OLPC - Senegal

ONE blog

2009-09-01T05:19:00.001-07:00

Oh the publicity. Bono's ONE website has recently featured our Senegal OLPC deployment on its blog. The ONE blog will be featuring between 2-4 OLPCorps blogs over the next few months, so stay tuned. Until then, click http://www.one.org/blog/?p=7703 to read ours.

Rotary Newsletter: August

2009-08-16T11:52:00.000-07:00

Hey all,

The Rotary district 6220 newsletter just came out and is featuring a second article on Justin's and my deployment. The newsletter can be accessed here: http://www.ridistrict6220.org/about/newsletter.htm

All good things must come to an end, at least temporarily

2009-08-15T04:44:00.000-07:00

It's been a while since we've updated our blog on actual OLPCorps Senegal progress here in Mboro. It's been quite the eventful couple of weeks.

1. We finally received our new server, and then had problems with said server. It resulted in us being unable to connect to the internet properly.

2. Then we had a lightning storm and were further unable to connect to the internet.

3. Both teacher and student trainings are finished!

4. Teacher training ended with the Americans trying to cook a batch of stir-fry, chicken, and pasta for 20 hungry exam-goers. It ended with a few Senegalese women taking over and making something they called "American Suppakadja." They loved this new concoction. The head of Catholic schools in Senegal also came to enjoy the festivities. Together we ate, drank, and celebrated one month of computer training and one hefty XO exam being complete.

5. The teacher’s largest concern was forgetting everything they learned before school starts in October. Since all the teachers have taken an XO home with them for summer vacation, we are less concerned. However, we did assure them if they don't use the XO during break, they will indeed forget. Better practice! It's in their hands now.

6. Half our team went home last week, leaving the last week of student training up to us. Unfortunately, this also coincided with the teachers officially leaving for vacation. We ended up giving the students free time to explore their XO for several hours each day. Since none of them had even opened up email accounts, the time was more productive than originally anticipated.

7. Most common XO activities students used during free time: a) Record - you'd be surprised at what creative rap videos students can make with the XO. b) Wikipedia images - the youngest students watch the world images on slide show mode and pretend its television. They point and gawk and just love it. c) Paint - many of the female students would take group photos together in Record, import them into Write, and start pasting hearts and stars all around the image. Since importing photos into write wasn't something covered in the first two weeks of classes, we were pretty excited. d) Maze - while the sharing function on the XO is still fairly buggy, the keyboard does allow up to three or four students to compete in Maze at one time. Once they found this out, students would line around one computer and yell and laugh and try to beat each other in a Maze game that gets progressively more difficult as you play. It's quite the sight.

8. XO charging cabinets are now in our hands. After being overcharged and disappointed at the electrical work done on our first charging cabinet, Devon decided it was best to take over. We'll post photos to clarify exactly how the charging cabinets are being wired for electricity. For now, we're saving a ton of money on a better product.

9. We have received word from two Rotary Clubs in Dakar and are looking forward to meeting with them about the project next week.

10. In five days Justin and I leave and all loose ends move into Devon's hands. We only hope to have most of them tied up.

Our First Video

2009-08-14T06:23:00.000-07:00

We have been without internet for a little while, but that has been resolved for the time being. This is an interview we did with the school director about his thoughts on the program. There are also a few clips from the classroom. Let us know what you think.

One Laptop Per Child at Ecole Notre Dame

2009-08-05T15:12:00.000-07:00

We are a team of four university students from the United States who are spending our summer in Mboro, Sengal. Mboro is a small mining town on the Atlantic Ocean approximately fifty kilometers north of Dakar. After receiving a grant including two hundred XO laptops from One Laptop Per Child (OLPC), we were directed by Peace Corps members in Senegal to Ecole Notre Dame elementary school. Ecole Notre Dame is unique in that it receives free power and clean water from the local phosphorous factory; free power has greatly assisted in the financial sustainability of deploying 200 laptops to one school. All students from grades 2-5 will receive their own XO computer come October.

Pierre Khar Tine, the director of Ecole Notre Dame, had been researching the feasibility of bringing computers to his school for several years. Pierre’s philosophy is that “students need to know how to read; they need to know how to write; and, they need to know how to use computers. Computer illiteracy is illiteracy.” He had asked Devon Connolly, the local Peace Corps Volunteer, to keep an ear out for project possibilities; but, Devon hardly assumed such an opportunity would arise. When the Peace Corps director in Senegal contacted Devon about bringing XO’s to Mboro, it was serendipitous. He told Pierre about OLPC, our team, and showed him a photo of the green and white XO laptop online. After, he asked Pierre to consider seriously the ramification of introducing 200 computers to Ecole Notre Dame’s school curriculum. It didn’t take Pierre long to believe we were the answer to his prayers.

Deploying several hundred child-sized computers to one Catholic school is no easy task. Wireless routers and a school server had to be installed; trenches to bury Ethernet cable had to be dug; customized cabinets to charge and store the laptops each night had to be built. While these infrastructural changes did not come easy, none of them would have been possible without community support. A local woodworker built twelve charging cabinets; a hardware store owner constructed power strips; Devon’s Senegalese cousin wired the classrooms for internet; and the head of Catholic school in Senegal generously donated conduit to cover all bare wires in each classroom. Their goal was to create a permanent fixture the school could be proud of. The best way to insure sustainability was to create a community project, not simply a school project.

We don’t believe that computers alone will greatly impact Mboro; but, we do believe that the students who own these laptops will. This week the students are completing a career research project to think about their future in a way that might motivate them through school. Groups of four students went into Mboro and used the video, photo, and write functions on their XO to interview an array of local professionals in both formal and informal sectors. Students interviewed anyone from the mayor’s secretary, to the local pharmacist, to meat and vegetable vendors. At the end of this week, each group will present to the class what they saw and learned about the work involved to achieve and sustain various careers. In addition to this career research project, the teachers will soon be working with students to implement an online school newspaper. This newspaper will encourage students to be involved and present their insights on local issues to a global audience. The XO is one tool that allows students to take control of their education. Students at Ecole Notre Dame have taken a break from their daily routine of rote memorization, and have begun asking serious questions about themselves and their community. In only 8 weeks, students have begun to use a connected laptop to think critically about their environment. With more time, they'll start to create positive change.

Meeeting with the mayor

2009-08-03T16:21:00.000-07:00

After having only crossed paths a couple of times at such important public functions as wrestling matches, today was our first scheduled meeting with him and his staff. All in all - very positive.

We explained what we were doing and what our hopes were for the project. Many schools in the area see the importance not only in computer training but also in boosting the education system. After a few questions they started working on ideas on how they could go about purchasing more in the future. This was pretty exciting since school hasn't even started yet, but, of course they're looking forward to seeing how the year goes.

We talked about how much they might have available and it wasn't an overwhelming amount - but still good start. From there we talked about the prospect of the parents chipping in for part of the computer, paying small amounts over time. This is something which was done in some shools in Rwanda. We also talked about possible matching grants that might be found or provided by various groups to help either the local goverment or individual families. Lastly, the most ideal but not the easiest option, we talked about ways the national government can get involved to help support and hopefully expand the project to other areas.

It's a bit early in the game to pin down too many details, but we're excited that their excited. We'll continue to work with the local government, OLPC, and a few other friends that might be able to help over the next year. Hopefully, we'll be able to come up with something suitable for all - most importantly the students.

Teacher / Student Update

2009-08-03T14:45:00.000-07:00

1. Week 4 of mandatory teacher formation got off to a rainy start. When it rains in Senegal it pours. We had four go-getters for morning training and led a basic how-to-fix-any-XO-problem day. We showed them how to restart sugar, put the computer to sleep to fix the mouse, restart the computer if neither of those work. And if all else fails, reflash.

2. We practiced reflashing on spare computers so no teacher would lose his/her saved documents. One hour into training we got a late-arrival and Marie François was nice enough to catch her up on what she missed. Unfortunately, Marie François forgot the you-will-lose-all-your-documents aspect of reflashing. Although Thioum shrieked at the sight of a very blank computer, the teachers agreed they will now remember not to reflash unless absolutely necessary.

3. It is summer vacation time in Senegal and all the catholic schools are swapping students. Some students have come to Mboro for the week and Ecole Notre Dame students have gone elsewhere. Technically, we should have no students for XO training. And while attendance did drop, it hardly dropped to zero. We went from 80 students to 60 and have been told they would rather be here for "informatique" than on some holiday.

4. Learning project! We gave the teachers three options for learning projects to do this week (and next?) with the students. First, was a career research project. Second, was a 'where do you see your community in ten years' project. And lastly is a school newspaper. We plan to do the school newspaper next week regardless, but didn't want to force a learning project onto the teachers that wasn't culturally translatable. In the end, Pierre chose career research.

5. It will be the first time students take laptops outside school and into the community.

6. In preparation, the students wrote up interview questions in class and went over to the church / clinic to practice using the video function on their XO. It was an exciting activity to observe. Both the students and the men and women interviewed took the activity with a balance of seriousness and humor.

7. From 9-10 am tomorrow, groups of 4 students are coming to school to pick up one group laptop. They are writing interview questions tonight (2 questions per person) and are going into the garage, the market, the factory, etc. to interview individuals about their careers. Everyone is extremely excited to have a day-long, outside-of-school project. It's definitely better than vacation.

8. The end result will be a 5 minute group presentation about that specific career.

9. There is a strong chance that at least one team will not save the file correctly and will show up for student training at 3:30pm with no video.

10. But, we'll take that challenge as it comes.

Rotary Newsletter

2009-07-29T14:59:00.000-07:00

Rotary district 6220 is featuring articles about Justin and my deployment for the months of July, August, and September. The July article just went up and can be accessed at: http://ridistrict6220.org/about/newsletter.htm

Week 3 - Day 2 - Justin

2009-07-28T16:12:00.000-07:00

For the second day of student training, we broke up into two groups. Stephanie posted about her experience below, but I thought I would blog about mine too – it was just that good of a day.

The rain finished before lunch was over, so there were no obstacles standing between the teachers and the school. Everyone arrived on time and was excited for their second day. As I mentioned, we broke up into two groups, which was a great way to help kids work with others their own age as well as cut down the class size. This helped things move along more quickly than they did on day one.

The teacher that Eli and I worked with did a wonderful job of directing the class. First, we caught up the kids who had missed day one, since our numbers grew a bit, and then opened Memorize to begin the activity. The teacher started by letting the kids try out some of the games that the XO comes with, and then we worked on creating new ones.

Lead by example and open the door for the kids to make it their own – this was how it worked. The teacher demonstrated how to make a game with some thing like countries and capitols, making just a few slides, and then allowed the kids to create their own game. In case the kids had problems that weren’t immediately solved by working with their friends, I always made sure to carry my XO with me so that I could show the kids how I did it instead of just doing it for them. Still, demonstration was only needed a couple of times since the kids were so willing to try things out and then ask questions to their neighbors if they had difficulty.

One child created a game matching students’ first and last names, another matching sports to famous athletes, and another matching words in French and English. After finishing and testing one game, most students immediately wanted to make another.

Since this all went so well, we asked the teacher what she thought would be best next. She suggested opening Write to practice typing. She then demonstrated to the class how to make capital letters, insert commas and periods, and also add accents to French letters. Again, alternate keyboard functions took some training with the teachers, but the students picked it quickly and weren’t shy to ask a friend if they couldn’t find something.

Everyone wrote sentences about themselves, their computer, their family, or the day’s class. It was great to read the positive things kids were writing. Not only they were getting it well, but they loved it. Tomorrow is another day and I am pretty sure I am just as excited as the kids.

Teacher Poll: Mid-Training

2009-07-28T15:35:00.000-07:00

This short poll was taken on Wednesday of week 2. The point was to encourage everyone to bring their laptops home and to go over the fact that their family will not break the laptop. The poll was conducted in French and translated into English for this blog.

1. Do you use the XO at home?
A. Every night: 9
B. Sometimes: 2
C. Not often: 0
D. Never: 0

2. Do you let your children use it?
A. I don't bring it home with me: 2
B. No, I think they will break it: 5
C. Yes, sometimes: 4
D. Yes, every night: 0

3. Has your child shown you something new on the XO?
A. Yes, my child showed me a new activity: 1
B. Yes, my child opened a new activity but s/he didn't know how to use it: 3
C. Yes, my child used the XO but didn't show me how to anything new: 2
D. My child doesn't use the XO: 2
E. I don't have kids: 3
* one participant wrote: 'yes'

4. Do you use your XO with your kids?
A. Yes, I go to my house and show my family what I have learned in training: 3 1/2
B. Yes, my family shows me new things on the XO: 2 1/2
C. My family uses itbut we don't use it together: 0
D. I don't bring the XO home, so my family can't use it: 2
E. I take it home but my family doesn't use it: 3
* one participant wrote: 'yes'
* and yes, one participant did literally mark 1/2 for two answers

5. What is the most difficult things to do with the XO?
1: Inserting a photo into write.
2: Inserting a photo into write; opening an activity and applying it to a class.
3: Searching the internet
4: Writing emails
5: Internet
6: Creating and sharing activities with the Neighborhood
7: Doing the homework
8: Sharing activities with my Friends
9: Sharing an excercise
10: Sharing activities
11: Switching between activities

6. What is the easiest thing to do on the XO?
1: Reading/opening something from the journal
2: Opening and closing activities
3: Record and Internet
4: Taking photos with Record
5: Opening and closing activities
6: Writing a text
7: Turning the xo on and off; Write
8: Opening the laptop, copying, go to the write page, making uppercase letters
9: Turning the xo on and off, going to the homepage, journal
10: Opening and writing a text
11: Turning on and off the xo

Student Training: Day Two

2009-07-28T15:27:00.000-07:00

*Pre-post note: we do not want the computers to "become distractions in classrooms." As such, our OLPCorps team is conducting a three-week xo summer camp with both the teachers and students of Ecole Notre Dame. Goals: Teachers will be more comfortable teaching the xo when we leave. Also, the students will know xo basics by time school starts. Bonus: we get to do amazing learning activities with 200 awesome children.

Today, we broke the students into two groups to help manage crazy kid behavior and found the age segregation to be fairly helpful. James and I were paired with a teacher who has largely struggled in class. James came with me due to his fantastic French skills and we crossed our fingers. To my pleasant surprise, the teacher was extremely comfortable teaching "Memorize" to 26 7-9 year olds. To James' disappointment, she did so in a very rigid / instructionist manner. The truth of the matter probably lies someplace in between our two reactions.

Things I didn't expect:

1. A classroom of 26 yelling kids to behave like angels once the teacher, two Americans, and a bunch of green laptops showed up. Students wouldn't even vocalize a question to me - he/she would only whisper it.

2. Memorize is like a flashcard game. You can create matching pairs, such as cat to kitten and dog to puppy (or) Senegal to Dakar and USA to Washington D.C. In teacher training we encouraged each teacher to think up new and inventive ways to use memorize. These ranged from the periodic table, to history dates and places, to synonyms. Teacher X today told the kids specifically which types of pairs she wanted them to create: masculine/feminine words in French. It ended with every single student looking over his/her partner's computer screen to remind them of other masculine/feminine word pairs. The creativity was cut out, as was the critical thinking.

Things I expected:

1. The students to be dynamic learners and (because they're Senegalese) good at sharing. Both have been true so far. Students sit three or four to a desk and rapidly share their treasure chest of how-to-open-memorize knowledge with their neighbors.

2. Mousing skills to be the steepest learning curve. Between the touch-pad being hyper sensitive and kids' hand being fairly dirty, using the mouse has proven difficult. Although they all love using the pre-made hearts and stars in "Paint," using the pencil or paintbrush function will take some time.

Things I would suggest:

1. Week three have the teachers actually teach students how to use the xo. While teacher X today struggles to remember where the border key is or how to save a document, throwing her in front of a classroom was the best thing we could have done to assist in her learning. She's a teacher, so of course she was competent. She lesson-planned-ahead; made sure she knew her subject (Memorize), and taught it in the only way she was comfortable doing (extremely directed). But, my hunch is that she will begin to participate in teacher sessions more actively and will slowly begin to remember where the border key is, or how to save a document.

* For now we are preparing week 4 of teacher training after strict orders from our local Catholic supervisor. (We were only going to train for 3 weeks). We're pumped! The teachers, whose vacations will be cut short by one week, may not be as thrilled. But, they need the practice. Our local Catholic supervisor is also creating an xo test to be administered on Wednesday or Thursday of week 4. If we're as good of instructors as I hope we are, the teachers will have no problem passing her/our jointly written exam.

Week 3 - Day 1: Start of Student Training

2009-07-28T15:24:00.001-07:00

Our goal is that the teachers are able to most of the teaching for the student training. This is the reason we trained them for two full weeks before starting student training and are continuing their training along with the students. Although we could train the students ourselves, there is no way we could do it as well, and the teachers need to practice working with the students anyhow.

To start off Monday, we talked to the teachers about what they thought the students should learn first. The teachers were a bit timid, first suggesting that the students get comfortable with the mouse and keyboard. We agree that this is important but thought that the students could handle a bit more their first day. The next suggestion was that we focus on just opening and turning on the computer, and then opening, writing and saving a document. Again, we thought this was a bit too simple for the entire afternoon. In the end, we agreed that Paint would be an OK way to practice some of those skills and had the teachers make the Senegalese flag in Paint to brush up on the activity.

From there we reviewed Turtle Art, making sure that all of the teachers were able to make shapes and designs without our help. At first, there were a few that needed some reminders but all them had a pretty good grasp by the end. They even used calculate to figure out the hypotenuse of a Right triangle and then make a few other shapes using calculate.

In the afternoon, teaching was delayed a little. Right before class was to start, the sky opened up and dumped a small lake on our school over the course of about 30 minutes. This meant that even though some of the kids were there, the teachers were not. Also, leaky metal roofs function similarly to snare-drums in hard rain – it was nearly impossible to speak to the person next to you, let alone a class of 40 children.

Eventually the rain slowed and we began handing out the laptops. Unlike the teachers who had a bit of difficulty opening the laptops for the first time, as soon as the children had them, they either quickly figured out how to open it or had taken note of their neighbors approach – it never takes a kid long to open up a present. They started the computers, entered their names, picked their color theme, and changed the language.

By the time the students were finishing with that, the two teachers for that day had arrived. I have to admit that they were better than we were at getting the kids attention. The teachers started by allowing them a bit of free time with the program to let them explore.

It was interesting to see the way kids get ideas from each other. On one side of the room, the kids made a number of shapes and a variety of colors create all kinds of designs and images. In the middle, the kids used a decent amount of these things but seemed to be working on more focused ideas. On the opposite side, most of the kids were working on one image and starting over with a clear screen if they had either finished or disliked their picture. It was good to see that they are taking ideas from each other and that they working together to learn the computer. I just hope that they don’t let the people around them influence their projects too much.

After a while, we did a few directed activities with Paint just to make sure that the kids understood most of the basics and then finished the day by letting them look around the computer a bit. The kids loved the class and can’t wait till tomorrow. Rain or shine, I have a feeling that they’re coming back tomorrow.

Week 2 - Day 5

2009-07-28T14:43:00.000-07:00

Friday we did a little bit of review as well as add a couple of new things. First we talked about the learning projects they were assigned to think about and complete this week. We have given them a few examples so far and also had the teachers try to complete some for themselves. Now, we thought it was important that they think of projects which they could use for their classes.

The teachers had come up with some good ideas, but we’re still expanding the box and not quite outside of it. For instance, One teacher wrote a mathematic word problem in Write – we suggested that she see if it the kids could draw the problem/solution in paint. Another project worked with Write and asked kids to match up various parts of the body to their function – ear to listen, eyes to see. This is an idea that they might not normally have written materials like worksheets to complete, but would also function better in Memorize as an interactive game. This could also include the kids taking photos of their ears, eyes, nose, etc., copying the photo into memorize, and then matching the photos to their functions. For examples like this, we worked with teachers to see what other activities they could incorporate into their project and tried to make the project as interactive as possible.

After the discussion, we showed them the blog we had created for their articles. Blogspot isn’t the ideal format, but there are better options on the way. Still, the teachers we excited to see their stories and pictures on the internet, and that a few people from other countries had already commented on them. They immediately asked if it were possible for every class to have a blog and how they could go about posting and updating it more regularly – that’s the enthusiasm we like to see.

From there, we moved on to a small project of our own. We had already planned to work with Write that day since the idea of write was clear, but some of the functions still needed explaining. We asked the teachers to start by writing a title on the top of the page. They then passed their computers around the room, each person adding another sentence and redirecting the story. This took a little longer than expected since many of the teachers haven’t ever done a project like this. They were confused as to how they were supposed to write a story if they didn’t know how it ended. Eventually, we got the process figured out and the stories completed.

When they got their story back, we wanted to follow up from a filler-activity we did on Thursday. We had written a few questions on the board and asked them to identify the ‘keywords’ present to help them to utilize search better. Today, they were supposed to identify a keyword or theme in their story and then find a picture on the internet to compliment that. After they found the picture, they needed to import it into the Write activity. This all went pretty well but took a little longer than we expected due to the extended explanation at the beginning. We worked on editing and formatting for a little bit, but then it was time for the class to be done.

Monday, we start student training in the afternoon. We think that the students will pick it up quickly, but dealing with 50 students in the hot afternoon will be a bit different than 10 teachers in the morning.

Newspaper

2009-07-24T03:32:00.000-07:00

There is hope to have an xo newspaper template by mid-August which could be used to create a school / community newspaper. Until then, we have created a blog that has the teachers newspaper articles on it. We assigned an article + photo for homework in hopes they will continue the activity with their students next year. The articles cover issues of education in Senegal, to their recent vacation to Foundiougne, malaria prevention, an advice column, the health benefits of papaya, and more. To check it out go to --> http://ecolenotredamemboro.blogspot.com

Most are in French; but, two are in English:)

Week 2, Day 4: "Scratch"

2009-07-23T06:30:00.000-07:00

The decision to teach Turtle Art yesterday was the first time our team was split. Half our team was excited about Turtle Art possibilities, it's ability to transform into homework assignments, etc. The other half of us thought Turtle Art was a fun game, but not applicable to the classroom. Should we even teach a program that might frustrate the teachers and leave them further behind in the dust?

As you read, Turtle Art exceeded all of our expectations. While the geometric math was difficult to review, the application of Turtle Art to the classroom clicked immediately.

Today we were split again. The teachers certainly needed another day practicing Turtle Art; but would we simply exhaust them by using the same difficult application twice in a row? We decided to build off what other OLPCorps teams have done, and introduce Scratch. Why not!? Scratch is the second most complex activity on the xo. But, one of the most useful. You can practice mathematics, program foreign language dialogues, and utilize it's characters for creative writing prompts. We decided to review the shapes each teacher learned in Turtle Art through Scratch language. To do this, James jumped into the circle of teachers and announced "Je suis le Sprite!" The teachers had to shout out Scratch commands to get him to walk in a square, a triangle, and a circle. We thought the teachers might feel the activity juvenile, but the next thing we knew several were raising their hands and shouting, while others jumped to the chalk board to explicate in writing what they were trying to shout. It was brilliant. All the teachers were able to review Turtle Art and advance to Scratch in one good ole pantomiming exercise.

To differentiate Scratch from Turtle Art we asked each teacher to create a French Dialogue. By using the "wait (_) seconds" and "say (_) for five seconds" commands, one can synchronize a conversation between two characters. Earlier in the week there were two notable teachers who were simply tired with the so. They struggled throughout class and by the end of three hours wanted nothing more to do with it. Yesterday and today we saw a significant change in attitude. One of these two teachers came in 30 minutes late yesterday, sat next to me, and said: "Stephanie, what is this? I want to make this. How can I?" Our PCV Devon had emphasized a need to "impress" them with what the so can do, and I think Turtle Art and Scratch finally have.

We start student teaching in the afternoons next week. There are 4 teachers who will be gone in August and are responsible for the first week of student initiation. Two of these teachers are the quickest and strongest learners. The other two are extremely nervous about teaching; but, we're forcing them to dive right in. We will pair up the two stronger teachers with the two more hesitant ones and see how it goes.

Until then...

Week 2 - Day 3

2009-07-22T12:32:00.000-07:00

I was more impressed today than I have been any other day of our training. We started off in Turtle Art which is one of the harder activities on the XO, but also an incredibly useful one. You use simple programming to create shapes, images, and a range of effects. The beauty of it is when you teach kids to create things with activity they gain a deep integral understanding of what goes into a shape. This may sound silly to some of you, but it is important to learn that a triangle is composed of 3 sides and three angles – the angles must add up to 180 degrees and the sides must be such lengths that the meet at the corners and create those angles. Drawing one is simple, creating one encourages understanding.

Really, this is the principle behind the whole project. As of now, kids use memorization to learn/to repeat information. The teacher writes on the board, the kid writes in a book, studies really hard, and at the end of the week the kid re-writes the information on a paper labeled “Test.” How well you recall determines your grade. What we’re doing here may not get rid of the test, but we can go beyond the process of writing and rewriting and move to one of guiding, creating and understanding. This will make all of the information that these little minds are exposed to will be much easier to access later on in life.

Later, while some stayed in Turtle Art, a few moved on to the Maze and Implode activities we had planned for the second part of class. These may be something that the kids use more in their spare time, but it still helpful for them. A few weeks ago I was talking with Seth, a Peace Corps Volunteer from Mauritania, and he mentioned how much he would love to have books of mazes for kids there. This type of critical thinking, even in game form, still encourages situational problem solving that isn’t fostered well in the current system. The teachers I worked with took a little bit to get the hang of the Maze, a pretty foreign concept, and a little less time to understand Implode, but all of them liked the challenge and didn’t give up.

Next week, we will continue to train the teachers in the morning but begin to work with the kids in the afternoon. We know we’ll get a good turn out, but still have a few things to consider before a possible 200 kids show up ready to go. We’re thinking of a staggered start, but this could get interesting.

OLPC Bookshelf

2009-07-22T11:06:00.000-07:00

I’ve never been so excited about a box in my life. We commissioned a local wood worker to come up with some type of charging cabinet and this is what we got. In short – we are quite pleased. It looks like we will be ordering a total of ten of these, which hold 20 computers each, and two half cabinets, which would hold 10 each. The only modification we are making to the cabinet is adding two mini-shelves in the back to support the power strips and give a little extra space for the tiny hands plugging in their chargers. We considered making our own strips with 10 sockets and then mounting them in the back, but that would be a steep jump in price. Sockets are much more expensive than power strips.

The cabinets do lock and they will be kept in locked rooms. This should keep them pretty safe. There is also a decent wall with broken glass at the top which surrounds the school property and affiliated church, and a guard that patrols the grounds at night. Crime doesn’t actually seem to be that big of a deal here, but maybe that is because everyone guards things so carefully. Just remember – crime doesn’t pay, but making cabinets does.

Week 2, Day 2

2009-07-21T07:32:00.000-07:00

1. As a group, we went over the video and audio functions in Record, as well as Paint.
2. For the newspaper homework assignment, Jean-Claude interviewed his wife on the status of education in Senegal. When he discovered the option of recording interviews, he had a definite Ah-hah! moment.
3. Each teacher was asked to record one video of her/himself and one interview. At that moment, a team of students from Paris arrived at school to scope out the school's premise. They are planting fruit trees around Senegal to help stop desertification in West Africa.
4. One Parisian student was curious about the green laptop Jean-Claude put in her face while asking questions about their project.
5. Making videos = simple. Titling and saving video = not so much.
6. Paint was productive.
7. We drew two examples of equations on the chalkboard and asked them to simulate a picture that represents 1/2 or 1/4.
8. For homework: come to class with two ideas of assignments you could use in your classroom using the xo.
9. When brainstorming in class, we got silence.
10. So I continued to provide them with options that have worked in the past. Options to use in their classes.
11. Hopefully it will catch on.
12. The good news: Everyone in Senegal learns poetry. As a poet, I find this fantastic.
13. Second graders are unable to write poetry, since they are unable to write.
14. Using Record they can begin the creative process by speaking poems into their xo.
14. I think it will work.

Week 2 - Day 1

2009-07-20T12:43:00.001-07:00

After the first week of getting to know the teachers and what they are capable of, we thought we could set some ambitious goals for the next five days (posted earlier). While we may make some minor changes, the schedule seems like it will work out well. We talked it over with the teachers, today, and they seemed semi-confident and excited that they would be proficient with almost all of the activities by the end of this week.

We started this class by taking a poll to see how the teachers feel about the laptop and how they are using it at home. While we may publish the full results soon, one thing that we noticed today was that some of the teachers are afraid to let their young children – the intended demographic – use the computers. In actuality, if the teachers would just trust that their kids won’t break the XO and they let their kids use it at night, the kids could probably teach their parents by the end of the week. To boost the teachers’ confidence, James picked up his laptop, walked to the center of the circle and dropped it on the cement, classroom floor.

The computer still worked.
The teachers were impressed.
I… needed a moment.

From there we began working with the newspaper articles that everyone had due for today. With the exception of one teacher, the entire class came prepared with articles and supporting pictures. Honestly, I was a bit surprised. I knew that almost all were capable, but I thought at least one would come early saying that they had trouble with importing the photo, formatting, saving, something. Nope – not one. Good job class.

The teachers paired up and peer-edited their papers before sharing with the rest of the class. There were articles on recent events, health benefits of the papaya, information on Malaria, and an incredibly candid interview on Education in Senegal. We were hoping to put these together as online newspaper, but the program we wanted to work with may or may not work – we’ll know for sure soon. In the mean time, we’re working with a blog and the teachers were quite impressed as they saw their articles begin to appear on the World Wide Web.

Next, we moved to email and made sure that everyone was able to write, send and reply to emails. This is not a program that is intrinsic to the XO, however, given that they have internet and they can utilize his in a number of ways, we thought it was important to work into the training. Also, the teachers may use this as an efficient way of collecting certain assignments from students, staying in touch with each other, and, helpful to us all, staying in touch with us.

For the rest of the class, we talked to the teachers about future project ideas, the rest of the week, and, again, how they were feeling about the progress. It is incredibly important to keep up to date on their impressions of the training and the computers. Something that we keep in mind, and something we made sure to impress upon them, is that Stephanie, James, Eli, and I are only here for so many weeks. Devon will stay after we are gone, but they still need to get as much out of these classes as possible. Issues that exist when we leave will take much longer to resolve than issues which we can work on in person – no matter how well they can use their email.

Week 2: Lesson Plan

2009-07-19T08:09:00.000-07:00

Monday:
1. With a partner, edit each others newspaper article. (The Write activity on the XO does not have spell check). As a class: What do you look for when revising an essay?
2. Review from last week: Send 3 emails to different people in our class. Do this on your own with no help. Respond to one of the emails. Create a document in Write with an image you either take in Record or copy from the internet.
3. Put the Poll activity on each teacher's computer and have them access a poll I created. At the end of class, talk about their responses. Poll: a) do you use your xo at home? b) Do you let your children or family use it? c) Has your family shown you something new on the xo? d) Do you use the xo with your family? e) What is the most difficult thing to do on the xo? e) What is the easiest?
Goals for the week: By Friday you should be able to use the following activities by yourself: Calculate, Write, Browse, Memorize, Paint, Speak, Chat, Moon, Maze, Implode, Ruler, Distance, Record, Tam Tam Jam, Tam Tam Mini, Turtle Art.
HW: For Tuesday, come to class with a revised version of your newspaper article.

Tuesday:
1. Activity Stations: Paint, TamTam, Turtle Art. (others?)
HW: For Wednesday, Think of and write down two ideas for homework assignments/ learning projects. This homework assignment should use 2 or more xo activities and must be catered for the class you taught last year.

Wednesday:
1. Go around the class and share the examples of homework assignments each teacher came to class with. The Americans will also do this. Questions to consider: What xo activities do they use? What skills does the student need to complete the assignment? What does the student learn by completing the project?

Thursday:
1. Activity stations. What activities do you need more practice with?
2. Continue to work on your homework for Friday.
HW: In Write, document 2 possible homework assignments or learning projects that you could use in your class. These should both use 2 or more xo activities. Complete one of these assignments. AKA: Last week we created a dictionary; if this was your assignment, you would come to class with an example of this dictionary.

Friday:
1. Share the xo assignments you made for today.
2. The OLPC team will go over 15 other learning projects that have been used in the past.

Week 3:
Monday - Take apart the xo!

Interview with Pierre Khar

2009-07-17T10:55:00.000-07:00

For those of you translation studies majors (that exists right?) the multiple translations between French and English during my interview would probably make you cringe. To keep it simple, let's just say the interview was conducted in French and translated in English. It's almost true.

For our newspaper assignment I decided to write an article on xo's coming to Ecole Notre Dame, some of Pierre's thoughts and expectations, as well as short bio's on our team of four. It became pretty apparent the teachers and Pierre knew very little about us when they were surprised James was 19 years old. They thought he was younger. I also thought explaining our original project as gender based a good way to vent my frustrations about the overt sexism hitting me over the head every day. When the article is done, I'll post it here in both French and English.

Interviewer avec Pierre

Stephanie: What did you think when Devon first told you about the option of 200 xo's coming to your school? Did you have any questions or concerns at that time? Did he tell you anything about us Americans who were coming?

Pierre: (roughly translated) Before Devon came, I had been researching on my own to get computers to this school. In the 21st century people need to know the alphabet of computers. When Devon came, he asked me if I was prepared for such a big project. He told me to think seriously about it. All I knew was that four Americans had prepared to work in Mauritania, but due to the political situation, because of us having energy here in Mboro and because of Devon, they had been sent here instead. IT knowledge is very important. Students need to know how to read, they need to know how to write, and they need to know how to use computers.

Stephanie: Had you ever heard of OLPC or had you ever seen one of their green laptops?

Pierre: No, I had never heard of them.

Stephanie: What was your first impression when seeing the laptops (or) when you first started using one?

Pierre: My first impression was that it was difficult to use, the keyboard was American and not french. It was difficult to find the accents and other French symbols. It was difficult to remember where these things were. But, the American system is very easy, you learn by doing. The French system is very difficult, learning by memorization.

Stephanie: Do you think it is easier to use the xo now? What are you impressions after one week?

Pierre: In the beginning, If you want to know how to use it, if you have the desire or drive, then it is easy. The teachers in the beginning were scared, they kept saying I'm going to break it. But, now they are getting it. In the end it doesn't matter if they are scared or not. Come October they have to use it in their classes and teach it to their class.

Stephanie: We only just started teacher training, but what challenges do you see having with teachers this summer and in October when school starts? (This question was pretty difficult for him to answer. He asked for multiple translations, thought about it a bit, and then answered)

Pierre: The teachers who are motivated and interested in the computer, it will be easy. They will use them in their class easily. Next year maybe they won't use the computer every day, but every week.

James Elkins: (fellow OLPCorps teammate) For example, in the United States we also do not always use computers everyday in school. Not every day, but at least every week).

Pierre: (shows us his school timetable. It has an hourly breakdown of subjects taught in each class). Now we have our school timetable that does not include IT. So we will insert the xo into our timetable. This way students can work on homework that was assigned for the computer or other computer projects.

Stephanie: To your knowledge, what experience did the teachers have with computers before this summer?

Pierre: A team from Belgium came to train the teachers on IT. They learned Windows XP and other things. For Ellen (school secretary) and I we had more training than the teachers on Microsoft Word and Excel.

Stephanie: Did all the teachers participate in this training?

Pierre: No, not all. But many.

Stephanie: How long was the training for?

Pierre: It was for one month. Not everyday, one or two days a week for one month. But, Ellen and I had more training.

Stephanie: And, when was this training?

Pierre: In October. Last October they came. (2008).

Stephanie: Alright, well that's about it. Is there anything else you would like to add, or do you have any questions for us?

Pierre: I am wondering if we will have enough computers for all the students? And if one breaks, will we have your contact information? Or what do we do if that happens? Also, is the Peace Corps going to be here after Devon? Are they committed?

James: Ten more computers are being sent and will be here by the end of this summer. So the top five grades will all have computers for sure. We are very committed to Ecole Notre Dame. The computers will not break very often, they are very durable, and you will have one or two extra. But, if one breaks and if no one can fix it, you can contact us. We are dedicated to you and your school. Devon leaves in December, but, I don't know who or for sure, but I think another volunteer will be sent in his place. This project is OLPC, but it is also Peace Corps. This is a big project for Peace Corps so they will want to send another volunteer to continue it.

Pierre: I guess, also, what are your impressions of it here? Of the school and Mboro?

James: We are very happy here in Mboro. The school is very organized and the teachers are really enthusiastic and motivated. We are very pleased with how well everyone works together. For next week we want to make the training more structured. I think the motivated teachers are obvious and are learning really quickly. But, we need everyone to be learning. This is always the difficult part about teaching. Stephanie has a lot of experience teaching at university, but the rest of us, we have some experience, but not much. So we are learning this together with you all.

~ At this point we exchange formal thank you's and goodbyes. The only ambiguity I left with was how exactly the computers would work within the timetable, how that hour would be spent, etc. But, it's something I will follow up on later in the summer when people have had more experience using and thinking about the xo.

Days 4 and 5

2009-07-17T07:21:00.000-07:00

Sorry to combine day four and five, but the last two days have shown a loss in momentum. Due to year end exams, and some of our teachers needing to be away while grading them, we had a much smaller showing for our lessons. It happened to work out well that the teachers who were able to come were the ones who needed more attention. We decided to take this opportunity to review some of the things we’d worked on earlier this week, explore a few new things individually, and work on the newspaper article assigned for homework.

Some parts of the day moved slowly, admittedly, but it has been a good chance for us to spend some one-on-one time with the teachers that were here. The activities which we had worked on earlier in the week seemed to be clear to the teachers. Exploration always leads to questions, but that is kind of the point of this program – ask more questions, work to find answers. One teacher that I worked with seemed quite happy to find the French book section in the Wikipedia program that is integrated into the computer. There is a large number of downloadable children’s books in the French language. Another teacher looked into French language learning, however, and was frustrated to find it was based in English. Since they will be teaching French to native Wolof speakers, this may or may not be useful.

So far for newspaper articles, we have one teacher writing about the group trip to Foundioune last week, someone writing about the medicinal benefits of papayas, another commenting on the cutting of trees in Senegal – who may also include a poem or two – and a teacher’s apprentice writing about the education in Senegal. Since our own team is taking part as well, Stephanie chose to interview Pierre, the headmaster, on how he felt about the program. Overall, Pierre’s thoughts on having computers at his school were: “Students need know how to read, they need to know how to write, they need to know how to use computers.”

‘How to integrate computers into the educational system’ is a thought that has been on Pierre’s mind for a while. As the head of a Catholic school, this program was the answer to his prayers. The support of the school is overwhelming and certainly encouraging. Even though things continue to go well, there are always times when we get nervous - learning computers from scratch is tough. These teachers are taking on something big, but somehow they stay motivated.

Monday we’ll be putting together the first issue of the newspaper with an online content management system – I don’t know what that means either, but it’s like an advanced form of a blog. If everything goes well, we may even share the link with you. If you speak French, you may even be able to read some of it.

Beyond that, we plan to move on to more advanced programs and further demonstrate how many of the programs can work together. We only hope that all the teachers stay with us and not only the motivated ones.

Teacher Training Day 3

2009-07-15T08:14:00.000-07:00

Since Justin and I work with different teachers who are (sometimes) at extremely different levels of xo learning, we may both blog each day. Today was a good example of that since I worked with Jean-Claude, aka. XO extraordinaire!

Jean Claude is every teacher's dream student. He's excited, learns quickly, takes good notes, shares the xo with his son and wife at home, and is eager about homework assignments. It's like he fell from the sky to make life easier.

Today we tried to accommodate the teachers' concern about curriculum by focusing on the "memorize" activity. We drew the memorize squares on the board and listed various classes it could be used for, ie: history, chemistry, foreign languages, math, etc. Jean-Claude decided to create a Spanish-French memorize game and an African Country-Capital game. I chose chemical elements from the periodic table, as well as pairing up American presidents with their year of election. Many of the teachers in class chose capitals. They would pair up Senegal-Dakar, Mauritania-Nouakchott, etc. Since this seemed to be a pattern, us Americans tried creating other games as examples.

After each game was made, the teachers tried sharing the activity and competing against each other. Jean-Claude and I played his capital game five times until it was clear that I was the ultimate winner. Other teachers were unable to share the activity and some became frustrated. James explained (and Devon translated) that all computers have glitches and will have problems. During this training we need to learn how to deal with those problems when they arise. The two teachers who had difficulties sharing their activity seemed satisfied, but they are also two of our more eager and quick learners.

The last hour of our 2 1/2 hour session was spent discussing one learning project that has been widely used and largely successful: creating a school / community newspaper. One teacher asked where we were going to get the students to complete the assignment and Devon promptly told her that they were all the students. I quickly said all the Americans were also going to write a newspaper article and everyone seemed to find this hilarious. While many were reluctant at first to do work at home, each left with article ideas. Brainstorming proved difficult, so I started off with an article example: Interviewing the director of our school, Pierre, about receiving 200 xo laptops. I would take his photo, import it into Write, and document his thoughts. What have the complications been so far? What are his concerns? Etc. After we began brainstorming, the ideas flowed more easily. Jean-Claude, as usual, was excited and wants to write about politics. In total we came up with a list: a "How to" section, as in "How to prevent malaria," Summary and opinions about Sunday church sermons, traditional versus modern medicine, local and national politics, a piece on AIDS, Horoscope, poetry or art, and a piece on the recent power outage.

The newspaper articles are due Monday and each is supposed to have one image. James and Eli are going to be "editors," and are trying to find a more professional newspaper template online to use for now. They will also compile all the articles, while demonstrating how to use a flash drive, etc.

Day 2 After a Dark Night

2009-07-14T11:50:00.000-07:00

Being at the beginning of the rainy season, a large storm came over Sunday night and lightning struck a large transformer taking out the power for much of M’boro – including where our school is. It was not a problem to begin teaching Monday morning since we had charged all the needed laptops over the weekend and the internet, being out as well, wasn’t necessary yet. All of the teachers, however, were asked to bring back charged laptops on Tuesday with the power still being down.

Luckily, we still had power at our apartment/room. At about nine Monday night, we hiked to the school to pick up extra batteries and computers to make sure that we would have enough to continue Tuesday. A testament to the distinct look of the XO, as we were walking to school in the nearly pitch-black night, Eli noticed someone walking by with a computer. Thinking that they had taken the dark opportunity to help themselves to a computer, we turned around to see who it was. It was actually the priest from the school, who we had agreed to train as well, walking to the other side of town to charge his laptop for the next day - truly a devoted man.

Anyhow, Tuesday, today, we show up to school with water and snacks in hand. We thought that a refreshment break would make the morning go more easily. Our goal yesterday was to begin by showing that multiple activities can be used together in order to have active and constructive projects. We thought it was best to demonstrate at the beginning a bit of what could be possible at the end to help motivate the teachers. Today, we slowed down for some of the drier things. We explained all of the keys on the keyboard, some of them quite foreign, and also how to make the French characters which are so foreign to us English speakers but necessary for their educational goals. This was paired with a further explanation of the external components such as the camera that they used yesterday, the microphone, the 3 USB ports, the SD slot, and the swivel screen - so far so good.

Later we worked with some of the functions of Write, again demonstrating how to create a number of the French characters, and Journal (a program used to recall saved – or unsaved – files). The last thing we worked on, which had only few issues, was sharing between computers using the Maze game and the Calculator program. The Maze worked well, and, for the most part, the Calculator did too, but they had trouble finding the right person they meant to share with. Considering all that we did today, we are quite pleased that this was our biggest issue and we think that once the kids are working in more select groups it won’t be as difficult to find their intended partners.

We talked again at the end of class and asked for their questions or concerns. Today, since we were working on more focused ideas, they asked if we could work through things on a more subject-by-subject basis instead of activity-by-activity (activities are what we call programs on the XO). This is a tricky request.

While individual activities can be used in a subject lesson quite well on their own, they can also be combined in unique ways to teach a lesson – like the first day when we used Write and Record to make a picture dictionary, which could also be transferred into Memorize to make a personalized learning-game. Also, many of the activities could be used to teach a variety of subjects depending on the lesson that day. PLUS, we would hope that the teachers, once proficient with the XO, would explore and find their own projects and uses for the activities. Needless to say, we’re going to spend some time talking about how we should go about this. The teachers are still positive and so are we. Keep checking in to see how it’s going. We’ll try to post at least one update every day – for those of you who just can’t get enough. Feel free to educate vicariously through us.

Education in Sénégal

2009-07-14T11:01:00.000-07:00

For those of you following, we have officially begun teacher training and are two days in. While Justin and I have spent a significant amount of time with all the teachers in the region (recently went on holiday with them), we have found it difficult to pin-down precisely who is teaching classes with the xo next year. Today we found out why.

All of the teachers in the Catholic school system in Sénégal can be called to teach at any other Catholic school, any grade, at any time. This makes teacher training (beyond the xo) extremely difficult. While Pierre is the current school director and instructor of the oldest class here at Notre Dame, he may be offered a higher paying job in the years to come and be responsible for teaching pre-school. We currently have 14 teachers taking part in xo training. While 5 will be receiving their own xo at the end to use in their classrooms, the others will be called upon to train future teachers that may be moved to Notre Dame. Or, they themselves might be called to Notre Dame and will need to quickly adapt to a new type of education.

We also found out that all of the teachers speak Serere as a first language. This makes Wolof their second language, French their third, English their fourth, and in many cases Spanish their fifth. One of the teachers who is using the xo in her classroom next year, Elizabeth, often speaks to me in a jumble of English-French-Wolof-Spanish. And it works. We can communicate that way. In most cases, there simply aren't words or expressions in Wolof, so French is inserted. This became obvious when making the tri-lingual dictionary on day one. I took a photo of a water faucet which translates as robinet in French. When asking what the word was in Wolof all of the teachers started speaking quickly and simply shrugged and said "Robinet. Est robinet."

Needless to say, I have been blown away by the Notre Dame teachers. They have welcomed us into their 5-language-speaking all-ages-teaching family. More to come...

Let the Teaching Begin

2009-07-14T10:44:00.000-07:00

Day 1 [Written Monday the 13th of July]

So, today we began the teacher training. There was a group of about twelve teachers plus the five of us leading – Stephanie, James, Eli, Devon, and I. Overall, it was a good start. With 12 people who have little to no experience with computers, and all of them using laptop computers with a touch mouse-pad, there were a lot of new ideas at once. I remember the first computer my family had, but I do not remember the learning curve. Some of you readers, however, may remember that right and left click are not naturally intuitive.

Even with all of the new concepts, we were ambitious and worked on a picture dictionary for the first project. We started by showing the teachers how to take pictures of themselves with the XO (the computer). Once they were comfortable with the idea of taking and saving pictures, we sent them outside to pick 5 objects to photograph. Things got tricky when trying to copy the photos into a writing program, but between the help of the trainers and other teachers who were catching on more quickly, we were all able to help each other accomplish the task. Lastly – and this is where the foreigners like us get a good lesson too – we had them label each of their pictures with the French, English Wolof words.

Now, depending on what experience you have with computers or the XO specifically, you may or may not be surprised that this all took almost three hours. We were pleased with this kind of progress on the very first day. This was a simple task to demonstrate just a few things that the XO can do and to enable the teachers to get used to things like ‘clicking and dragging.’ Most were able to keep up quite well and even those who struggled at first were able to finish with the rest of the class. And all of this in a hot class room the steamy morning after a hard rain.

At the end of the session we took a little time to speak with the teachers and ask them about any questions or concerns. There weren’t too many concerns, which is good, and only a few questions, which we encourage so hopefully more in the future. The big question, though, was whether or not they could take them home. We happily allowed this and are hoping that they use their time at home to explore a bit on their own.

Soon we hope to have the teachers back for afternoon classes as well, but we want them to begin comfortably. A full day of computer training can get a little stressful if it is too much at once. It was a solid start and we are looking forward to tomorrow. If we make it through, we’ll let you know how it goes.

School's Out for Summer

2009-07-06T05:52:00.000-07:00

No more pencils, no more books. We are finally tying up all the loose cable ends so that this summer computer training can begin. This happened to be timed well with both the end of the school year party and the 4th of July. For all of these reasons, Saturday was a celebration.

After the morning of award presentations and parades of dancing children, it was made official that the year was over. Stephanie, Eli, James and I were asked to present some of the children with their awards since they considered us guests of honor – even after we showed up late thanks to a little confusion about the time.

The four of us plus the Peace Corps volunteer, Devin, nearly won an award ourselves after finishing an entire plate of rice and meat. We figured what better way could there be to celebrate the fourth of July than to eat as much as possible. Fortunately, that’s not gluttonous but, instead, quite a compliment to the chef here and every other table in the room offered us more from their plates – none of which were ‘happy plates’ (clean plates).

From there, we rolled ourselves out into the open air to have a few cold drinks with the rest of the teachers. After they acknowledged that it was a holiday for us foreigners, they insisted that we celebrate by singing a song for them… James eagerly chose the national anthem. After a short meeting to remember all of the words, we did what we could to please the crowd. The teachers and children, who were corralled just to hear us sing, seem a bit confused that a song of such national significance, sung on such an important national holiday, could be sung in such a way – none of us sing much – but they still applauded at the end and seem to appreciate our effort to share the celebration.

As it started to get dark and we heard of a wrestling match going on across town. Wrestling here is a bit different, a bit more dramatic, and certainly not fake. We made our way across town and watched the match, James making friends with a couple of the contenders from that night, but left just before the end when there seem to be more tension in the crowd then there was in the ring. With a bit of the 4th left there was only one thing left to do.

We stopped by a late-night corner store, which just happen to have some Chinese fireworks. Nothing too big, unfortunately, but a handful of bottle rockets and a few ‘German Firecrackers’ were enough to do the trick. The five of us sat in a soccer field not far from were we were staying and ended the day as patriotically as we could. It may not have been the same as home but, here, few things are.

Photos: Of Students By Students

2009-06-30T09:41:00.000-07:00

Although we haven't "formally" met any of the students, we are around and so are they. We also have fun green toys in our hands that most students are curious about. Yesterday we busted out a few extra computers and they were off. At the same time one student found my camera and a few others found James' juggling sticks. It was one big XO / Photo taking / Juggling party at the school. Here are some of the photos they took:

* You will also notice we live in one big sandbox.

Photos: Of Students By Students ii

2009-06-30T09:32:00.001-07:00

Goodbye Seth

2009-06-30T08:48:00.000-07:00

Due to international politics, Seth is officially leaving M'boro tomorrow morning to make his several day treck back to Mauritania. Seth is Eli's brother and has been a great help informally training teachers and acting as our translator. This year's group of Peace Corps volunteers to Mauritania was recently cancelled and current volunteers have been given the option to "IS" or interupt their service and return home with full benefits. Seth and other PCV's in Mauritania have until July 6th to decide. As such, tomorrow morning he will go back to his site and take a few days to make that decision.

AQIM has claimed responsibility for the killing of an American teacher in Nouakchott. In addition to that one killing, Al Queda related violence has been increasing in Mauritania. The Peace Corps country director in Mauritania personally does not feel that Mauritania has somehow now become "unsafe" and many PCV's are already leaning toward finishing their 2 years in country. However, all PCV's now have the decision to either return home early or return home for one year and finish their last year after that.

Seth has been a great help here at Notre Dame and will certainly be missed during teacher training.

1st Teacher Meeting

2009-06-29T09:39:00.000-07:00

We had scheduled a meeting for exactly one week after our arrival; however, when we were notified of a meeting with OLPC Senegal, we had to move that meeting up. We did not want the teachers' first introduction to the xo's be a large, formal meeting among multiple parties.

There are 8 teachers at our school, 7 females and 1 male. Our first meeting included those 8 teachers, Pierre the school director, and Elizabeth the IT director of Catholic schools in Senegal. This was in addition to our corps team, Seth (PCV from Mauritania) and Devon (PCV here in M'boro). Our deloyment team is unique in that we are not deploying in an English speaking country and have limited local language skills. James can communicate most things he wants to say in French, Seth is here due to his French fluency, and Devon is fluent in Wolof and French. There are a surprising amount of cognates between French, Spanish, and English, so I can understand about half of what is spoken to me. In terms of speaking back, however, I am just beginning to learn.

While we anticipated language barriers to be a complication, we discovered quite the opposite in our first meeting. The teachers were excited at our minimal Wolof and started practicing their English with us. They said between the three languages, we will be just fine. One unexpected surprise occurred when introducing "child ownership" at the meeting. One teacher brought up his concern regarding theft and immediately after all the teacher chimed in. James and I quickly turned our heads in whatever direction French was being spewed, but could hardly voice our opinions in a sophisticated way. Due to our inability to converse, the teachers talked through their concerns of child ownership and problem solved various ways to overcome this challenge without us. When Devon translated their conversation after, he said the teachers were all concerned about theft since only one school in the community is receiving xo's. If they share it with their family members, it would be easy for a sibling, aunt or uncle to run off with xo and essentially lose it. However, the teachers also agreed it would be best for the students to do homework with the xo at home and to have freedom to play games. In the end, they decided the best solution was for the school to technically own the laptops and for each student to be responsible for his/her own laptop during their time at school. They wil take the computers home at night; but, during long vacations the teachers and Pierre agreed it best to keep them at school.

In the end, they came up with a similar solution to what we had imagined. Eli then suggested having a computer club during the long vacations so each student could have access to his/her xo. The teachers thought a computer club was a great idea and, in the very least, agreed one or two teachers should be around during vacations to allow students computer access. Since M'boro is a small community, walking from home to school is no problem.

Peace Corps & OLPC

2009-06-29T09:09:00.000-07:00

The marriage between Peace Corps and OLPC in our deployment has certainly helped alleviate many forseen challenges. For example, when the 200 xo's arrived at customs in Dakar, we received an email from Devon (PCV in M'boro) asking for our tax exempt information. Five days later 40 boxes of computers appeared at the Peace Corps Headquarters in Dakar, no fee acquired. After reading fellow OLPCorps blogs and the gigantic fees they accrued, we were quite relieved. Peace Corps also lent us their jeeps and driver to transfer us, our luggage, and all the laptops / solar panels to M'boro. It took two trips. They then drove to the Mauritanian border to pick up the EU chargers that had already been shipped to Nouakchott.

Peace Corps also allowed us to stay in their regional house in Dakar while we waited for the laptops to arrive. This certainly helped out our budget, as hotels in Dakar are not cheap.

Besides logistical help, the Peace Corps country director in Senegal selected Notre Dame in M'boro as the optimal school to deploy in. Devon speaks Wolof as if he has been speaking it his whole life. Due to his language skills and 2.5 years spent in M'boro people in the community like and respect him. From the little we have seen of Notre Dame, it appears to be a positive learning environment. Pierre, the school director, has a warm relationship with the students. He is a mix between mentor, father-figure, and Santa Clause. He retains his authority without relying on dictatorship. Their are 8 teachers total at Notre Dame and they travel between the many Catholic schools in Senegal. We are training all 8 teachers, but only giving xo's to the teachers whose classes are infiltrated. We will also give Elizabeth, the IT director of Catholic schools in Senegal, a computer. She will be in charge of helping out with technology problems and will be called on to teacher train if needed. Thankfully she lives in Thies which is less than an hour away. She is quite savvy, and when we had our meeting with OLPC Senegal, she held her ground well. Needless to say, she is a great asset.

Elizabeth is coming tomorrow morning with ethernet conduit and a new modem. From there we will install the access points. On July 4th the students are having their end-of-the-year party. Although we have already met many of the students, this will be our first introduction. After July 4th we will officially start teacher training!

OLPC News

2009-06-25T04:36:00.000-07:00

For all OLPCorps blog followers or OLPC fans, OLPC News is not affiliated in any way to OLPC or OLPCorps. OLPC news is run by individual bloggers who follow one laptop per child projects around the world. It is not properly fact checked and relies on the knowledge and honesty of other bloggers for information. While our team appreciates the publicity, we have found these types of forums can sometimes do more harm than good.

Please be aware of the disconnect when finding our blog on their website.

It's Like Magic

2009-06-25T03:57:00.000-07:00

What has been done since arriving in M'boro:

1. We have successfully met with all the teachers of Notre Dame, the IT director and director of curriculum of Catholic schools in Senegal.

2. Dug trenches and buried the ethernet cable which connects the server and modem to both classroom buildings.

3. Purchased conduit to properly cover the ethernet cable in each classroom.

4. Unpacked and reflashed all 200 computers.

5. Mapped out xo charging stations for each classroom.

6. Met the Peace Corps truck by accident on the street. Peace Corps Senegal met Peace Corps Mauritania at the border to transfer all 200 European chargers. He was told to 'look for Americans' in M'boro. Needless to say, he found us quite easily.

7. Have mastered the art of greeting in both French and Wolof. We are simultaneously learning French and Wolof and between the three languages (English included) can communicate most things.

8. Have begun planning a party to raise money for 5 extra computers. Since all Catholic parties have pig, beer, dancing and lots of people, we are pretty excited.

We have done more in 2 days than we ever anticipated finishing in several weeks. Nothing seems to be an obstacle. When we needed conduit to safely cover the ethernet cable, the Senegalese country director of Catholic schools met with us, heard a little about the program, and agreed to have the conduit be his contribution. When we noticed the large sandpit separating the school director's building (modem and server) from both classrooms, the director shrugged and said no problem. The next thing we knew there were two men with shovels digging a trench. The teachers are savvy, excited, and laid-back. If something needs to be done, then it will be done. Simple as that.

Falling into the Catholic school system in Senegal has been a nice route around national restrictions put on curriculum and funding. The country director (Pascal) is blown away at the "luck" of our project moving from Mauritania to Senegal and agrees that Notre Dame will be a nice trial run.

Notre Dame

2009-06-22T13:06:00.000-07:00

Our introduction to the school went better than Justin or I could have ever expected. The school is on the local factory's power grid and can easily charge all two hundred xo's at one time. In addition, there is a communal space in between two school buildings that may benefit from internet connectivity. The headmaster was wondrful and extremely willing to help. In fact, when he found us thinking over the logistics of having only one outlet per classroom, he called the school's electrician. Now they are installing 9 extra outlets in each room to more easily charge the laptops. The school is having an end of the year party on July 4th which will be a great introduction to the students.

Our high expectations remain. When we were unable to deploy in Mauritania, the Peace Corps country director in Senegal hand-picked Notre Dame in M'boro as the best possible test deployment and Devon as the most culturaly integrated PCV. After 2.5 years in country his Wolof is perfect.

We also are situated in a nearby and free housing situation. Both the house and the school are absolutely beautiful. We are basically living in sand dunes with mango trees galore. Due to the fact that our school is one gigantic sand pit, we are considering putting up a volley ball net. There are already volley balls floating around and we can easily incorporate the xo to research rules and map out the court's dimensions.

Also, all 200 computers arrived today and we were able to bring half with us. The other half is being sent by the Peace Corps from Dakar tomorrow. For now we are happy and things are going smoothly. We will update you with complications to come:)

Day 1 in Senegal

2009-06-21T12:50:00.000-07:00

Subtitle: hurry up and wait

The laptops are still in customs and we are still in Dakar. However, the peace corps has graciously allowed us to stay in their regional house in Dakar until Monday when they will use their jeep to bring us and all our luggage to M'boro.

On the more productive side, the OLPC Cameroon team has already visited the school we are deploying in and has met with the principal. They also have meetings set up for Monday and Tuesday to discuss OLPC with local officials. One member of the Cameroon team is from Senegal and has a home nearby. For now, it simply helps to have some local support that is also well trained in the XO and is familiar with deployment challenges.

Why You Should Fly Ethiopian Airlines

2009-06-21T12:36:00.000-07:00

Normally I don't use my blog space to advertise commercial airlines, but this is certainly the exception!

All 8 plus hour layovers in Addis Ababa receive the following:
1. Free Hotel
2. Free Visas
3. Free Transportation
4. Free meals

To our pleasant surprise the OLPC Ethiopian team joined us on our flight through their country and made it their primary concern to show us around their city upon arrival. Since teams departed over a two day period, this is more of a coincidence than it may sound. I've never had a better 13 hour layover. Thanks to their language skills, we were able to check into our hotel and zoom by the group waiting for their hotel vouchers with ease. We were privy to a complentary history lesson from our taxi driver who escorted us to a nearby piano bar that also has cultural dancing on the weekends. Similar to Kigali, light were a rarity and safety was not a concern to the late night street goers. Unlike Kigali, Addis Ababa is massive. In the end both Justin and I agreed it was certainly a place we could spend several months getting to know.

The Curriculum Debate / Rwanda School Visit

2009-06-14T03:24:00.000-07:00

Recently OLPC has been criticized by Ethiopian news sources for XO computers becoming “distractions” in their classrooms. The good news is: the kids are using the computers. The bad news is: they are using the computers when they should be listening to the teacher (or) they are using fun applications like picture or record when they should be doing more complex activities like scratch.

Nicholas Negroponte addressed this recently at Prime Holdings in Kigali, Rwanda. Although, don’t confuse “addressing” a situation for “responding” to it. My interpretation of his statement was that if computers are more interesting for kids to use than listening to their teacher fill them with information, then the problem is the manner in which kids are educated, not XO computers.

The word “curriculum” has become a derogatory, don’t-use form of swearing here at orientation. OLPC has created a computer that emphasizes constructionist education and their manner of inculcating the computers into global classrooms is, of course, constructionist. The teachers know the local curriculum better than any volunteer or OLPCorps member ever will in two months. Therefore, the goal is to enable teachers to introduce the XO into their own curriculum through making them comfortable with the computer and its activities. In theory, this is a great approach. However, it requires teachers to be flexible and willing to change the way they think about organizing class time. It becomes mandatory for teachers to use a form of education that they themselves have never used nor witnessed. For teachers who have been in the classroom for decades, this task is difficult, to say the least.

On Friday, I was able to follow up a 10-day teacher training session at EPAK School. While some corps members were hesitant about “training” in a foreign language, our team in Senegal will be operating in multiple foreign languages so I was excited for the experience. In total, it was extremely productive. But, like anything it had its glitches. For one, the school was expecting 3-4 Corps members at most. We were 15. Since we were only working with 6 or 7 teachers at a time the experience could have easily become overwhelming. The situation was quickly addressed by the headmistress of the school; we were given a larger room, and jumped right in. Luckily, we had one Corps member from Canada who is fluent in both English and French and has been working with the XO’s for some time. He was able to facilitate introductions and alleviate anxiety about communication. We spent the first 90 minutes working 1:1 with a teacher, exploring activities he/she was curious about. After, we took a ten minute break, came back and shared what we each learned during the first session, and then broke into stations. There were three stations to go over more complex programs ie) scratch, turtle art, and tam tam. This allowed Corps members and teachers to explore the programs together.

In the first session, I was paired up with a male teacher who was nervous about communication. He asked if I spoke French, and I apologized that I did not. He then continued to have entire conversations with me in English. He began by saying he didn’t think the teachers would use the computers in their classroom. This particular school received their XO’s 6 months ago, received their first teacher training about 2 months ago, and will be introducing the students to the computers for the first time on Monday. This trajectory may seem slow or counter-productive, but it is crucial for teachers to be comfortable with the XO’s before the students receive theirs. The students will zoom off much faster than the teachers, which can, again, be overwhelming. I reacted to his insider information with a typical Rotary smile and nod. After that, my partner began by pointing to each individual activity and asking how each could be implemented into his curriculum. Although I scoff at the ideology that “curriculum” is somehow not important, I began to understand the dilemma. I said we should begin by opening one activity and we can answer those questions about curriculum after.

Distance was his gem! The distance activity measures the distance between two XO computers. It sends sound waves between them and a measurement in meters pops onto the screen. He loved it. He began brainstorming assignments for his kids to measure the distance around their homes or rooms and said they could also figure out area from those numbers. Although it took us the full 90 minutes for him to be comfortable with opening the program and inviting another XO to share the program, his enthusiasm was quite the relief. When each person shared what they learned from the first session, it was great to see his enthusiasm about distance in other teams about other activities. The goal of making teachers the experts for each other felt underway.

The second session also went smoothly. We were all tired of 1:1 work and needed to change it up. When someone suggested different learning stations, we were off. The stations were led by OLPCorps members who felt proficient in those activities. However, both OLPCorps members and the local teachers became learners in the group. One woman in the room grabbed my hand and said she wanted to learn scratch with me. She was fantastic; she took notes the whole time and caught on incredibly fast. After we had created an aquarium on scratch with a swimming fish, she felt ready to try something else. We moved to different sides of the room and opened up the chat activity. I began by asking her what subject she teaches at the school and she responded by asking if I was married. The class understood I was in graduate school, so I explained I would get married after my studies. She seemed disappointed, but satisfied with my decision. She showed me pictures of her son that she had taken with her XO, explaining they are the only photos she has of her son. When we broke for lunch she grabbed my hand again and verified I was coming back on Monday. I assured her I was and she promised to show me a picture of her home when we meet then.

OLPC Senegal is the only group working in a foreign language. In Mauritania, we were going to have anywhere from 3-7 translators during teacher and student training. In Senegal, we have one rock star of a Peace Corps volunteer, and are looking for more. We have finally verified our school and the director and teachers are ecstatic. While most groups are struggling to saturate an entire grade, our two Mauritania groups combined have enough computers to saturate the entire school. It will certainly rock the boat. However, the school has both power and internet and the teachers are comfortable and familiar with computers. For now, we’re simply excited to get started and have high expectations for our deployment. I’m also excited to use the XO myself to begin learning and pronouncing French. Even basic language skills will be crucial for communication and trust building.

Budgets & Wolof

2009-06-05T07:48:00.000-07:00

Budgets are hard to keep track in any situation; however, when you add in multiple currencies, not knowing your final destination, housing, and when it fluctuates (seriously) by thousands of dollars, it becomes a joke. When we were getting ready for Mauritania, we had to prepare to pay up to 1,000 USD to simply get the computers through customs. Also, a joke, although not a funny one. This was something hard to discuss with Rotary, since they make it their goal to not bribe their way into giving away humanitarian aid. Now with our destination set towards Senegal, that bribe may dissapear. One other drastic change that occurred recently was the sudden necessity of housing in Senegal. At one point, we were faced with paying 50 USD a day. Third joke, also not funny or affordable. We saw that 1000 dollars we just gained by not bribing our computers into the country, disappear before our eyes. However, after changing our deployment city for the third time, we may have scored free (or at least, relatively cheap) housing in the process. Apparently it helps knowing your deployment city. Which for us, at this moment, is Mboro, Senegal.

Now we've been encouraged to "brush up on" and "get a basic handle of" Wolof. Apparently it's an easy language to learn. Who knew? For all future Senegalese deployments, there is an extremely comprehensive Peace Corps wiki for getting to know Wolof. Simply go to http://www.pcsenegal.org/pcwiki/doku.php?id=wiki:language:wolof:wolof

Justin's First Words

2009-06-03T00:25:00.000-07:00

So this is my first post to this blog. As Stephanie notes below, we have been asked to respond periodically to certain questions proposed by the OLPCorps Program. This week’s hot item online: Why become an OLPCorps intern?

For starters, I am a Cultural Studies major. I thrive on figuring out what makes people do the things that they do. In my major, I get to combine psychology, philosophy, sociology, anthropology and still a few other beans into one big pot to make one delicious degree. Outside of class, I have become certified to teach English as a foreign language and also maintain a good number of hours at my job facilitating the training and examination of medical students. This odd mix of things has helped me to consider a number of ideas, one of the clearest being that both people as individuals and cultures as a whole are not simple machines. Most issues do not begin and remain in one small part of the system, but instead the friction affecting one cog tends to slow down all others connected even when they seem unrelated.

So why OLPC? Well, I applaud programs that work to help people in any way they can because there is still far more need, far more friction in this world than there is relief being offered. However, OLPCorps struck me as an incredible program because it does not simply work to remedy the friction in one part of the machine, but it works to address how the machine is built. People in this world are suffering from lack of food, water, medical attention, and many other things, and outside nations can only do so much for so long. I admit that some laptop does not immediately provide for every need that exists within a community. Still, the generational transformation proposed by One Laptop per Child can support education, enabling people to help their own communities while connecting these people with the rest of the world so that the help which is still needed can be identified and provided.

I believe that education is not the process of handing information from one to another, but more so guiding another to the information that is already available. OLPC has made the information available and they simply needed a few guides willing to work in the field. Who could say ‘No’ to an opportunity like that?

Why OLPCorps?

2009-06-02T16:48:00.000-07:00

As part of our involvement in the OLPCorps Program, Justin and I are encouraged to regularly discuss our deployment on this blog. Aka: we are given a topic every week and need to come up with some coherent answer. Our first topic is why we both chose to become One Laptop Per Child interns this year and have been encouraged to answer said question before our flight tomorrow morning. Oh the joy of last minute details!

I hope the reason I joined OLPCorps has become apparent to those of you reading out there in cyberland. It’s quite simple. I am an activist and a feminist. I am getting an advanced degree in African literature, history, and politics. I am also getting an advanced degree in global feminisms and gender studies. When I stumbled across the call for proposals on facebook, I knew the deployment would completely mess up all of my summer planning. I had already planned and booked a ticket to South Asia to travel with my brother. I had also already planned and booked a ticket to Italy to visit friends (sorry Simon). However, I also knew that I couldn’t completely write off spending 2 ½ months in Africa if there was a project I believed in. Unfortunately for all my pre-summer planning, I found a project that complemented my strengths and passions beautifully. This project was working in Girls Mentoring Centers in Mauritania. Most girls in the rural areas of Mauritania marry when they are 12 or 13 and few continue schooling beyond primary school. Peace Corps Volunteers and local Mauritanian volunteers across the country have built and sustained 23 girls mentoring centers to help continue and supplement girls’ education beyond primary school. Since I consider my academic work to inform my social activism, I simply had to apply.

However, as most of you reading this blog already know, our visas for Mauritania never came. Which is a shame. But, we have been redirected to Senegal and after two months of prep work I’m confident and excited about the prospects in Senegal too. I’ve learned a lot about Mauritania in the process and do plan to travel there when politics have simmered. Senegal and Mauritania aren’t all that different, but they are different. In Senegal, 90% of the population practices Sufism, or Sufi Islam; whereas in Mauritania, 99% practice Sunni Islam. In easy-to-read terms, Senegal is religiously more laid back and a little more liberal. Mauritanians degrade the Senegalese for their “black magic” ways and I’m sure I’ll learn all about the religious prejudices Senegalese have against Mauritanians. Both countries have strict social norms that favor gender complementarity. That is, both countries expect their women to look and behave like women and their men to look like and behave like men. I’ve been told that my shaved head and lack of earrings will make me quite the walking contradiction in Senegal. I'm prepared for harassment. If I’m harassed enough, I’ll go buy some earrings and pretend to grow my hair out for two months. Also if I’m harassed enough I’ll think to myself: “this is why my mother put me in Taekwondo at the age of three. This is why I have a black belt.”

Rotary 101

2009-06-02T14:04:00.001-07:00

At one point in time, Justin and I could have been deployed to Rwanda, Congo, Senegal, or Mauritania. I had flashbacks of being an outbound and trying to choose between 1 and 46 countries to live in for one year. As an exchange student, I didn't even know where half those choices were on a map, let alone if I wanted to live in them for twelve months. Some of the choices I made were completely random. For example, did it really matter that Lithuania was number 36 out of 46 in my rotary country wish list? What if it did matter? Should I have changed it to 35? Would that have made a difference?

I never imagined I would be in that position again. How many opportunities could I possibly have in a life to "be flexible" and let the travel gods choose my destination?

Justin described it as Christmas. And I must admit, it was quite the experience. When I told my neighbor that I was officially going to Senegal, her reply was: "Senegal? I didn't know that was an option!"

Although we still don't know our city of deployment, we know we will be well supported during our 2 months in Senegal and the project will have everything it needs to be sustainable. Now we just need to pack and get on a 2 day flight to Africa tomorrow morning. Wish us luck!

Senegal

2009-06-01T14:08:00.000-07:00

We are officially going to Senegal. Both our team and the Cornell team (of two) will be pairing up for a joint deployment. At this point, there is no chance of us getting our visas. And with the Mauritanian election postponed until July, we don't hope to get them once in continent. It looks as if we will either be working in Keur Sadaro or Mboro. Details will be posted when we know more.

Visa Trouble

2009-05-24T15:44:00.000-07:00

Getting our visas to Mauritania has been no easy task. While most visas can be obtained in less than one week, visas to Mauritania can take anywhere from 1 week - 8 weeks. Usually, they take 8 weeks. Although this has changed considerably since we sent in our application.

In March, 2009 Mauritania closed their Israeli embassy and severed all diplomatic relations with Israel. This was significant, because Mauritania was only 1 of 4 Muslim countries to have an Israeli embassy in their country. Mauritania received pressure from two other African countries, Libya and Algeria, to close the embassy. They also received a $10 million dollar grant from Iran if they would comply and sever all ties with Israel.

After Mauritania closed the Israeli embassy the United States was not happy. The United States and Israel have had a political marriage for some time now (for better or for worse.) So, when Mauritania closed the Israeli embassy, the U.S. made it very difficult for Mauritanians to immigrate or visit the U.S. In response, Mauritania has made it very difficult for Americans to migrate or visit Mauritania.

I imagine that the United States didn't imagine many Americans would actually want to travel to Mauritania. Unfortunately for Justin and I, we do. When I first sent in my visa application, I received confidence that it would be had in three weeks. Three weeks came and went and now the Mauritanian Embassy website says "All Visa Applications Will Take Up To 8 Weeks To Process." It's not good.

OLPC has been great, and is doing everything they can to get our visas processed in time. If we do not receive our visas by June 3rd, we may very well ask for our passports back and board our flight to Rwanda to attend Orientation. Americans don't need a visa for Rwanda since our political ties are congenial. We will then re-apply for our visa from Rwanda since OLPC has strong connections with the Rwandan government.

In the meantime, Justin and I are on for the ride!

Team Members:

2009-05-24T12:04:00.000-07:00

Stephanie is an English Ph.D. student / lecturer at the University of Miami focusing on African Literature & Gender Studies. She has previously studied at the University of Cape Town, and taught African Literature to high school students at Langa High in Langa Township. Stephanie has experience teaching ESL to youth in Fukuoka, Japan, serving as a GEM volunteer in Ccachopata village, Peru and mentoring high school females at Cambridge Ringe & Latin School in Boston, Massachusetts.

Stephanie was a Rotary Youth Exchange student in the summer program to Viarregio, Italy and in the year program to Hinnerup, Denmark.

Justin is an undergraduate student at the University of Minnesota – Twin Cities. He is currently earning his B.A. degree in Cultural Studies and Comparative Literature, while earning a minor in Teaching English as a Second Language. Justin recently earned his Cambridge Certificate in English Language Training to Adults (CELTA) in Prague, Czech Republic and has experience teaching ESL to multiple age groups in the Czech Republic, and to East African adults in Minneapolis, Minnesota.

Justin was a Rotary Youth Exchange Student to the Czech Republic and has high hopes of joining the Peace Corps in Africa after graduation. He is excited to work with Peace Corps members in Mauritania to get a better idea of what that would entail.

How we met?
Justin and I have actually never met. When my original team member dropped out in early April, I contacted my father, Steven Selvick, to ask if he knew anyone that would be interested in spending their summer working for free in Mauritania. Immediately, he thought of Justin Burnett. Both Justin and my dad are highly involved in Rotary. Both Justin and I are former Rotary Youth Exchange Students. He thought we would work well together and thought Justin would bring the organization and enthusiasm I was looking for. The connection happened easily and organically and now both Justin and I are headed to Africa for the summer.

Fundraising
Due to our history with Rotary Youth Exchange, and to Justin's role as Rotex president, Justin and my dad have been able to give power point presentations at Rotary conferences and clubs. Justin has actively been fundraising for both short term and long term financial goals. He's been a rockstar, and Rotary clubs have reacted better than we ever anticipated. He has raised $1000 to date and has received interest for long-term support. We have high hopes to expand the OLPC Mauritania project after we leave.

"World Focus" Video

2009-05-24T11:51:00.000-07:00

If you search for One Laptop Per Child on youtube, the hits are endless. Everyone from MSNBC to the New York Times have reviewed the 200 dollar laptop.

However, one video that sums up OLPC's mission and it's presence in Rwanda in particular was aired by "World Focus." Justin and I are headed to Rwanda June 3rd for orientation. OLPC has worked very well in Rwanda; the president is on board with the OLPC goal and school teachers have been able to incorporate the laptops into their curriculum fairly easily. These laptops are not a substitute to state education, but an enhancement. They are intended to keep kids interested in attending school.

To check out the World Focus video, click here.

Great Demo!

2009-05-24T11:37:00.000-07:00

Last year, the XO laptops went on sale for mass consumption and the New York Times conducted a very thorough review. The laptops can be dropped from cliffs, dunked in water, and thrown around in sand. They can be solar charged, have tons of programs, and look like little green toys that kids will, hopefully, want to play with. To view the Youtube video of that review, click here.

The Proposal

2009-05-24T11:19:00.000-07:00

Hey all,

This will be Stephanie and Justin's collaborative blog for the duration of our preparation for and deployment to Mauritania. The proposal time was one big whirl wind. Stephanie found the link to One Laptop Per Child's grant 9 days before the proposal was due. The stipulations were as follows:

Undergraduate or graduate students from all fields of study and nationalities are eligible to apply. Students entering university in fall '09 or graduating in spring '09 are also eligible to participate.
English fluency is required.
Minimum number of people in a team is 2.
At least 2 team members must be present in Kigali, Rwanda June 8th-17th for training with the OLPC Learning Team. Teams will then depart for their specific destination.
Deployments must occur within one of the African countries. Preference will be given to deployments in rural areas.
Minimum of 9-10 weeks commitment.
Each team member must have their immunizations.
Each team member must hold a valid passport.
Each team member is responsible for acquiring a visa, if needed.
1 member of each team will participate in a workshop at MIT/OLPC in Cambridge this October 10-12 (all expenses covered by OLPC).

In 9 days, Stephanie found an NGO she wanted to work with, a project she believed in, and local support. She found a team member, wrote up a budget, submitted her proposal by April 10th, and waited. Two weeks later she was one of 30 teams awarded the $10,000 + 100 XO laptops grant to work in Africa.

Unfortunately, the day after she submitted her proposal, her team member dropped out. Within 24 hours she had contacted Justin Burnett and he enthusiastically jumped on board.

And so we're off! To get a better idea about our project proposal and budget, click on the wiki link below.

http://wiki.laptop.org/go/University_of_Miami_OLPC_(Mauritania)

And don't be alarmed, future posts will not be written in 3rd person.

~ Stephanie