OLPCorps AmericanUniversityofParis Rwanda

Rural Community in Musanze, Northern Rwanda

After the 1994 genocide Rwanda has faced many challenges with parentless families, psychological trauma, healthcare and education. We have partnered up with Sophie McCann from Network 4 Africa and Elie Nduwayesu, founder of the Fair Children Youth Foundation, who will work on site with us. Sophie McCann has carried out extensive research and dedicated much of her time to finding and implementing methods that will help improve the lives of those in Rwanda and Uganda- most notably she co-created Rwanda’s first public library. The Fair Children Youth Foundation has made it their mission to “provide skills to community members, mostly children/youth and mothers, and to rebuild their lives after the consequences of war and genocide”. They are currently building a community center that will be completed in June, which we will use as our project site. They have year round schooling and psychosocial activities that we will be able to incorporate laptop usage in to. To begin laptops will be housed in the community center and used on a daily basis in conjunction with their current schedule and curriculum. Later in the program we will assign laptops to heads of households (children 10-12 years of age) permanently. Both partners are thrilled and looking forward to the opportunity of introducing these laptops as a new learning tool as well as a new valuable skill in our day and age.

Objective

Our team will take part in the daily school schedule and will alternate classes so that week by week we slowly integrate laptop usage in to most facets of learning. The key is to find fun educational learning tools such as music, videos, games (our computer science major will assist in programing) and more so children will be more able to continue the learning process well outside the classroom. Alongside their current curriculum we will have a daily “open period”. This “open period” will be used to introduce the children to online journalism through writing/blogging, videos, photos and more. It will allow them to share their stories and learn those of others as well as allow other children in the community to take part by having current students acting as mentors. Another objective will be to expose them to countries, cultures, and history through various forms of online media. Throughout this journey we will teach children how to use and maintain their laptops so that they can obtain maximum usage for the future. Finally, the official language of instruction at the school is English, which will ease our deployment of the project.

Sustainability

Sophie McCann from Network 4 Africa and Elie Nduwayesu from Fair Children Youth Foundation will oversee and continue the use of laptops in their curriculum after our departure. Also by targeting heads of child headed households we will create a trickle down effect of knowledge and laptop usage. Furthermore, we intend to use our internet connection budget to assist in setting up their permanent internet network as well as work with N4A and other NGO’s to continue funding for the program as need be.

Group Members

Alia Intably- A 3rd year International Comparative Politics major with some Computer Science experience has a strong interest in development for poverty or disaster stricken communities as a means of change and advancement. Proficient in French and Arabic.

Dixon- 2nd year International Comparative Politics major. Experience tutoring young children in English. Interest in Africa and its development due to family ties in Benin. Fluent in French and Swedish.

Third Member- There are a number of students form our Computer Science department that are interested in the opportunity to join our team. Selection will be confirmed at a later date.

Budget

Airfare: 3 round trip tickets (Paris, France): $7,500

Visas: $400

Immunization: Free

Food: $750

Accommodations: $1000

In-country transportation: $300

Internet connection: $500

Projector: $ 700 (may get school to donate)

Team cell phone: $50

2 Flash drives: Donated

Total 10,500

We rounded up for the plane tickets and can also hold a fundraiser at school should we need to cover additional expenses.