OLPCorps IU South Africa

Ntswaki, a Student from Mmaweshi Primary School

One Here...One There

One Here...One There is a non-profit organization driven to foster growth in sub-Saharan Africa through primary education - the best long term solution for ending the world's worst cycle of poverty, hunger, and disease. It's all about one here helping one there.

Members

OHOT Members

• Paul Commons

Founder and President of OHOT. International Studies major, Class of 2009

• Savanah Franklin

Vice President of OHOT. Economics and International Studies majors, Class of 2009

• Joseph Peoni

Public Finance Major, Class of 2010

• Carolyn Commons

International Studies Major, Class of 2012

• Bryan Stuart

Economic Consulting and Public Policy Analysis

• Joseph Shikany

Business Marketing and Operations Management Major, Class of 2009

• Gordon Lang

Nursing Major, Class of 2012

• Joseph Delehanty

Economic, History, and German Majors, Class of 2009

OHOT Members traveling to South Africa through OLPCorps

Savanah Franklin

Joseph Peoni

Carolyn Commons

Joseph Shikany

Gordon Lang

Joseph Delehanty

Contact Information

For more information relating to our South Africa project, please contact Joe Peoni at jpeoni@indiana.edu

August 2008 Deployment (Haenertsburg, South Africa)

Indiana University’s chapter of One Here…One There (OHOT), raised funds and purchased 150 XO laptops through OLPC's Give Many Campaign. 100 of these laptops were donated to three participating schools (Mmaweshi Primary School, Katane Primary School, Driehoek Primary School) in the Limpopo province of South Africa. The twelve OHOT students spent three weeks in Haenertsburg working with the schools and teaching the students how to use the laptops. The teachers also began training on how to use the laptops as well as how to integrate them into daily class curriculum. Locally, Thusanang Trust, and more specifically Shelley Milstein, who took on the project, helped with the distribution and much of the set-up that went along with the project. Multiple people from the Kliptown project in Soweto, Johannesburg came to help with the deployment. This included Neo Masilo, the group’s IT specialist, as well as others who were extremely valuable with their knowledge of the workings of the laptops and the local languages.

Today, the project is still going strong with the continued help from Thusanag Trust. Fears that the laptops would not last in this type of environment were dismissed with the fact that only one laptop has broken to this date and not a single one has gone missing or been stolen. The laptops are maintained with generators at the two schools which do not have electricity. There are still problems with access to the Internet, but these problems are continuously being worked on. Kliptown is still involved in the success of this deployment by continuously helping with IT problems and the maintenance or the laptops. OHOT is still funding and looking for new funds for the continuation of the project.

• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 

Involvement With OLPC

One Here...One There had no official affiliation with One Laptop Per Child during the 2008 deployment. OHOT raised all necessary funds for the project and bought the 150 laptops with these funds.

We were in contact with OLPC about our independent deployment throughout it, as well as afterward. Now we would like to pursue a more official relationship with One Laptop Per Child through OLPCorps to continue to advocate and promote OLPC and OHOT's goals.

Location

<googlemap version="0.9" lat="-25.035839" lon="29.718018" zoom="7" width="550" height="375" scale="yes"> -23.947665, 29.938774 </googlemap>

Preparation

The twelve students who traveled to South Africa, as well as a few other participating members all played an integral role in preparing the South Africa deployment.

All students raised money through personal contacts and small donations. Each student was responsible for funding a certain amount of funding and personal responsibilities. We spent June and July programing the laptops, getting additional funding, and working on establishing personal contact with our South African contact, Thusanang Trust. We were in constant contact with Thusanang so that we would have an idea of what to expect once we got there. They informed us of student numbers and the student geographic as well as language proficiency logistical issues such as electricity and even a lack of places to teach (one of the schools was not yet built and still was not during our deployment). We also had a group gathering in July where we worked on lesson planning, brainstormed, and learned how to use the XO. We also had an African teacher from a local high school discuss African culture and African schools and students so we would have a better idea of how to interact in the school system.

• 
• 

In progress...

Partner Organizations

Thusanang Trust

One Here…One There partnered with a local organization, Thusanang Trust to help ensure the success of the project. Thusanang Trust was a pivotal part of the OHOT project. They acted as an intermediary between the schools and OHOT before the start of the project, providing OHOT with fundamental and critical information about the student geographic and providing a trust element as well as contact between the schools and OHOT before their arrival in South Africa. OHOT members also stayed in Thusanang's dormatories and used their facilities to charge the laptops and store them overnight. Thusanang's Shelley Milstein took special interest in OHOT's initiative and has ensured its continued success in OHOT's absence.

Kliptown Youth Program

Kliptown Youth Project also helped facilitate the success of the first deployment. They acted as a model for OHOT’s project as well as lent out multiple members of their team to help with IT needs, using the laptops, and the language barrier as well as dealing with unforeseen problems. Neo Masilo was the group's IT specialist. He helped set up the three servers and gave lessons to the teachers about using the Internet. Sipho Dladla helped in the classroom. He was able to translate when the students did not understand the OHOT members and also shared his knowledge of the local culture with OHOT.

Community Involvement

• 
• 
• 
• 
• 

OLPCorps Summer 2009 Deployment

Overview

Our team is requesting 100 laptops from OLPCorps that will be distributed to the current fifth grade students in Haernertsburg, SA. We believe that saturating this area with technology and access to the internet will help to bridge the gap between the rich and the poor, giving these students more of an opportunity to realize their dreams.

Our circumstances are unique because of our previous XO deployment in 2008. In order to evaluate the sustainability and to address any needs of our 2008 deployment, our team will arrive in Haernertsburg before the Rwanda summit. From May 15th-June 7th, we will meet with leaders from our partnering organizations, ensure that our after school XO program is still running smoothly, address any technical issues, and implement our My XO * My Story * My Future project. We will also meet with project leaders in South Africa to double check that the locations, dates, and times chosen for our 2009 learning sessions still work.

We will then travel to Kigali, Rwanda from June 8-June 18 to participate in the OLPCorps summit.

When we return to Haernertsburg on June 18th, we will begin our 2009 XO deployment. The students in Haernertsburg go on break on June 26th, so the majority of our project will take place outside of the school setting. From June 18th-June 26th, we will take advantage of the school setting to distribute the 100 laptops and to work with the students each day on basic skills such as how to turn the computer on and off, how to care for the computer, and how to use the mouse by utilizing the "draw" program. We will also take this time to explain and promote the programs and learning workshops that we will facilitate over their break. We are confident that our out-of-school programs will be successful and have a high attendance rate because when we offered an optional Saturday learning session last summer, more than 100 people crammed into one small room to participate. We will design our learning workshops in a way that encourages free exploration of the laptops and peer-to-peer learning, rather than teaching a strict schedule of pre-planned lessons. We want the students to be aware of all of the opportunities for self-education and empowerment that an XO laptop provides, then allow the children to choose which opportunities they want to explore. The last week that we are in Haernertsburg will focus on transferring the program oversight from our team to partnering organizations in South Africa. We will meet with leaders from each organization, Thusanang, the Kliptown Youth Project, and Stanford Lake College, to ensure that future programs are arranged and running smoothly.

When we return from South Africa, we will provide continued support for learning workshops, technical assistance, and logistical needs through regular e-mail correspondence with our local partners.

Timeline

Pre-Deployment (March-May):

• Educate team members about the emergent design pedagogy advocated by OLPC through assigned readings and group discussion
  
• Arrange lodging and meals for team members for the duration of the project
  
• Arrange transportation (car rentals) for group members
  
• Arrange transportation of XO laptops from the Brightstar ship to Limpopo, SA
  
• Contact our partner organizations (Thusanang, Kliptown Youth Project, and Stanford Lake College) to discuss their schedules and to set dates, times, and locations for all learning workshops
  
• Arrange to provide lunch for the students who participate in learning workshops
  

Site Evaluation (May 15-June7): - Evaluate the effectiveness and sustainability of our 2008 XO deployment

Rwanda Summit (June 8-June18):

Project Implementation (June 18-August 30):

Week 1:

• Visit three local primary schools to distribute 100 laptops to fifth grade students
  
• Work with students during school hours in order to build a solid foundation of how to use a laptop
  
• Promote XO programs that will be held over break
  

Week 2-8:

• Organize and oversee out of school learning workshops (a schedule for these learning workshops is currently being discussed with our partnering organizations in Limpopo)
  

Week 9:

• Meet with leaders of our partnering organizations to finalize a sustainability plan in order to ensure a smooth transition when our team leaves
  

Post-Deployment (Ongoing):

* Maintain regular contact with leaders at our partnering organizations in order to provide continued support for future XO programs, technical assistance, and logistical issues.