OLPC Sierra Leone
"The role of the teacher is to create the conditions for invention rather than provide ready-made knowledge." - Seymour Papert
About OLPC Sierra Leone
OLPC Sierra Leone is an innovative approach to XO deployment which focuses on peer tutoring and a bottom-up distribution model. The pilot project is based in the Pujehun District, where illiteracy rates are around 70%, and fewer than .05% of young women make it to their final year of high school. We are the only program which distirbutes XOs to every primary and junior secondary school child, and we provide a unique hybrid-model which incorporates learning within the classroom and at home through a peer-tutoring network. With collaboration from staff in the secondary and primary schools, students will receive support and guidance as they use tools available through their XO computers (including calculator, measure, record, write and more) to enhance their learning and education. Furthermore teachers help students read and understand other subject material including the 'Child Rights Act' for Sierra Leone provided by UNICEF.
The use of peer tutors- select students from junior secondary school who excel at academics and have a strong value for community development, to collaborative work with other students outside the classroom environment is a paradigm for collaborative learning using XOs. Our tutors will meet with students a couple of times a week to work with them on a one-on-one basis on in small groups, as needed, to ensure that everyone makes an optimal use of their machines. We are currently setting up a scholarship program for the tutors for their service in time. Likely, most of these tutors might probably have dropped out of school for lack of funds to pay school fees.
During our trip to Sahn Malen in December 2008 and January 2009, we intensively trained 6 peer tutors, 2 staff and 20 students in classes 3 and 5 how to use the XOs. This was the first time the XO was taken to Sierra Leone and the dream is that every child in Sierra Leone should have access to this life changing learning tool.
Images from December '08 Pilot
Group Learning
Learning XO's Basic Functionality
Peer-2-Peer Participant
First opportunities to read & write outside of school
Collaborative Learning
Experimenting
Playing math through memorize
Father & Daughter
David Sengeh & Peer Tutors
Not enough XOs for everyone...
Coordinating Peer-2-Peer System
Video from December '08 Pilot
Supporting Organizations
Global Minimum
GMin is a student-led non-profit organization which works to solve small, local problems using innovative, global input. We are a team with diverse interests and backgrounds from all over the world, with one common goal: In 2007, GMin led a malaria eradication initiative in the village of Sahn Malen, Sierra Leone. We were one of the first groups to advocate and implement a "full coverage" approach to insecticide-treated mosquito net coverage, providing protection for every individual in the community, not just women and children. Since then, the WHO has also adopted this policy. As part of this project, we worked closely with community members to deploy, install and follow-up with the nets. We also planned a simultaneous awareness campaign, involving workshops and a "Kick Malaria out of Sahn" football game. Follow-up evaluations in 2009 demonstrated that 97% of the population continued to use their nets properly, and the percentage of individuals who believed the purpose of an insecticide-treated mosquito net was for malaria prevention rose by 81%.
GMin's experience and network in the Sahn Malen Chiefdom has made it possible to initiate an OLPC pilot project focused on instruction inside and outside the classroom. The first phase of this project was implemented in December, 2008, and will continue for the next six years.
One Here...One There
Recognizing that the hope of the future is education, IU One Here…One There seeks to address global education disparities in sub-Saharan Africa.
Ongoing Projects
| School | Location | Teacher Enrol. | Class I | Class II | Class III | Class IV | Class V | Class VI | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Roman Catholic | Sahn | 9 | 145 | 91 | 93 | 88 | 90 | 65 | 572 |
| Roman Catholic | Bamba | 1 | 50 | 32 | 25 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 107 |
| Roman Catholic | Kpombu | 2 | 59 | 27 | 35 | 14 | 0 | 0 | 135 |
| Roman Catholic | Gandorhun | 2 | 60 | 35 | 65 | 55 | 34 | 30 | 279 |
| Roman Catholic | Nianyahun | 3 | 94 | 50 | 43 | 32 | 25 | 11 | 255 |
| Roman Catholic | Sengema | 2 | 47 | 45 | 20 | 23 | 15 | 0 | 150 |
| Roman Catholic | Taninahun | 3 | 70 | 31 | 23 | 17 | 14 | 5 | 160 |
| Roman Catholic | Jao | 3 | 86 | 71 | 40 | 26 | 22 | 15 | 260 |
| Roman Catholic | Nyadehun | 2 | 65 | 37 | 38 | 11 | 0 | 0 | 151 |
| Roman Catholic | Fayama | 2 | 60 | 40 | 26 | 22 | 16 | 0 | 164 |
| Nat. Islamic Miss. | Sahn | 4 | 76 | 25 | 35 | 30 | 20 | 15 | 201 |
| Nat. Islamic Miss. | Gboyama | 5 | 44 | 27 | 13 | 10 | 13 | 11 | 118 |
| Nat. Islamic Miss. | Taninahun | 2 | 15 | 7 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 27 |
| P.D.E.C. | Hinai | 4 | 68 | 45 | 48 | 40 | 35 | 11 | 247 |
| P.D.E.C. | Banallen | 2 | 49 | 43 | 36 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 128 |
| New harvest | Maley | 3 | 58 | 47 | 25 | 20 | 15 | 10 | 175 |
| SLUIM | Sinjo | 5 | 50 | 46 | 48 | 54 | 0 | 0 | 198 |
| SLUIM | Jumbu | 3 | 34 | 42 | 43 | 33 | 9 | 0 | 161 |
| Comm. Sch. | Kasseh | 1 | 45 | 45 | 15 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 105 |
| M. Jun. Sec. Sch | Sahn | 12 | 140 | 110 | 60 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 310 |
| Total | 70 | 1315 | 896 | 734 | 477 | 308 | 173 | 3903 |
Contact us
Send an email to GMin if you want to find out more or if you are interested in making contributions to the initiative info@gmin.org
Links
Global Minimum
IU One Here...One There
IRC
Location
<googlemap version="0.9" lat="8.233237" lon="-11.99707" zoom="7" width="500" height="375">7.580328, -11.766357, Malen, Sierra LeoneXOs: 30Power: Two 5W & five 10W individual solar panelsInternet: None </googlemap>