Unlike many other programs, OLPCorps provided very few guidelines as to what teams would be doing for for 8 weeks in their chosen deployment country. 2009 is the first "pilot" year of the Africa program, so teams had to produce original proposals from scratch. Approved teams would receive up to $10,000 to cover operational expenses, in addition to 100 XO laptops for distribution.
In April, our MIT-Wellesley team was ecstatic to be notified that we had been chosen as one of 30 teams, out of over 220 that had applied. We quickly accepted the offer, and began logistical preparations and further brainstorming.
Unfortunately, while we were awaiting notification from OLPC (they had extended the notification date by a couple of weeks), Tim had accepted a summer internship offer with the Governor of New Jersey. Because OLPCorps would take 10 weeks of the summer, this meant that he could no longer join us. We were lucky to immediately find another qualified MIT political science student, Kristen Watkins, to fill his place.
In early June, Jeff, Kristen, and I will fly to Kigali, Rwanda, for a 10-day training session. While there, we will interact and share ideas with the other 29 teams from all over the world, as well as the OLPC leaders, including Bryan Stuart (our personal team mentor) and Paul Commons.
Afterwards, we will take an overnight bus ride to Rwanda's neighboring country, Uganda, and work for the remaining two months in the outskirts of Kampala (Uganda's capital city). There, we will work closely with our two host NGOs, Stand Up for Africa (contact: Neil Howard) and Safe Alternatives for Youth (contact: Rita Namakiika) to distribute laptops and work with children to help them grow fluent with computer technology and expand their critical thinking skills.
OLPC's educational philosophy is heavily based on Constructionism, defined by Seymour Papert and trailing from the learning theories of Jean Piaget. Constructionism relies on hands-on, experimental discovery, which discourages teaching by lecture. Instead, students are given the tools to learn, and make discoveries on their own through peer-to-peer interaction and a minimal amount of teacher intervention. The XO laptop encourages and facilitates this type of learning via the numerous creative and intellectually stimulating programs.
Below is a picture of the XO laptop. As you can see, it is clearly targeted for primary school users. Please visit OLPC's wiki page for more information on the operating system and special features
We are very excited to continue forward--only 19 days until we leave for Kigali (June 5). We hope to post pictures and updates as often as possible during our deployment, via internet cafes and other wifi areas.
Please feel free to comment or ask questions! Your input will help us make a more detailed and colorful record of our journey.
Your friends,
Victoria, Jeff, and Kristen
Posted by: Victoria
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