, Mwanza, Tanzania; research: ICTs for international development, global political economy of ICTs
Jackie Strecker	Canada	MA Communications and Cultures; York University & Ryerson University	FilmAid International, Kakuma Refugee Camp, Kenya; Western Heads East Intern, Mwanza, Tanzania; research: ICTs for international development

Project Idea Highlights

Kids Teaching Kids

At the start of the 2009 school year, each of the 100 children who received a laptop during the summer will be partnered with another child in their age group. This after-school program will help facilitate peer-to-peer computer training in a setting that's fun for all of the kids involved!

In this way, the children who received XO laptops will foster leadership skills and nurture a sense of social responsibility. The children receiving the training will develop technical computer skills that they otherwise would not have been able to, giving them an advantage in the workforce and a solid foundation to build further study.

Fundraising

As fundraising efforts are initiated, they will be documented in detail here!