OLPCorps MIT Mauritania Bababe: Difference between revisions

Latest revision as of 11:45, 27 March 2009

University: MIT
Team: Mary Wang, Owen Derby, Janet Li, Madeline Mirzoeff
Contact Information: olpcorps@mit.edu
NGO: Peace Corps
NGO Contact: Ginger, Peace Corps Volunteer
Local Contact: Zach, Peace Corps Volunteer and Environmental Educator
Deployment Location: Bababé, Mauritania
Deployment Date: June 20th-August 22nd, 2009

Project Specifics
Budget

General Information
Our goal is to give children the tools needed to fully learn and to explore the world. We want to empower them with the ability to share their ideas and to teach others.

We are working with a Peace Corps [1] volunteer, Zach, on this initiative. Zach is an environmental educator in Bababé who will work with us throughout our deployment and provide facilities to store and charge the laptops. Zach will meet us in the capital Nouakchott to help us pick up the laptops and equipment and transport them back to Bababé.

We will set up a summer program based in the local réseau de jeunesse, or youth center, in Bababé, where the XOs can also be stored. There are normally over 200 students in Bababé who are aged 10-12, so we will have to address the issue of having more students than laptops. Since the children are on break for the nine weeks we are there, it's hard to gauge how many students will be available to participate. We will work with Zach in the coming weeks to address this issue. In a male-dominated education system, we will provide equal opportunities to both genders.

Impact on Children
We hope to use the laptops and the internet to broaden the childrens' horizons and to show them that there is more to learning than just rote memorization. We will hopefully connect all five deployment sites in Mauritania [2] [3] [4] over the internet, allowing the children to record their observations, share the designs and ideas they come up with, analyze the information they find on the web, and present their learnings to their peers and parents. Learning through the XOs can help the children jumpstart change in their country.

Our goal is to let the children bring the laptops home while they are learning to use them. However, in Mauritanian society, anything the child brings home becomes the property of the family. To address this problem, we will set up a loaner library where the laptops will be the property of the Peace Corps, but the children can still take them home. They will charge the laptops at school using power we will fund, since most homes in Bababé still don’t have electricity. Internet will be provided by World Vision, another NGO operating in Bababé that subscribes to satellite internet.

Communication
The languages spoken in Bababé are Pulaar, Hassaniya, and French. Since three of our members know some French, we plan to communicate basic instructions in French. However, we will work with the volunteers to make sure that the children receive the most accurate instructions. We will also need to make superficial alterations to the keys on the XOs, changing the English into a French keyboard.

Sustainability
The Peace Corps has been involved in Bababé for 20 years now and will continue its involvement. The volunteers we train will pass their skills to new volunteers, continuing our program long after we leave. We will work with local educational providers and Peace Corps volunteers to design lesson plans which follow the 5th grade public school curriculum while incorporating the XOs.

We will document the work we do in Bababé as reference for future deployments; if successful, this project will serve as a pilot for future Peace Corps programs internationally.

We are looking into setting up a penpal exchange program between Bababé students and the students involved in other deployments, both across Mauritania and all of Africa. This will facilitate cultural awareness amongst all students involved. We will further develop this in the weeks leading up to June 8.

Our team is planning on establishing an official MIT OLPC chapter dedicated to promoting awareness of the non-profit and initiating new projects while supporting ongoing ones, including this one. Becoming an official club will allow us to apply for funding from MIT's finance board, fundraise on-campus, and solicit alumni and corporations for sponsorships. The money we raise will provide continuing financial support to Bababé volunteers who will maintain internet connectivity, power, server connections, repairs and eventual replacement of the laptops, and will also raise the necessary funds to send new OLPC teams to Africa every summer.

@@ Line 1: / Line 1: @@
+[[OLPCorps Africa |Back To OLPCorps Africa]]
-'''University:''' MIT<br /><br />
-[http://wiki.laptop.org/go/OLPCorps_MIT_Mauritania_Bababe_Team '''Team:'''] Mary Wang, Owen Derby, Janet Li, Madeline Mirzoeff <br /><br />
-'''NGO:''' Peace Corps<br /><br />
-'''Local Contact:''' Zach, Environmental Educator<br /><br />
+'''University:''' MIT<br />
+[[OLPCorps MIT Mauritania Bababe Team|'''Team:''']] Mary Wang, Owen Derby, Janet Li, Madeline Mirzoeff <br />
-[http://wiki.laptop.org/go/OLPCorps_MIT_Mauritania_Bababe_Deployment_Location'''Deployment Location:'''] Bababé, Mauritania <br /><br />
+'''Contact Information:''' olpcorps@mit.edu <br />
+'''NGO:''' Peace Corps<br />
+'''NGO Contact:''' Ginger, Peace Corps Volunteer<br />
+'''Local Contact:''' Zach, Peace Corps Volunteer and Environmental Educator<br />
+[[OLPCorps MIT Mauritania Bababe Deployment Location|'''Deployment Location:''']] Bababé, Mauritania <br />
 '''Deployment Date:''' June 20th-August 22nd, 2009<br /><br />
-Our goal is to give children the tools needed to explore the world and to learn independently of the rote memorization they are accustomed to. We want to empower them with the ability to teach others and to share their ideas.<br /><br />
-We are working with a [[Peace Corps]] [http://www.peacecorps.gov/index.cfm?shell=learn.wherepc.africa.mauritania] volunteer, Zach, on this initiative. Zach is an environmental educator in Bababé who will work with us throughout our deployment and provide facilities to store and charge the laptops.<br /><br />
-Our deployment will be set up as a summer program based out of the local réseau de jeunesse, or youth center, in Bababé. There are normally over 200 students in Bababé who are between the ages of 10-12, so we will have to deal with the issue of having more students than laptops. Since the children are on break for the nine weeks we are there, it's hard to gauge how many students will be available to participate. We will work with Zach in the coming weeks to address this issue. In a male-dominated education system, we will provide equal opportunities to both genders.<br /><br />
-***
-We hope to use the laptops to show these children that there is more to learning than just the classroom. We hope to inspire them to dream of great things and enable them to achieve those dreams teaching them how to use the power of the internet for their benefit. In the process of helping them achieve their dreams, we hope they will jump start change in their country.
+'''[[OLPCorps MIT Mauritania Bababe Project Specifics |Project Specifics]]''' <br />
-Our goal is to get the children to bring the laptops home while they are learning how to use them. However, in Mauritanian society, it is customary for the parents to own everything, so anything the child brings home becomes the property of the family. To circumvent this problem we will set up a loaner library of sorts where the laptops will be the property of the Peace Corps but the children will take them home with them.
+'''[[OLPCorps MIT Mauritania Bababe Budget |Budget]]'''<br /><br />
+'''General Information'''<br />
-Since there will be 5 deployment sites in the country, we can hopefully connect the children from the different sites over the internet, allowing them to interact and develop the capacity to communicate effectively in non-verbal fashions, particularly online via chats and email.
+Our goal is to give children the tools needed to fully learn and to explore the world. We want to empower them with the ability to share their ideas and to teach others.
-***
-The school system in Mauritania is weak due to the poverty of the country and the consequent lack of student resources. Giving XOs to 100 children will allow students to utilize innovative technology, most notably the Internet, which will give them the resources and the desire to learn on a global scale. We will also use the XOs as learning tools in the classrooms, teaching the children how to use the laptops to gain more understanding about each other and their own environment. The children will learn how to use the XOs through interactive, multi-player games. They will be encouraged to explore the features of the laptops themselves and will design projects that they will work on in teams. They will potentially collaborate with children participating in our sister deployments in Kaedi, Tdjikja, Kiffa and Kankossa. Using the XOs, they can record what they observe, share the designs and ideas they come up with, analyze the information they find on the web, and present the results to their peers and parents. We will also work with Zach to create a project to teach children about the environment. We believe that this will have a positive effect on the community and foster collaboration.<br /><br />
+We are working with a [[Peace Corps]] [http://www.peacecorps.gov/index.cfm?shell=learn.wherepc.africa.mauritania] volunteer, Zach, on this initiative. Zach is an environmental educator in Bababé who will work with us throughout our deployment and provide facilities to store and charge the laptops. Zach will meet us in the capital Nouakchott to help us pick up the laptops and equipment and transport them back to Bababé.
-To continue the program after we leave, we will work with local educational providers and Peace Corps volunteers to design lesson plans for schools to incorporate the XOs. Keeping their 5th grade public school curriculum in mind, we will show the children how to take what they have learned and apply it in a [[OLPCorps MIT Mauritania Bababe Educational+Curriculum| new and interesting way]]. <br /><br />
+We will set up a summer program based in the local réseau de jeunesse, or youth center, in Bababé, where the XOs can also be stored. There are normally over 200 students in Bababé who are aged 10-12, so we will have to address the issue of having more students than laptops. Since the children are on break for the nine weeks we are there, it's hard to gauge how many students will be available to participate. We will work with Zach in the coming weeks to address this issue. In a male-dominated education system, we will provide equal opportunities to both genders.<br /><br />
+'''Impact on Children'''<br />
+We hope to use the laptops and the internet to broaden the childrens' horizons and to show them that there is more to learning than just rote memorization. We will hopefully connect all five deployment sites in Mauritania [http://wiki.laptop.org/go/OLPCorps_Cornell_Mauritania] [http://wiki.laptop.org/go/OLPCorps_MIT_Mauritania_Kaedi] [http://wiki.laptop.org/go/OLPCorps_Africa#University_of_Miami_-_Mauritania] over the internet, allowing the children to record their observations, share the designs and ideas they come up with, analyze the information they find on the web, and present their learnings to their peers and parents. Learning through the XOs can help the children jumpstart change in their country.
+Our goal is to let the children bring the laptops home while they are learning to use them. However, in Mauritanian society, anything the child brings home becomes the property of the family. To address this problem, we will set up a loaner library where the laptops will be the property of the Peace Corps, but the children can still take them home. They will charge the laptops at school using power we will fund, since most homes in Bababé still don’t have electricity. Internet will be provided by World Vision, another NGO operating in Bababé that subscribes to satellite internet.<br /><br />
 '''Communication''' <br />
-The languages spoken in Bababe are Pulaar and French. Since three of our members know some French, we will be able to communicate basic instructions this way. However, we will work closely with the volunteers on a daily basis to make sure that the children receive the most accurate instructions. <br />
+The languages spoken in Bababé are Pulaar, Hassaniya, and French. Since three of our members know some French, we plan to communicate basic instructions in French. However, we will work with the volunteers to make sure that the children receive the most accurate instructions. We will also need to make superficial alterations to the keys on the XOs, changing the English into a French keyboard. <br /><br />
-We will also change the appearance of the keys on the XOs to resemble a French keyboard. <br /><br />
 '''Sustainability''' <br />
-The Peace Corps has been involved in Bababe for 20 years now and is making no plans to leave. The volunteers we train on the XOs will pass their skills to new volunteers, continuing our program long after we leave. Zach will integrate the XOs into the school system when the school year starts. We will record the work we do in Bababe as reference for future deployments; if successful, this project will serve as a pilot for future Peace Corps programs internationally.<br /><br />
+The Peace Corps has been involved in Bababé for 20 years now and will continue its involvement. The volunteers we train will pass their skills to new volunteers, continuing our program long after we leave. We will work with local educational providers and Peace Corps volunteers to design lesson plans which follow the 5th grade public school curriculum while incorporating the XOs.
-We will also encourage the children to keep us updated on their lives. We are looking into setting up a pen pal exchange program between Bababe students and the students involved in CFS, the Cambridge, MA deployment near MIT. This will facilitate cultural awareness and allow Mauritanian students to practice their English. We will further develop this in the weeks leading up to June 8. <br /><br />
+We will document the work we do in Bababé as reference for future deployments; if successful, this project will serve as a pilot for future Peace Corps programs internationally.
-Our team is also in the process of establishing an official student organization at MIT dedicated to overseeing our program, logistically, financially, and personally. By becoming an official club, we will be able to apply for funding from MIT Finance Board's $200k reserve. In addition, we will be able to fundraise on-campus by holding university-wide events and off-campus by soliciting alumni and corporations for sponsorships. The money we raise will provide continuing financial support to Bababe volunteers who will maintain internet connectivity, power, server connections, and repairs and eventual replacement of the laptops, and will also raise the necessary funds to send new OLPC teams to Africa every summer.
+We are looking into setting up a penpal exchange program between Bababé students and the students involved in other deployments, both across Mauritania and all of Africa. This will facilitate cultural awareness amongst all students involved. We will further develop this in the weeks leading up to June 8.
+Our team is planning on establishing an official MIT OLPC chapter dedicated to promoting awareness of the non-profit and initiating new projects while supporting ongoing ones, including this one. Becoming an official club will allow us to apply for funding from MIT's finance board, fundraise on-campus, and solicit alumni and corporations for sponsorships. The money we raise will provide continuing financial support to Bababé volunteers who will maintain internet connectivity, power, server connections, repairs and eventual replacement of the laptops, and will also raise the necessary funds to send new OLPC teams to Africa every summer.
-'''More links''' <br />
-[[OLPCorps MIT Mauritania Bababe Health]]
-[[OLPCorps MIT Mauritania Bababe Deployment Plan]]

OLPCorps MIT Mauritania Bababe: Difference between revisions

Latest revision as of 11:45, 27 March 2009

Navigation menu

Search