Ashesi University, Ghana

Project Overview

Goals

• To provide an alternative learning tool for disadvantaged children at an orphanage in rural Southern Ghana.

• To facilitate the involvement of these children in information technology, thus opening them up to new educational opportunities.

• To equip the children in such a way as to enable them productively learn and interact with their laptops independently, and to encourage the children to collaborate, teach and learn from each other.

• To successfully provide a model for larger-scale deployment and training. The project might also provide a model for other NGO-supported orphanages to see the benefits of OLPC laptops to their students, and so might instigate a larger-scale deployment of laptops at private and other NGO-supported schools.

Sustainability

• Strong working relationship with managing staff at the orphanage.

• The Village of Hope is on a list of agencies where Ashesi University students perform community service yearly. This means that every year, the project will receive continued support from college volunteers in terms of training, troubleshooting, servicing, fundraising and development of educational content.

• Close proximity of the orphanage to the group, Ashesi University and the Accra metropolis,(22 miles from Accra, 80-minute drive)

• Long-term commitment from the management to the support of innovative educational programs.

• The operations manager at the orphanage is a Computer Science graduate from Ashesi University. She is qualified to maintain and service the server herself, and will work to maintain working ties with the group, Ashesi and the orphanage.

Specifics

Target Institution: Village of Hope Orphanage, Ghana

Location: Gomoa-Fetteh, Southern Ghana

Local NGO Partner: Ghana West Africa Missions.

Advisors: Dr. Suzanne Buchele, The Baah-Wiredu One Laptop per Child Foundation

Project Timeline

Team Members

Name	Group position	Competencies & Experience
Nii Ayertei Tettey	Pedagogical and Creative Lead	2 years experience in charity and NGO work, prior teaching and mentoring experience at an orphanage; Business Administration major
Romeo Owusu-Aning	Project Manager	Co-author, Research paper:“The One Laptop Per Child (OLPC) Project and Its Applicability to Ghana” , volunteer for Ghana OLPC Pilot Project; Management Information Systems major
Hanan Yaro Boforo		Volunteer work: Guinea Worm sensitization in northern rural Ghana; Teaching and helping transform delinquent juveniles at a remand centre in Accra ; Computer Science major
Solomon Kwashie Kofigah	Accounts manager	Volunteer program work at the Accra Psychiatric Hospital; Management Information Systems major
Joseph Ofori Amegatcher	Technical Lead	Volunteer work: Math teacher at Vocational School and ‘big brother’ at a remand centre Computer Science major