OLPCorps Jamii OLPC Tanzania
Jamii OLPC
“Jamii” means "community" in Kiswahili, and is the foundational principle of Jamii OLPC's OLPCorps Africa proposal:
Real, sustainable development comes from the people who make cities, towns and villages communities.
A partnership between Matemwe School, and the Matemwe School Computer Centre NGO of Zanzibar, Tanzania and numerous international team members, Jamii OLPC is a small but experienced multi-national, multi-university team applying to the One Laptop per Child 2009 OLPCorps Africa program.
Jamii OLPC hopes to be accepted into the OLPCorps Africa program and provided with 100 XO laptops to begin an XO Library at Matemwe.
Children are the future; if equipped with education, tools and opportunities, this generation can take up the battle to improve the lives of their families, community and country--and win.
This generation can make a difference.
Our school partnership, team members and proposal are all currently works-in-progress, but stay tuned to catch the latest updates as Jamii OLPC grows from an idea into a real opportunity to make a difference.
Visit our website
You can also email us at JamiiOLPC@gmail.com.
News!
Meet an Aspiring OLPCorps Applicant in Ottawa-Gatineau
This Saturday, Samantha Burton, a MA Mass Communication student at Carleton College and Project Coordinator of Jamii OLPC will be at the Ottawa XO Users Group meeting to talk about their OLPCorps application.
Ottawa XO Users Group Meeting
When: Saturday March 21, 2009 - 13:00-15:00 h.
Where: Carleton Campus; The Herzberg Physics Bldg (HP) Room: HP4351
Read the latest Jamii OLPC news on our blog!
Matemwe School
Matemwe is a fishing village, located on the north east coast of Zanzibar, Tanzania.
For years, Matemwe was isolated from the rest of the island by an arid, rocky coral rag which lay to the west.
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In 1993 the road from Mkwajuni was paved with tarmac, and a new era of communication with the outside world began. In 2004 the electricity line was finally extended to the village and the Matemwe School. Matemwe School is a Government School that was built in 1968 and opened in 1970 with 135 students. Today, there are 900+ students enrolled, from the ages of 7-18. Some students walk more than 10kms to reach the school, and teachers are paid less the $2USD/day. Most of the students come from families whose main means of support is seaweed farming or fishing. |
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At Matemwe School, facilities are minimal and there is forever a shortage of school supplies, but the desire for education burns in the hearts of all.
Visit Matemwe School’s official website here.
Project Panga Magae
In January 2006, Matemwe School began a journey toward a dream.
This dream grew from a seedling planted in October 2004, when a privately donated Compaq computer was installed in the Matemwe School library. As teachers received computer training over the course of a year, the Matemwe community began to rally around the idea of teaching their children to become computer literate. Valuable technical skills would open many doors for the next generation; something had to be done.
So, in January 2006, Project Panga Magae was officially started.
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| Project Pagna Magae is a collective effort by Matemwe School officials, teachers, community leaders and international supporters focusing on “bridging the digital divide” for the children of Matemwe.
Over the past three years, Project Pagna Magae has made significant progress:
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Yet, despite all of the efforts of the school and community, 10 computers in a school of 1,400 is no more than a raindrop in the ocean.
Only 15 students are currently able to participate in a computer class. Also, due to the high utility costs (ie. electricity and internet connection) the computers must primarily be used to run an Internet Cafe for tourists.
This provides just enough income to support the computers’ upkeep, but limits the access that Matemwe students and community members have to the lab.
Jamii OLPC & Project Panga Magae
| The Matemwe School and community have made a commitment to providing their young people with access to and education about technology. They have built this project from the ground-up, surmounted numerous barriers that have risen to block their path, and remain committed.
For this reason, Jamii OLPC and Matemwe School are applying to OLPCorps Africa for 100 XO laptops to begin an XO Library in the Matemwe Library and Computer Centre. These tools will help Project Panga Magae flourish and grow, and provide the means for Matemwe to move closer to attaining the dream they have already worked so hard to realize. The XO Library will primarily serve the youngest generation of Matemwe School students; classes standards 1 - 6 (7-12 yrs) will rotate in-class computer use throughout the week, and the XO laptops will be available for the children to sign-out and take home each day. |
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Matemwe teachers receiving computer training
OLPCorps Proposal
This is a work in progress!
Jamii OLPC team members will be using this space to collaboratively create our proposal.
In the spirit of openness, transparency and above all, community, this process of maturation for our proposal will be visible not only to the entire OLPC community, but the internet as a whole! Looking forward to hearing your feedback and constructive criticism.
Asante sana! Thank you!
Language: The two official languages of Tanzania are Kswahili and English. All of the international members of Jamii OLPC are English-speaking. Sam, our Project Coordinator, speaks conversational-level Kswahili. Jackie, our Pedagogical Lead II, also speaks conversational-level Kswahili and will provide training materials and instruction (where geographically possible) to the non-Kswahili speaking members of Jamii OLPC.
Budget
Jamii OLPC will be requesting the full $10,000 stipend.
Please feel free to download our Preliminary Deployment Budget [.pdf]
Jamii OLPC Team
The Jamii OLPC team is made up of four units:
- the International Unit
- the Local Unit
- the Pedagogical Advisory Unit
- the Information Communication Technologies for International Development (ICT4D) Advisory Unit
Cooperation and collaboration between the four units is of paramount importance to the success and sustainability of the project. Because of this, the members of all units will be featured here.
International Unit
These individuals are the core Jamii OLPC team, organizing all major aspects of preparation and deployment. They are also responsible for direct communication with OLPCorps.
Only Sam Burton, Daniel Drake and Gracia Jalea will be participating in the fieldwork aspect of the deployment.
Click on the position title for a full description, and on a team member's name for a full bio.
| Position (F=fieldwork) | Name | Country | University | Major | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Project Coordinator & Political Lead (F) | Samantha Burton | Canada | Carleton University | MA Mass Communications (current) | Samantha.V.Burton@gmail.com
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| Technical Lead (F) | Daniel Drake | United Kingdom | University of Manchester | BA Computer Science (graduate) | dsd@laptop.org
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| Pedagogical Lead (F) | Gracia Jalea | Canada | Concordia University | MA Media Studies (current) | gracia.jalea@gmail.com |
| Logistical & Financial Lead | Laura Tribe | Canada | Carleton University | MA Mass Communications | Tribe.laura@gmail.com |
Local Unit
These individuals are the backbone of this projects success and sustainability. They are providing invaluable ongoing insight throughout the planning process, and will be key leaders during and following the deployment.
The remainder of this information will be provided following a March 23, 2009 meeting at Matemwe School.
| Jamii OLPC Position | Name | Country | Matemwe School connection |
|---|---|---|---|
| Technical Lead | Tanzania | ||
| Technical Lead | Tanzania |
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| Pedagogical Lead | Tanzania | ||
| Pedagogical Lead | Tanzania | ||
| International Communications | Frederica Boswell | Matemwe School Secretary; BBC Africa; Matemwe resident
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| Project Panga Magae Adviser | Tim Boswell | Project Panga Magae Board of Directors Member |
Pedagogical Advisory Unit
These individuals have extensive experience in all educational aspects of OLPC and the XO laptop, such as early childhood education, building applications in Sugar, pedagogy of technology. This unit will work closely with the Canada-based Pedagogical Lead to develop a flexible curriculum and introductory projects to be utilized during and after the deployment. They will also be in close contact with the Matemwe-based Pedagogical Lead who will provide consultation on existing school curriculum, and feedback from the school throughout the curriculum development process. Peek in on the pedagogical development process at the Jamii OLPC Curriculum Talk wiki page.
| Name | Country | Occupation | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Danny Bakan, B.A., M.A. | Canada | Instructor, Ryerson University, School of Early Childhood Education | adviser on early childhood education curriculum development; SongChild Project Leader |
| Gracia Jalea | Canada | MA Media Studies, Concordia University | Jamii OLPC Pedagogical Lead |
| Dr. Jason Nolan | Canada | Assistant Professor, Ryerson University, School of Early Childhood Education | adviser on curriculum and pedagogy of technology; SongChild Project Leader; research: social technologies for young children, identity construction online, technology and play |
| Dr. Brett Stevens | Canada | Associate Professor, School of Mathematics & Statistics, Carleton University | adviser on XO hardware and software; constructing Sugar applications |
| Jackie Strecker | Canada | MA Communications and Cultures, York University & Ryerson University | adviser on ICTs in international development; peer-to-peer education; Tanzanian culture and Kswahili |
| Ottawa XO Users Group | Canada | advisers on XO hardware and software |
ICT4D Advisory Unit
These individuals and groups have a wide range of expertise and experience related to the OLPCorps project. They have generously offered their time to advise Jamii OLPC on a variety of aspects involved with our proposal.
| Name | Country | Occupation | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Dr. Josh Greenberg | Canada | Assistant Professor, Carleton University, Communication Studies; Director of the Centre for Voluntary Sector Research and Development. | Sam's MA thesis supervisor and NGO liaison advisor; research: media and communication activities in broader strategic planning on the part of NGOs, non-profits and social movement/activist organizations |
| Dr. Daniel Paré | Canada | Associate Professor, Ottawa University, Department of Communication | research: ICTs for international development, internet governance and regulation, Political economy of ICTs, science & technology policy |
| Dr. Sandra Smeltzer | Canada | Assistant Professor, University of Western Ontario, Faculty of Information & Media Studies | Centre for Independent Journalism, Malaysia; Western Heads East Advisor, Mwanza, Tanzania; research: ICTs for international development, global political economy of ICTs |
Project Idea Highlights
Curriculum in Progress
View our Pedagogical Advisory Unit's discussions about curriculum and project development on the Jamii OLPC Curriculum Talk Page.
Formalized ideas will be posted below as they are finalized by the team!
SongChild
Two of the members of our Pedagogical Advisory Unit, Jason Nolan and Danny Bakan, are the Project Leaders of SongChild.
The concept of SongChild is "to develop and maintain an on-line community of users, who will work together to write and share kids songs. The mandate of the site is to foster an Open License Music Project, in which users will work together to build upon and create public domain material. This musical repertoire of public domain kid's songs will be available to share and with children everywhere."
As curriculum and projects are developed, the Pedagogical Advisory Unit will create a way in which to incorporate the SongChild project into Jamii OLPC.
Fundraising
As fundraising efforts are initiated, they will be documented in detail here!