OLPCorps UIUC SaoTome

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Project summary

Students from the University of Illinois propose to implement the OLPC project Summer 2009 on the island country of São Tomé e Principe. The team is currently envisioned to have three undergraduate and one graduate student. The students come from library and information science, urban and regional planning and international studies. All have participated in service learning activities in the United States; some have international experience with engaged scholarship.

In addition to the internship team, University of Illinois staff will provide logistical support during the stay on the island as part of a larger scholarship of engagement project (see http://saotomeproject.wordpress.com for further details on the University projects occurring in collaboration with the São Toméan community). Further, several University students, as part of a service learning course project, will work with the Teachers College in São Tomé to set up a computer lab for the college and to help integrate technology, including XO laptops, and informatics into the curriculum (see http://courseweb.lis.uiuc.edu/~mwolske/lis451/).

Team members

All team members are undergraduate students at the University of Illinois who are minoring in informatics. This minor is devoted to applied computer science and the effect of information technology on people. In addition to computing skills, these students have a strong interest in helping empower Africans by building computing infrastrcture and training people to use it. <<<reword!!!

• Project lead Corey Jackson, International Studies major, Informatics minor, BS 2010

Corey will xxx

• Infrastructure lead Michael Stein, Urban Planning major, Informatics minor, BS 2010.

Michael will use his experience owning and working in a computer repair shop to help setup and manage the server, repair existing computer labs on the island, and train teachers and children on XO laptop use. He will also use his photography skills to integrate geotagged photos that can be integrated into a digital map for an Illinois-led community mapping project on the island. Michael is section leader of the drum line in the Illinois marching band.

• Education lead Jennifer Regan, Political Science major, Informatics minor, BS 2010.

Jennifer will use her experience teaching 4-H children xxxx She has taken xxx African Studies courses

• xxx lead Chika Umeadi, Political Science major, Informatics minor, BS 2011.

Chika xxx

Where

<googlemap version="0.9" lat="0.336454" lon="6.7311" zoom="11" width="450" height="300" scale="yes"> </googlemap>

Partner organizations

• StepUp NGO based in São Tomé and Príncipe devoted to the principles of self-help development.

• Illinois Informatics Institute Academic unit at Illinois that offers the minor in informatics, which all team members are pursuing along with their majors.

• Graduate School of Library and Information Science Academic unit at Illinois that participates in community informatics programs in São Tomé. Their staff will provide support for this project.

• University of Illinois Student team members are undergraduates at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.

Letters of support

• Letter of support from StepUp

• Who else? I'll write one on behalf of I3 --Judy

750 Word Proposal

How will we work with children?

The local participants of the project will be young girls [WHAT AGE RANGE?]. The distribution of the laptops will be blended among urban and rural populations. University student team members will collaborate in part with the University’s youth community informatics project in the United States (see http://yci.illinois.edu for project examples and potential curriculum), a project that seeks to actively engage youth in their communities to take on the issues that affect them the most. As such, training will focus both on essential computer literacy skills as well as experiential learning as citizen scientists/journalists. As citizen scientists, girls will further develop critical inquiry skills and learn scientific research tools and methods, including geographic information systems, through engaged exploration to help bring about positive change in their community. Further, some São Toméan girls will be given the opportunity to work with University researchers as collaborators to study and help their community meet community goals as action researchers. As journalists they will be taught essential interview and storytelling skills using projects that encourage them to interview their elders, create written and multimedia oral histories, and tell about the rich history and present situations of their country, communities and members.

The children are in school until mid-July. School is held in the morning. The first month of implementation will take place in the afternoons. Once school has been dismissed for the year (mid-July) the training will be offered in the morning as well.

Who is our local partner?

Our local partner in São Tomé will be the NGO StepUp (http://www.stepup.st/). This NGO works with grassroots organizations to develop and facilitate projects aimed at community development. The organization has a history of project implementation and has full support from the national government. The director of StepUp is the former Peace Corps director in Sao Tome and has lived in there for over ten years.

How will this impact 6-12 year old children?

São Tomé, like the rest of Sub-Saharan Africa, has few resources to devote to technology or computer literacy. These laptops will enhance their education and provide new avenues for learning. This will be particularly evident in the rural (plantation) areas where the quality of educational is significantly less than the urban centers. As in the São Tomé cultural lexicon, “everyone is my cousin” these laptops will be shared with other children. In São Tomé 48% of the population is under the age of 14. Many young girls in São Tomé do not advance beyond primary school because of responsibilities in the home. Since the targeted group is part of StepUp’s educational program the laptop computers will encourage parents to allow their daughters to advance in school. [WHY? is there some history of local support for StepUp that is more important than the daughters staying home? How will this training change the fact that they are needed at home?]

How will we provide financial support after we leave?

StepUp and the University of Illinois will provide future support of the project. StepUp will monitor the usage and provide additional training. They will continue to provide financial support for the educational advancement of this group of girls. The University of Illinois sends teams annually to São Tomé . The students and faculty participate in service learning projects based on technology and informatics. OLPC will be incorporated into future projects with university students providing maintenance support and teaching these girls additional applications of technology that can be used as tools to improve their lives. The intent is to follow these girls through young adulthood and build on their knowledge base and how the laptops are incorporated into their lives.

Communication

The primary language of São Tomé is Portuguese with French spoken by many of the citizens. One member of our team has been to São Tomé several times and is fluent in French and speaks some Portuguese. Two other students have studied French. Team members will take a two-week intensive primer of Portuguese. Staff at StepUp who will be participating in the project speak English well and will be traveling as part of the team.