OLPCorps MIT,HARVARD & LEHIGH -KENYA

MIT/Harvard/Lehigh OLPC Project proposal- Kilifi, Kenya

This project is a collective effort of all members of KENSAP, an organization composed of Kenyan students in various elite Universities across US. This year, the group will be represented by a team of three: Charles Kiplagat (MIT; junior in Chemical Engineering), Abel Boreto (Harvard; sophomore in Economics) and Evans Kosgei (Lehigh; sophomore in Computer Science).

Charles is currently the web-editor for DSpace Foundation and project designer for TLO. He has humble background knowledge and skills in computers.

Abel is articulate with computers and has some background in JAVA programming.

Evans is currently working for Lehigh’s Media Center and he has a core background in wide-range of programming and excellent knowledge on computers in general.

We all have past experiences with children. Charles taught his local primary school, Kapletingi, for two years after high school while Abel and Evans taught XXX and Chebororwa primary schools respectively for a year each.

We plan to deploy laptops in Kibarani Primary School, Kilifi, Kenya from mid June to mid August, 2009 when the kids will be on session. Kilifi, ranked among the poorest Districts in Kenya, is located along the Kenyan coast. Beside abject poverty, Kilifi is also known for high cases of malnutrition. Like most tourism neighborhood, Kilifi has high cases of both reported prostitution and primary school dropout rates. In fact, most families in Kilifi depend on relief food and tourists for their livelihood

We shall distribute laptops to two selected classes with most pupils within the age-bracket of 6-12 years . The head-teacher of Kibarani has agreed to setup an extra class-session exclusive for XO laptop training and related activities. From our past experience with kids of the said age-bracket, we agreed to design simple learning instructions that will appear on posters which will be conveniently tucked on class-room walls. We plan to split 9-week project into three phases. In the first phase, which shall last approximately 4 weeks, we shall introduce kids into XO laptops and the idea of computers in general while training the teacher that the school has already chosen. That will be followed three weeks of systematic approach on simple programming tools for kids. This phase will also involve active participation of the trained teacher . The last two weeks will involve creative sessions in which pupils will either use a tool(s) in XO laptop for any relevant task like writing composition, drawing etc or competing among themselves. Sustenance As aforementioned, Kibarani primary school will be our local partner and they’ve agreed to sustain the project after we leave by: i. Integrating the cost of sustaining the project in their school budget. ii. Repair and maintain the laptops for children in conjunction with a local IT expert.

Moses Mosobo , of KEMRI-Kilifi and Wellcome Trust, will be our point person. He with the teachers and parents of the participating children will see to it that a committee is setup to oversee the matters of sustenance of the project- expansion, repairs and electricity

Due to close proximity of Kilifi to the coastal harbor, communication and handling of the package would be easy. The head-teacher has confirmed availability of a safe and expansive storage unit that is owned by the school. The school already has a hired security guard who protects its facilities both day and night.

Approach Our approach will encompass the idea that children are agents of change in the society since they are the future leaders. This project will enable children gunner knowledge in computer technical know-how while they are still young and will have both better opportunities of employment and good leadership skills. As such, we shall have pulled them from the poverty into self-sustenance. We shall not only design learning programs and tools that will enable kids to learn their curriculum materials better also learn about suggested solutions to problems that there community faces daily such as poverty, malnutrition and social vices like prostitutions . Naturally parents and other members of the society will be excited to know about XO laptops and with guided instructions, the children can disseminate information that they gather from us to the entire community thus acting as agents of change. At some point, close to the end of the 9weeks, top students will be given a chance to present before parents and fellow students on topics pertinent to society using their XO laptops.

As mentioned above, the school has agreed to incorporate the cost sustaining the project into their school budget. Besides, each KENSAP member has agreed to enlist for financial support from their respective institutions for both sustaining and expanding the project in Kilifi District . The three of us speak fluent Swahili (besides English), Kilifi’s local language.