OLPCorps PepperdineUniversity SouthAfrica

Hi! We are working on creating our proposal, so look for it soon!

Our Mission

We are a group of MBA students from Pepperdine University and will be implementing 100 XO laptops in Port Elizabeth, South Africa. We will be working with the Vanderkemp Primary School there and with the help of our local support, Adventures in Missions, we will be able to successfully implement, sustain, and maintain an invaluable program to the future development of the students.

Team Members

Name	Concentration	Title	E-mail
Benjamin Allen	Business Management, Leadership and Change Management	VP Administrator	benjamin.m.allen@pepperdine.edu
Jennifer Edwards	Business Management, Finance	VP Finance	jennifer.m.edwards@pepperdine.edu
Mary Harrison	Business Management, Finance	VP Development	mary.harrison@pepperdine.edu

Draft Proposal

We are a group of MBA students from Pepperdine University and will be implementing 100 XO laptops in Port Elizabeth, South Africa. We will be working with the Vanderkemp Primary School there and with the help of our local support, Adventures in Missions, we will be able to successfully implement, sustain, and maintain an invaluable program to the future development of the students. This

Beginning the week of June 22, our team will begin an introductory program at the school that will be intended to create excitement and buzz around the laptop program. The following week, the beginning of the students month long holiday, would be an intensive instructional course for the teachers and administrators. This training would be intended to integrate the laptop into the other learning curriculums of the school. Due to the economic situation of students, they will be local during their break and will be able to partake in the programs hereafter. Beginning July 6, we will facilitate 2 weeks of learning opportunities and experiences for the children to become acclimated and familiar with the technology and laptops. Also, this learning will include extensive time spent connecting them with the World Wide Web. When school resumes July 20, our team will continue to work with teachers and students in the class rooms to integrate the XO laptops.

Our local partners are Ken and Judy Ball, the coordinators of Adventures in Missions (AIM) in South Africa. They will be instrumental throughout this process; they have connections in many of the schools in Port Elizabeth, as well as connections with important government officials. With there cooperation and guidance, this program will be a success. As coordinators for AIM, they constantly work with young college students who come for missionary work and teaching. There will be an AIM team working in Port Elizabeth while we are there, and they too will provide support during this process. After our Pepperdine Team is gone, AIM teams will continue their work in Port Elizabeth and will be able to sustain the development of the program. Currently, there is an AIM student teaching at the Vanderkemp Primary School; her help will also be imperative in connecting with the students and other staff. Also, she, and the coordinators, have vast experience preparing curriculum and executing learning projects, and they provide the Life Orientation curriculum to many of the surrounding schools. Over the next few months, our team will be in constant communication with Ken and Judy to address all potential issues our implementation might face and we will continue to refine our plans and curriculum for the teachers and students.

This project and implementation will be invaluable to the further development of these children. The students will be able to leverage their learning experiences and will make them more competitive in a flattening world. Students will be part of a greater community of OLPC users. Aligning with the principles of One Laptop per Child, each student will be able to take ownership of their education and the technology. At school, the computer will be theirs; in speaking with our partners, we feel that students should not take the computers from the school. Our greatest concern would be making the students targets for theft or violence, and because of the economic and family situations of many students, giving them a laptop to take would potentially do that. By exposing students to this technology at a young age, it prepares them to use it later on and begins the saturation process. Also, it increases their ability to be connected and grow together as they personalize and adapt the technology to meet their growing needs. This connectivity will allow students to openly dialogue and communicate, and provide them a place to record their thoughts and ideas, and to share those ideas with others.

Our financial needs our outlined in the following budget. Thanks to our partners in Port Elizabeth, we will have host families to house us during our time in South Africa.

Due to the connection with AIM and the student missionaries who will continue to travel there, the continued support of this program through personal interaction will be more beneficial then monetary support. Also, our team’s ability to leverage our experience and spread the message about One Laptop per Child will also go a long way in continue the mission and vision of the organization.

Partnering Organization--Adventures In Missions (AIM)

Adventures In Missions is an interdenominational missions organization that focuses on discipling. We emphasize prayer and relationships in our work among the poor.

In the 17 years since we were established, we have taken 65,000 people to the mission field, some for a year or longer.

Through our 14 bases around the world, we have year-round ministry to places where “the least of these” are found. We believe that by giving people the opportunity to hold orphans, bring hope to the hopeless, and pray for the sick, lives are transformed. We seek to disciple as Jesus did – our vision is that God would use us to raise up a generation of radically committed disciples of Jesus Christ!

For more information, go to website: http://www.adventures.org/