Collaborative GrantProposal:Technical Understanding and Approach

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We are honored to apply for the grant entitiled, "Sustainable Responses for Improving the Lives of Vulnerable Children and their Households."

Our proposal takes the position of empowering the Ugandan people to reach for the goals outlined in this RFA, not just for now but to continue to reach for those goals in the foreseeable future. In America, we pride ourselves in being able to elevate our station in life through education. Every child, whether a legal citizen or an illegal immigrant, whether in good health or with a disability, is entitled to a "free and public education" and encouraged to live the American Dream. We expect each person to sustain him or herself through life by becoming a contributing member of society; but we also enable those who cannot. We are certain that Ugandans want this for themselves and their children as well. For this reason, we plan to invest in the potential that education can provide by fortifying the multi-level educational system that is already in place with curriculum, guidance and connectivity to reach the most vulnerable households over a period of 5 years, to open their world to ours and that of all industrialized nations.

As the population grows, so must our efforts. Empowerment will not be accomplished by one-to-one contact, although that will be part of it. No, empowerment must take on geometric proportions. Starting at the highest levels of the educational system, we propose to bring the educational resources to the population through a muli-tiered initiative. Our collaborative efforts have resulted in a plan to disseminate important information, practical advice, compassionate guidance from the university level down to the upper levels of primary school children. It is in primary school where children learn cooperation, conscience, practical skills and where they should learn problem-solving skills in a protected environment. It is here where parents and caregivers are most involved with their young children and could benefit from a curriculum that provides skills and resources for them as well as their children. The essentials of reading and writing are taught but for what purpose? We must infuse the curriculum with empowering skills such as self-advocacy, food security, healthy living and safety issues. These children then become conduits to the household, providing useful resources and substantive assistance. Parents and caregivers should become aware of the curriculum and encouraged to participate in activities that are self-sustaining.

Time is of the essence: In the time it takes the government to react with policy changes, a generation of children will have completed their limited education. The need is great and so urgent in Uganda where most children complete only primary school, that only an infusion of well-targeted assistance plan can infuse this precious primary education with the tools of the 21st century.

The collaborators on this grant either live, breathe and educate in Uganda or have volunteered their services there. We believe we can stem the tide of overpopulation, unhealthy behaviors and lack of access to resources with a carefully crafted and delivered educational plan. In addition to the people who will deliver instruction, and in addition to the curriculum which will deliver the access to resources, this plan calls for the deployment of XO computers to the primary school children so that they may learn to invest in their own futures and solve their own problems. We must prepare them to do that.

All over the world in underdeveloped countries, volunteers are introducing and deploying thousands of these amazing XO machines to primary schools. Born at MIT, the One Laptop Per Child (OLPC) initiative has captured the hearts and most importantly, the minds of the world’s high school and college students, as well as professors and professionals in an effort to provide low-cost computers to the children in underdeveloped countries. All over the world, adventurous souls are training children, teachers and administrators in the value of a computer that instantly networks within a classroom, fosters collaborative learning, and is capable of communicating with the rest of the world. How much better is an education, if not only a village educates, but an international community is enabled to provide the support for children to enter the global economy in their near future! How much better is an Africa where its students have the education, the connections and the love of learning to pursue their dreams!

So what is this XO computer? It is an amazing little machine that looks deceptively like a toy. Instead, it embodies the tools of learning, creative expression and communication so necessary for today’s effective education. From research to writing, from drawing to animation, from email to browsing, this low-cost machine is transformative. In a country where pencils are precious, these machines provide pencil, paper, library, telephone, camera and geographic independence.

In one small little package, it can carry information, skill building activities, survey polls and questionnaires from university professionals down to teachers, to schools, to students, to households. It can document results, record photos and narrations, and feed this information back up to the stakeholders at the universities in the US and Uganda who can deliver results to providers of USAID funding as well as supporting agencies. It is a top down delivery system and a bottoms-up reporting system.

The plan is to connect 5 school districts in Uganda to 4 respective Universities. This will be done through teacher training, access to resources as well as internet connectivity. The plan will call for setting up technological connections and deploying XO computers and servers in the classrooms. Each of these facets are described below: