OLPCorps MIT,HARVARD & LEHIGH -KENYA
Introduction
Team
This team is a collaboration of all KenSAP members, a non-profit organization composed of Kenyan students in various top universities across U.S. The group will be represented by a team of three: Charles Kiplagat (MIT; junior in Chemical Engineering), Kipyegon Kitur (Harvard; senior in Chemistry) and Evans Kosgei (Lehigh; sophomore in Computer Science).
Visit Team page to learn more about each member.
Location
We plan to deploy the laptops to Kibarani Primary School in Kilifi[1], Kenya from June to mid-August when the school will be in session. Kilifi, which is located along the Kenyan coast, is not only among the poorest districts in Kenya but also has high malnutrition cases. Being one of the most popular tourist destinations along the Kenyan coast, Kilifi is rife with child prostitutes and primary school dropouts. Most of the families in Kilifi depend on relief food and handouts from tourists for their livelihood.
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http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kilifi
-3.615072, 39.85445, Kilifi
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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.
Sustainability & Financial Assistance
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. To sustain the project over the coming years, collaboration of KenSAP members will see to it that funds are sought after and channeled towards expansion and sustenance of the project. A number of KenSAP members have already initialized application for consideration of funding from various Foundations, Offices and Fellowships to our project after initial or during deployment. Besides KenSAP Foundation[2] which has already enlisted its financial support, here is the rest of the list:
