OLPC Conference in Boston, Massachusetts

Howdy Ya’ll,
It’s nice to be back in Texas, however, I miss Kenya with all my heart! I had the opportunity to represent our team in the Boston, Massachusetts OLPC Conference. We basically did a whole de-briefing about our projects. We were told that OLPC may not continue to do small portion deployments. They are looking to saturate whole countries like they did in Uruguay and Haiti. Whatever the outcome, OLPC Kenya will continue to support Asilong Primary School. Our ultimate goal, however, will be to saturate all of Kenya. Our plans of now include starting club organizations at our University, writing grants, and finding donors for future deployments. On a larger scale we are setting up meetings with the Prime Minister, Board of Education, OLPC representatives, and our NGO’s to discuss this mass deployment. Who knows what our future holds and with faith in God I believe that this project will flourish.

-Sophia

Sustainability Update

During our last week in Pokot we decided to have a meeting at the bore hole with all of the community, City Harvest and SNV. We had a lot of positive response, the parents promised to send more children to school and SNV decided to partner with OLPC and host another teacher workshop in August. I never imagined that we would get such amazing results. Not only did the teachers learn more about the applications on the XOs but also SNV donated a computer,printer and internet for the school. SNV is even thinking about purchasing more XOs in the future. The teachers are also able to send e-mails to us now.

Here are some of their e-mails:

THE SNV, CITY HARVEST, KIFICOM, OLPC AND E-LEARNING CONSORTIUM
The training done from 10th to 14th of August 2009 supported by the above departments has brought a significant change and encouragement to the trainees.All teachers from Asilong and Toroko with their chief became excited.
The Asilong members were presented a computer and modem by SNV in order to access internet and KIFICOM donated printer to enhance easy printing within the school. All this will promote E learning.
The attendance were happy and promised to share the knowledge with the entire community and become computer initiators. They will become seeds sown in pokots and marakwet society.
May god bless SNV, CITY HARVEST, KIFICOM, OLPC AND E- LEARNING CONSORTIUM(for peace will prevail)
By Nicholas Krop Lorikow FROM ASILONG

I hereby joyfully thank your contribution [ELEARNING Consortium] training people say about computer I thought was like [sky was limit].
Your training encourages soul that already demolished about technology. I approved to put more effort for limit I have heard. My prayer to have one laptop one time, tears for harmony relay to volunteers of training [snv, elearning consortium, city harvest, and kificom for training , laptops and water to Asilong
My God bless you
Benson kitiyo—FROM ASILONG

THANKS GIVING
I would like to say thanks to all those who took part in facilitating a one week computer training to Asilong primary school teachers at Eldoret.
To start with I can say the training was good and enjoyable one. We had the best teachers, who were not only good in training but also friendly and willing to equip us with their knowledge on computer
As we are going back to Asilong, I think all that we acquired throughout the training period will be of use to Asilong community. we promise the OLPC group that their donation will be of benefit to the community. We also dream of making Asilong the champion of ICT in the region and liberate the community from the negative attitude they have on child education, especially the girl child. Your donation of laptops has made the school to register an increase in pupils population.
summary my thanks and gratitude are to all the facilitators of the training. the donors of XO laptop, the donors of safaricom modem, the donors of the printer and desktop computer.
From SIKUKU KORIR EMMANUEL—teacher Asilong

ASILONG PRIMARY SCHOOL COMMUNITY
I am happy to note that the need of Asilong problems is now available in the internet. City harvest, kificom, SNV really deserves great thanks. This school started in the year 2003 with little or no hope of progress, the school now has something to smile about because its future is being catered for, as a new administrator of the school I promises to learn the use of ICT and transform the school and the entire community to the world of ICT technology. With the use of laptop computers and other related computers provided to school, the school is going to be a computer literate and computer center in North pokot and perhaps the whole of north rift region.
From the head teacher Asilong primary
Mr. Francis Merireng

This has been a break through for the tribe at North Pokot. At first they had no food, water, electricity and adequate knowledge- and now all the doors have opened up for them. Without the help from everyone, our team, our supporting parents, OLPC, UBC, City Harvest and SNV we never could have made it this far. I am excited to see what blessings the future brings to the tribe at Pokot. God bless!

-Sophia Worth

Success At Last!

During our last few days at North Pokot, everything started to fit together like a puzzle. OLPC set up solar panels, brought the laptops, brought a server, and taught the children and teachers how to use them. City Harvest Ministries and United Baptist Church continually work with the children at Asilong primary school throughout the year. We have two interns coming for four months in the fall. SNV (an NGO based out of the Netherlands) donated internet, a printer, and held a two week teacher workshop. At the final Parent Meeting we discussed several topics. We talked about sending more children to school instead of making them tend the cattle. Sophia Yiega, part of SNV, told us that her parents sent her to school and now she bought them a house and several cows, goats, and sheep. Grace from City Harvest said to send your daughters to school. It is time to break the oppression of women. Women should not be slaves to men. Women are just as capable as men if not more! I do not want to force the Pokot to change their traditional ways, however, I do want to educate them and give them all the information they need to make the choice for themselves. I loved the tribal experiences I had. I loved the dancing, the preparation of food, their way of survival. I just want females to be treated with respect. Aretha Franklin knew what she was talking about!
-Sophia

Child Ownership of the XOs

Our group decided to try something different with the XO's. Instead of simply having a computer class for two hours a day we decided that we would let the children check the laptops out before school. We did not want the laptops to be a distraction from their classes so we have a meeting with the students and teachers. We told the students to keep the laptops in their desks unless their teacher wanted to use them for that class. We made sure the teachers understood that the children should be able to use them during their break times, lunch, and after school. We wanted to test the waters so we did an experiment day where the teachers were in charge of the laptops. We shadowed them to make sure everything went smoothly.

The results were fantastic. The kids picked up their assigned laptops and carried the XOs to class. Not one single child disobeyed the teacher when class was going on. On break, all the children were gathered under trees using their XO's in excitement and wonder. One boy had illustrated his family tree using paint and then wrote a story about each of his family members. One girl drew a house using the same application and then inside the house, wrote out the names of everyone who lived with her. Now we do need to keep in mind that the children of Pokot do not live in houses. They live in huts. The concept of "house" was different for these children.

I'm a Survivor

Teacher training has been going very well. We decided to keep the teacher training all throughout the time we are spending at Pokot. Right now they are learning about Scratch (which has to deal with animations) Chat, and Measure. The older teachers are still having problems with clicking and dragging items on the laptops while the younger teachers have already started teaching their students different programs on the XO's.

We were able to saturate the entire 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 5th, and the 6th graders at Asilong Primary school. We gave them their assigned laptops and divided them into two groups. We have the 2nd and 3rd graders together and the 4th, 5th, and 6th graders together. When teaching the younger group we found out that it was rather difficult because we had to go through each program and each step over and over and over again. They couldn't even type their own story using "write" so instead we started out with them just typing out the alphabet. The older group however, was able to grasp the concepts of the programs. They are doing very well with each of the assignments we have given them.

Our goal for this next week is to let the children take full responsibility of their laptops. They will be able to sign them out and take them home, charge their laptops at the school using the Charging Schedule, and to start an after school program where the children can decide what they want to learn.

We had a meeting with the parents which was successful. Even though they are very traditional they were excited that we brought this new technology to their tribe. We let them look at the laptops and we took pictures of them using the XOs. They want their children to learn more about the lap tops so in turn the children can teach their parents. We are having another parent/teacher conference this Thursday, the 16th.

Besides our priorities we have been able to dance with the tribe, sit in the back of a chicken truck, fix up the children using our first aid kits, climb Mount Sequot, see a chicken get slaughtered, and eat 2 small meals a day. Leila, Sharon (our NGO Representative) and I have started a Girl's club. We meet everyday and talk to the women about hygiene, equality, and education. We want them to know that women can have a future besides being a wife. They tell us they want to wear pants but they are scared to be beaten. They also tell us what they want to be when they grow up. We want them to have a safe place where they can express their concerns, fears, and hopes.

It has been a very interesting trip to say the least.

Teacher Workshop Week 1

This has been an adventurous week. When we first arrived we had no sleeping bags so we slept on rocks for about a week. We had no running water so in order to take a shower or cook we had to travel to the well and fetch buckets of water. There are no toilets, just an outhouse. There is no electricity so you must get everything done before the sun sets. Cory slaughtered a goat and we were able to feed the whole community. The women here are treated like property. They are circumsized and have their bottom teeth pulled out. They fetch the water, cook, clean, tend the children, plant, water the plants- basically any chore you can think of. The men sit on their "special chairs" made out of wood under the shade. They sunbathe naked and have many wives. They are very lazy and it makes me sick to my stomache. If a woman gets caught sitting on the "chair" they are beaten and must sacrifice one of their goats.

I can't be totally pessimistic, education is improving, and will be even more with the XO's OLPC has donated. More girls are being allowed to attend instead of getting married when they turn 13.

We started teaching the teachers about the XO and its programs from 3pm to 5pm every day. The first day was very fustrating because they could not grasp the concept of the mouse. It took about 30 minutes just for them to get a hang of clicking and dragging the mouse. We started with record and write. Then we tried to get them to copy and paste a picture into write and illustrate a story- big mistake for the first day. Each day got better and better. The second day we taught speak and wikipedia which they really enjoyed. Then we taught them memorize and calculate. They made their own memorize game by matching a swahili word with an english one

i.e. Jambo-Hello Asante-Thank you

We moved on to ruler, implode, and moon activity. We have accomplished so much in only four days. We decided that we will start teaching the children in the morning and continue the teacher workshops from 3-5pm each day. I also decided that I am going to start an after school program where we will go more in depth with the XO's so that they will fully understand the functions. Some of the OLPC team have become full time teachers- they have taught english, science, and of course computer science. The solar panels we installed are a huge success and we were able to also put in a light so that the children can learn at night.

All is well!

Asilong Primary School at the Pokot Tribe

The school in Pokot is very different from the schools you find in America. First of all, to build a school they use pieces of wood for the frame, then they put the mixture of of cow dung, water, and dirt over the wood. The desks are long wooden benches with a slab of wood for the tables. There are little chalkboards in each of the rooms. They have levels 1-6, along with books for each grade. The books however, are very outdated and most of the English books have mistakes in them. Some of the children actually live near the school in these little houses (like a dormitory.) They sleep on the floor without pillows and blankets. When they wake up they eat porridge and head out to school around 8am and get out at 3pm. There are 8 teachers total, including the head master. They are very estatic to learn about the XO's, most of them have never seen a computer before. Each teacher has at least 2 to 3 subjects that they teach. They have science, social studies, mathematics, swahili, english, and religion. Most of the teachers do not have teaching certificates- just a diploma from high school. The kids are very happy to see us. They always stare and say "Karam" which means good in Pokot or they say "how are you, how are you."

Pokot Tribe

We are on our way to the middle of no mans land! I have a lot of mixed emotions about this trip. I am not a huge fan of camping by any means however, we will be making a huge impact on them- more than we could for anyone else. There will be no electricity, running water, shelter, or even food. The Pokot have a drought and usually do not have enough food to eat. So basically we are living in tents and bringing our own supplies. This is a real tribe- I'm talking about loin cloths, cow's blood, and eating tree bark. The whole nine yards! I will try to update the blog as much as I can.

Simba's Village Orphanage

On our way to the orphanage we stopped at Java house for Lunch. The food was delicious- great milkshakes, guacamole, quesadillas, and basically everything on the menu. Afterwards we took a taxi through Ngong, which is a little town where everybody knows everybody. We saw some of the Masai tribe tending after the goats. We even saw a spider monkey crossing the hilly dirt road. It was very lush and green- opposite of the savannah we traveled through yesterday on our way to Mount Kilimanjaro. We finally arrived at the orphanage and met the staff. When we went outside to play with the children all you could see was a group of kids running towards us. Especially Brandon and Cory, the children remembered them from last time. The kids guided us through their garden which had cabbage, tomatoes, carrots, and other vegetables growing. They even had a water system which UBC help set up. There were these two little boys who always wanted to be carried, Dupert and Otieno. Dupert was this adorable little toddler who was at first very shy. Slowly he would take a step towards me…one by one. Finally he came to sit on my lap and wanted me to pick him up and swing him back and forth like a rocket ship. The girls decided they wanted to braid my hair while the boys played soccer in the cow fields with Alex and Brandon. Afterwards we played hide and go seek and this game similar to dodge ball. It was almost impossible to leave, we had gotten attached to the children. I hugged and carried Dupert all the way to the taxi. When I put him down he stuck his thumb in his mouth and looked like he was going to cry- that made me want to cry. I just wanted to take him home with me!

-Sophia

Genocide Museum

Towards the end of our workshop in Kigali we went to visit three different museums. First we saw the King's hut, second we went to the National museum where we bought many souvenirs. Lastly we visited the Genocide museum. It was very emotional hearing the stories and reading the articles of the murders. It first started with the Belgiums who separated the Tutsis from the Hutus. They said that the tutsis were more intelligent, lighter skin, taller, and treated them better than the Hutus if they were loyal. This was a stereotype because for generations the Hutus and Tutsis have been intermarried.
The plan backfired and the Hutus wanted revenge so they shot down the President's plane and started the mass killings. They showed no mercy- using machetes to cut off various body parts of people, raping women, killing babies, and many other horrendous acts. There was a room in the museum where Rwandans brought pictures of those killed in the genocide. There were pictures of children, teenagers, parents, and grandparents. The next room had bones and skulls in a display box. The skulls looked so tiny I though that they must have come from children. The upstairs was dedicated to the babies who were killed. There was a picture and a description of the baby's favorite thing to do, favorite food, and how they were killed. It was definitely the room that effected me the most. It is disturbing to know that people could do this to little innocent babies. Outside we saw the mass cemented graves which is said to have over 250,000 bodies buried.

If you ever get the chance you must read Left To Tell by Immaculee Ilibizagia- it gives you an account of the history as well as her own story about the genocide.

OLPC Workshop in Kigali, Rwanda

The workshop in Kigali, Rwanda was amazing and very eventful. The first day we arrived we met all of the other teams deploying in Africa. There were people from all around the world- Ghana, Zimbabwe, Singapore, Paraguay, and various states in the U.S. We were able to learn about their deployment sites, their ideas on implementing the programs on the laptops, teacher workshop ideas, and much more. It was great to connect with intelligent, motivated, and diverse people. After the workshop we retreated back to Bethel One Hotel on Nyamirambo. The dinner the hotel provided was delicious. They make great pasta and fish dishes. I have also tried a lot of tropical fruit such as the japanese plum and passion fruit.
The next day we had a conference with different prime ministers in Africa, the director of KIST (Kigali Institute of Science and Technology,) Nicholas Negroponte, and not to mention the guest of honor, the President of the Rwanda Republic: Paul Kagame. He is a very extraordinary man. He was a general in the RPF (Rwandan Patriotic Front) during the genocide in Rwanda in 1994. I even got to shake his hand! Afterwards we were able to see traditional Rwandan dances. They were wearing traditional clothing, had head dresses, bells, and staffs. Our team mate Brandon even jumped in! I will try to post that video as soon as I can, it is hilarious.
We had some very productive workshops on the XO's. We first updated the computers which doubled the amount of programs. Secondly, we got to fix broken laptops that children sent in from previous deployments. We took them apart, used spare piece to fix them, and put them back together. Afterwards we got to drink some traditional Rwandan tea and coffee. Lastly, we got to explore a new program called Scratch. Basically you create your own animation and make it move, speak, and basically anything else you wanted to do.
In other workshops we were able to find out how to connect a server, internet, use access points, and how update several laptops simultaneously. We used another program called E- toys to create story books and animations using pictures we drew using the paint button.

I will continue talking about the workshop in another post, this one is getting too long!

-Sophia

Kibera Slums

These slums are the second largest in the world. It is hard to imagine what life is like for the Kenyans living here until you walk through the slums yourself.Everything here reminds me of Slumdog Millionare. The stench is very strong because there is no plumbing. In Kibera they use the restroom in a plastic bag and throw them into the streets aka "flying toilets." We went to visit the KTDP (Kibera Transformation Development Program,) which is one of our laptop deployment sites. The KTDP is a little slice of heaven in comparison of the rest of Kibera. The school actually use to be a huge bar. This bar would tear families apart because the husbands would get out of work and go to the bar and use all the money they earned for the day. When they got home their wives and children had nothing left to eat. When the Pastors first approached the bar owner he said he would not sell the bar to them. So they prayed and prayed. After a few months the bar owner approached them. Business was going bad so he decided to let them rent out the place. The school has a small courtyard with a room to the left. The upstairs is basicaly a huge tree house. When we went upstairs we saw these big holes in the walls. I asked them what happened and they told us it was because of the "Big violence." When the election went bad 2 tribes started fighting over who should have won. Thousands and thousands were killed because of this result back in 2007. On a happier note, the students and teachers are very excited to receive the laptops. When we came into the school they call us Muzungos (or white people) because we have light skin. The children shout out "How are you, how are you" all over again. They sing us traditional kenyan children's song while we teach them Old Mac Donald had a farm and also the chicken dance. We even got to feed the children at the school. The only way I can describe them is by this- precious gifts from God. We also ate the beans and rice that the children ate- it had a very interesting taste. When we got home our water was turned off because it is rashioned in Nairobi. We had to get buckets of water just to use the bathroom. We also had bathed with water bottles! This is something that we Americans have to get used to.

South B Slum

We arrived in Kenya Tuesday June 2nd. I was sick for two days with jet lag and unable to get out of bed. The elevation is also 8,000 feet higher also we forgot to drink water which made Brandon and I dehydrated. I also lost my luggage. But everything turned out fine Brandon and I feel better and my bag was found. Today we got to meet Pastor Edward who is in charge of the City Harvest Ministries. He has started many programs such as Micro Financing, an HIV/AIDs clinic, education programs, and so much more. He told us his amazing story on how he answered God's call and to spread his word. His life's story has been amazing and inspiring. At first he doubted himself. He said that he kept on praying and God told him that he was meant to preach the gospel. He ran into a problem- no speakers. He kept praying and praying and then a voice told him to sell his family car. How can he tell his wife? This is the car that takes him to work, his wife to work, and his daughter to school. He was sleepless for 3 months. Finally he worked up the courage to tell his wife. She said okay without a word. He said he was in shock that she was so calm! When he finally got the speakers he needed to take the next step and tell his CEO. He was just a Pastor's assistant however, this is what he felt he needed to do. Well his CEO came in and asked him what the big boxes and his office were for. Edward told him they were speakers and what they were for. His CEO said he wanted to pray for him. After about 3 months the Pastor realized he now needed a car to get around. One day he recieved a phone call that a return missionary set aside some money for Pastor Edward to buy a car. He got a car and started his journey. People would walk hours around the surrounding city just to hear him preach. Pretty soon people around the country would request that he would come and visit him. He has done a lot for Kenya.

After visiting with the Pastor, his receptionist Cynthia took us to Taidy's to have lunch. It was pretty good, they had hamburgers, fish, sandwiches. Nothing compared to good old American food haha. Afterwards we went to the South B slums. I have never seen such extreme poverty in my life. They have these shacks made out of tin and use a piece of cloth for doors. Little children walk around everywhere, even pee in the streets. They sit in front of the shacks and sell fruits, meat, clothes, shoes- anything they can to survive. We visited the beauty school that City Harvest micro finances.It is basically 3 small closet- sized rooms without electricity pushed togther. The girls are about 18-24 years old, my age range. They braided our hair. They are very sweet and told us to come back and they will give us braids, corn rolls- anything we want.

After this experience I felt sadness. They do not look sad because this is their home, this is what they are use to. However- just because they are use to these conditions it does not make it right. I realized I take everything for granted- water, food, shelter, family, and friends. We are so lucky to live in America with so many resources and options. We should all try to make a difference and help people in poverty because it is the right thing to do.

Flight Schedule

Monday June 1st-
8:30am Air KLM Royal Dutch 3 hours 5 min
12:35pm Arrive in Detroit Metro
7:10pm Air KLM Royal Dutch 7 hours 50 min

Tuesday June 2nd-
9:00am Arrive in Amsterdam
10:15am Air KLM Royal Dutch 7hours 50 min
7:05pm Arrive in Nairobi, Kenya

Sunday June 7th-
6:00pm Air Rwandair Express 1 hour 15 min
6:15pm Arrive in Kigali

Wednesday June 17th-
11:50am Air Rwandair Express 1 hour 15 min
2:05pm Arrive in Nairobi, Kenya

Thursday August 6th-
8:40am Air KLM Royal Dutch 8 hours 50 min
4:30pm Arrive in Amsterdam

Friday August 7th-
10:40 Air KLM Royal Dutch 9 hours
12:40pm Arrive in Minneapolis
2:20pm Air KLM Royal Dutch 2 hours 46 min
5:06pm Arrive in Austin

We are Home!

Trip Itinerary

*Monday June 1st- Depart from Austin, Texas at 8:30am
*Tuesday June 2nd- Arrive in Nairobi, Kenya at 7:05pm
*Wednesday June 3rd- Meet with Pastor Edward
*Thursday June 4th- Meet with Pastor Boniface and feed the children in the streets
*Friday June 5th- Go to the Slums with Pastor Edward in Kibera
*Saturday June 6th- Simba’s Village Orphanage
*Sunday June 7th 6:00pm – OLPC team departs for Rwanda for a 2 week workshop
*Wednesday June 17th 11:50am – OLPC team leaves to Nairobi
*Thursday June 18th- OLPC team starts assigning the laptops

Spreading the Word

Hey everybody I just got off the phone with Claire Osborn from the Austin American Statesman for an interview! Now everyone in the Austin area will know what OLPC is and what we will be doing in Nairobi, Kenya. Here is the website to view the article: (http://www.statesman.com/news/content/news/stories/local/05/30/0530kenya.html) We have also talked to the Pflugerville Pflag so that article will be appearing soon. Also, my other team mate Brandon Webb got a story published in the Waco Tribune (http://www.wacotrib.com/news/content/news/stories/2009/05/17/05172009wackenyalaptops.html) as well as Michele who had a story published in the Georgetown Sun. We are leaving in less than two weeks! I am so excited and pumped about this project. I hope that the orphans in Nairobi will be able to implement the laptops in their every day lives. They will be able to record, take pictures, use a word document, use a painting program, compose music, and much more.

Here is a clip I found on the OLPC website:

Visit msnbc.com for Breaking News, World News, and News about the Economy

OLPC Introductions

Family and Friends,

I am preparing to serve Humanity in Kenya, Africa this Summer. I am part of a small team of UTSA and Baylor students who submitted a proposal to the One Laptop Per Child, non-profit organization. Our proposal was one of 30 projects (out of 215) that was selected to deploy 100 Laptops to school children in Africa. The OLPC organization is providing the laptops, training and some funding, but we are in need of additional resources. God has blessed me in so many ways, and I am so excited to go and serve others in His name.
Our time in Kenya will be spent in many orphanages and schools, but our time will be focused mainly at City Harvest Ministries which runs a school in the worlds second largest slum, Kibera. My name is Sophia Worth and I am a Psychology major, transferring to Texas A&M. My other team mates include Leila Benitez, Biology Major at UTSA; Alex Del Aguila, Biology Major at UTSA; Brandon Webb Human Resource Major at Baylor; and Cory Osburn Religion Major at Baylor.

OLPC's Mission:

"It’s not a laptop project. It’s an education project
In 2002, MIT Professor Nicholas Negroponte experienced first-hand how connected laptops transformed the lives of children and their families in a remote Cambodian village. A seed was planted: If every child in the world had access to a computer, what potential could be unlocked? What problems could be solved? These questions eventually led to the foundation of One Laptop per Child, and the creation of the XO laptop.

OLPC’s mission is to provide a means for learning, self-expression, and exploration to the nearly two billion children of the developing world with little or no access to education. While children are by nature eager for knowledge, many countries have insufficient resources to devote to education—sometimes less than $20 per year per child (compared to an average of $7,500 in the United States). By giving children their very own connected XO laptop, we are giving them a window to the outside world, access to vast amounts of information, a way to connect with each other, and a springboard into their future. And we’re also helping these countries develop an essential resource—educated, empowered children" (One Laptop Per Child.)

One Laptop Per Child. 2009. http://www.laptop.org/en/vision/mission/index.shtml.

We will be in Kenya for over 2 months and I will record my trip through this blog so stay tuned!!