Andrew Dernovsek Resigns from L2L Board

L2L Co-founder Andrew Dernovsek resigned from the L2L Board this week, citing a difference in perspective.  

I'm sorry we couldn't resolve our differences, but I respect his decision.  I thank him for helping to get this project started and for his service to the people of Ketane, Lesotho.

 

Andrew has been very busy lately finishing up his graduate studies.  He plans to continue his work as Executive Director of UCE and will be traveling to Cambodia where he will work with orphans and women rescued from sex-trafficking.

Andrew's resignation leaves our Board with three Directors: President Janissa Balcomb, Secretary Sarah Gardner, and Director Sherrie Howey.  We hope to recruit 1-2 additional directors in the near future.

 

- Janissa

 

 

FW: question about grant-writing training in South Africa

The following is an email conversation I'm having with a representative of a foundation funding our project which wishes to remain anonymous.  The emails are about possible grant-writing training for the teachers at Nohana Primary School.  Right now, we're looking into bringing a trainer to Lesotho so more people can participate in the training.  The foundation rep is interested in having principals at schools in the Mt. Moorosi/Quthing area take the training as well and might be able to help with funding for the training. 

This is all in the early stages of planning.  I just wanted to give you a heads-up of what we're working on.

Janissa

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From: Janissa

Sent: 28 March 2011 05:57 PM
To: foundation rep
Subject: question about grant-writing training in South Africa

Hi Cecily,

I have a quick question for you.  We've gotten a grant from the Maseru Rotary Club for M10,000, and the teachers have decided they want to use at least part of it to send two of them to a seminar in grant-writing training.  Do you know any place in South Africa where they could get this kind of training?  I've heard of a woman in Durban who does this, but I've lost her contact information.  Appreciate any help you can give me on this.

All my best,

Janissa

Janissa Balcomb, President

Laptops to Lesotho

janissa@silverstar.com

jbalcomb@laptopstolesotho.org

http://www.laptopstolesotho.org/

From: foundation

Sent: Tuesday, March 29, 2011 12:05 AM
To: 'Janissa'
Subject: RE: question about grant-writing training in South Africa

Dear Janissa

I will ask around but wonder if your best bet wouldn’t be to get someone to come to Lesotho so that this workshop can benefit more people.

Personally I have found that projects go to grant writing seminars etc and get all excited but it doesn’t produce much. It is – as  you know – a long, patient time consuming slog which requires lots of follow up, nurturing and top class communication skills. Too often people think if they write a few letters they’ll get money and when they get the first batch of rejections they lose hope. Far better to create a supportive team of people in situ than to expend time and energy on one or two.

Anyway, I will get back to you.

Meantime I am off to Lesotho tomorrow – meeting principals in Quthing/Mount Moorosi area. Do you have any idea yet of your dates for a possible next visit?

Best wishes

Cecily

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From: Janissa
Sent: Tuesday, March 29, 2011 1:09 PM
To: foundation
Subject: RE: question about grant-writing training in South Africa

Hi Cecily,

That's a good point.  I'll look into having the training at Ketane.  We do plan to offer continued long-term support as they learn how to write grants.  Delia has some experience and has offered to help.  And our treasurer, Andrew Dernovsek, who is currently in graduate school, has taken two courses in grant-writing and fundraising.  He speaks fluent Sesotho and talks to Matlabe on the phone fairly regularly, so he'll be able to offer lots of support.

I am planning to be in Lesotho in November and December again.  We've decided to do another intensive computer training course for the teachers in the 2-3 weeks after school ends. 

After that, I will be going with my aunt to Mozambique to visit my uncle's family, probably the week before Christmas.  I would like to visit the teachers at the eSibonisweni school then, if possible, but don't know about the logistics.  You've lived in that area, haven't you?  Do you have any advice?

Thanks for your help!

Janissa

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From: foundation
Sent: Tuesday, March 29, 2011 2:15 AM
To: 'Janissa'
Subject: RE: question about grant-writing training in South Africa

http://www.papillonpress.co.za/copy/index.asp

this is probably the best known training agency for grant making. They have a pretty good reputation but I don’t know what their costs are. I am also checking Durban contacts.

It might be an idea to look at hosting a Grant writing workshop in Lesotho (closer to Ketane – we use Orange River Hotel in Quthing for a lot of our meetings) and, if so, I have a few folk I’d like to send along as well and could consider contributing to the costs.

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From: Janissa
Sent: Tuesday, March 29, 2011 1:21 PM
To: 'foundation'
Subject: RE: question about grant-writing training in South Africa

"The more, the merrier."  That would be FANTASTIC!

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From: foundation
Sent: Tuesday, March 29, 2011 2:23 AM
To: 'Janissa'
Subject: RE: question about grant-writing training in South Africa

http://www.saifundraising.org.za/consultants&serviceproviders.htm

bombarding you now! This is also a useful link but don’t send your folk to this course in May – it’s for professional fund raisers with solid experience already. What may be useful is the list of people registered with SAIF. I do know of Di Milford in Pietermaritzburg and she may be one person to contact and see is she’s willing/able to help. I could liaise with her on your behalf if you do decide you want to get someone to come to Lesotho instead.

Alternatively if you want her to set up something for your people in PMB you can deal directly with her.

Hold off until I find out more about the Durban service providers as well so you have as wide a choice as possible. I am also getting recommendations from local NGOs who have used consultants themselves. It can be a jolly expensive business.

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From: Janissa
Sent: Tuesday, March 29, 2011 1:21 PM
To: foundation
Subject: RE: question about grant-writing training in South Africa

If you are willing to contact Di Milford to see if she would be willing to go to Lesotho for training, that would be wonderful.  I will hold off contacting anyone until I hear back from you.  

If it would be easier for her, or other trainers, to travel to Maseru, we could hold it there.  It's just as easy for our teachers to travel to Quthing as Maseru.

We do have R10,000 from the Maseru Rotary Club we can use for the training.

Matlabe's trip to the US - Part 1

Matlabe Teba, principal of Nohana Primary School in Lesotho, has been in the U.S. for about a week now.  After a brief stay in Denver with Andrew Dernovsek, who gave him a tour of Denver University, he stayed with Andrew and Andrew's parents, Drs. Kim and Ken Dernovsek, in Pueblo West, Colorado.  He had a fantastic day touring the Pueblo West High School and meeting with educational professionals and staff there.  He was very impressed by the school, and has some good ideas he plans to take back with him and implement in Lesotho. 

The school has offered to donate to Laptops to Lesotho 50 desktop computers that will be replaced this year and possibly several thousand laptops that are due to be replaced next year.  There are a lot of details to work out on this very generous offer, and we hope to establish a partnership with the school.  Some of the students are also going to do a fun run to raise money for our project.

At the school, Matlabe, in full Basotho regalia - Basotho blanket and hat, was interviewed by the Pueblo Chieftain newspaper.  You can see the wonderful photo and article that appeared on the front page of the Metro section on March 19th at http://www.chieftain.com/news/local/learning-the-american-way/article_7221cc1e-51da-11e0-bed8-001cc4c002e0.html.  Janissa joined them that evening.

Dr. Kim Dernovsek spent the better part of the next day teaching Matlabe and Janissa about HIV/AIDS and other sexually transmitted diseases.  Using the dramatic reduction of HIV in Uganda as an example, she explained why abstinence and being faithful to one spouse is the only real option for reducing the epidemic rate in Lesotho.  That was a real eye opener, and she converted Janissa from being a believer in "safe sex" with condoms to an abstinence and be faithful advocate.

Following that, Matlabe had a chance to meet and talk with Jack Wilson and Sherrie Howey of the Foundation for International Professional Exchange (FIPE), the people who paid for his trip.  They all shared a wonderful dinner at the Dernovsek's home. 

The next day, Matlabe, Andrew, and Janissa spent going over Laptops to Lesotho business and making plans for 2011 and beyond.  They had lunch at a wonderful Mexican restaurant.  In the afternoon, they toured the Dernovsek's doctors' office and downtown Pueblo, including a memorial to Congressional Medal of Honor Winners, the River Walk and all it's beautiful statues, and the national headquarters of Professional Bull Riders with its bronze statue of a bull rider out front.  The highlight of the afternoon, however, was taking Matlabe through an automatic car wash.

Saturday morning, they held the annual meeting for Laptops to Lesotho, with Sarah Gardner participating by phone.  (More on this in a coming blog post.)  Following the meeting, Janissa flew back to Idaho and Matlabe spent a leisurely day with the Dernovseks. 

On Sunday, he attended a Catholic service with the Dernovseks, then was transferred into Sherrie Howey's capable care, starting with coffee and lunch at the Accension Episcopalian Church.  News from Sherrie is that she took him to the Dollar Store, which is now his favorite place.  She also introduced him to dying Easter Eggs and blowing bubbles. 

Sherrie's daughter, Jennifer, a teacher in North Carolina, is working with Matlabe by phone to set up pen pals between her students and the students at Nohana Primary.  Until we get internet established at Nohana Primary School, it will be by snail mail, but what a wonderful experience for both classes!

Matlabe has two more jam-packed weeks in Pueblo, including among other things, a tour of a goat-milking operation, a flight over the countryside in a small private plane, and more school visits.

We would like to thank FIPE, Jack Wilson, and Sherrie Howey for all their hard work to make this wonderful experience possible.

Lots Going On - Highlights for January & February 2011

I must apologize to all of you who have checked our blog in the last two months only to find that there haven't been any new posts since late December. It gives the appearance that nothing has been happening, when, in actual fact, we have been making good, steady progress. I just haven't been keeping up with posting the latest news because of other demands on my time. I'm sorry.

I'll try to catch you up on all our 2011 news.  Here are the highlights:

FUNDING

• We received a record number and record amount of public donations in December.
• We finished the paperwork for an anonymous foundation grant and received R50,000 ($7500) for expanding the solar power system at Nohana Primary School and for more computers. 
• We have started buying the XO laptops on ebay as they become available. 
• Ivan Yaholnitsky, of the Bethel Business and Community Development Centre, is currently away, but he will handle the power system expansion on his return.
• The Maseru Rotary Club has raised the M10,000 ($1500) they pledged. The teachers in Ketane have been meeting to decide how to use the funding.
• Craig has made contact with Steve Neely and Andrew Bell of the Springfield, Ohio, Rotary Club.  It sounds like the Club is very interested in working with us.  They will be contacting the Maseru Rotary Club on ways we can all work together.
• BLOOM Africa paid their first installment of $750 on the $3500 they pledged in 2010.
• We acquired Microsoft Office software for our U.S. and Ketane computers, donated by Microsoft via TechSoup.org.
• We received a refund from the South African Revenue Service for the customs fees I paid for taking the XO laptops into South Africa on the way to Lesotho.  With all the bureaucracy, red tape, exchange and transfer fees, we only got $525 back out of the $625 paid.
• Google AdWords gave us $100 worth of free advertising. I ran ads from February 20-28. I only used about $15 of the total because I misunderstood the terms of the offer, which stated that it ended February 28. I thought that meant we had to start running ads before February 28th, when they apparently meant we had to use the entire $100 before the 28th. The ads did generate some traffic to our website.

KETANE

• The teachers at Nohana Primary returned in January from the winter break and have started using the computers in their classrooms. 
• Delia Helie took some great photos of the students using the XO laptops.  These will be posted very soon on our website. 
• I am currently working on making a calendar for the school using these photos and ones Craig took in December.
• Aaron Laufman-Walker had to terminate his Peace Corps service early, so he is no longer available in Ketane to help us out.  We thank him for his help and wish him good luck in his future endeavors, wherever they may lead him.
• A Vodacom technician traveled to Ketane to set up the internet service at the school, but discovered that there was no internet signal there. 
• We are baffled why this was the case because there used to be a signal there, and people are still able to access the internet via their cell phones there.
• Vodacom says the only way they can provide internet is if we pay for a microwave link which would cost M50,000 ($7500).
• We will be looking into other alternative for internet access, including satellite service.
• The power cord and adapter have made it to Lesotho and are on their way to Ketane as I write.  We hope this will fix the problem with the printer.
• The road to Ketane has been in very bad condition because of heavy rains, making travel to and from the school very difficult.

MEETINGS & TRAVEL

• Plans have been made for 'N'tate Matlabe Teba to travel from Ketane to Pueblo, Colorado, in the latter half of March for a professional and cultural exchange.  This trip is being paid for by FIPE, the Foundation for International Professional Exchange.
• Matlabe will be staying with Andrew and Andrew's parents.
• I will be joining Matlabe and Andrew for several days in Colorado.  Our Secretary, Sarah Balcomb Gardner, will be joining us by phone for our Annual Board Meeting on the morning of Saturday, March 19th.
• We will be working on plans for the coming year,  including fundraising, spending priorities, training, expansion, lesson plan and software development, and student money-making projects.

PUBLICITY

• Craig and Sarah have updated our website and posted a number of photos from our trip.
• I gave a presentation to the Grays Lake, Idaho, community about the project.  There was good attendance, and it was very well received.  It generated $200 in donations thus far, with more promised to come.  The community is also making clothing for the children of Ketane.
• I will be giving a talk at the Friends of Lesotho (FOL) Annual Meeting on March 12th.  The meeting is open to the public.  It begins at 2 p.m. Eastern Time.  Check the FOL website http://www.friendsoflesotho.org/ for details.
• I wrote a short article about our project that will appear in the Friends of Lesotho 2010 Annual Report, which comes out this month.
• I have started plans for a presentation in Soda Springs, Idaho, in April. A specific date hasn't been set yet.

CONSULTATIONS

• Fortunate has been in contact with Andrew Stinson and Stephanie Bonnes in the U.S.  They started an OLPC project at two day-care centers in Grahamstown, South Africa.
• Fortunate and I have been discussing ways she could facilitate an evaluation of our project with the help of students at Rhodes University.
• I was contacted by Russell Fox, a South African farmer living on the Lesotho border near Peka and Rantuba.  He was looking for advice and help setting up a program similar to ours for communities in Lesotho near his farm.
• I was contacted by Bonnie Nishihara in California for advice on training teachers and students from eSibonisweni school in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa, in the use of the XO laptops.  The KZN teachers and students would be traveling to California for two weeks.
• I have been in contact with Malefetsane Nketekete of SchoolNet (Lesotho) - Camara on possible training for our teachers at their site.
• I have been in touch with Ronel Smith of Digital Doorways in South Africa about how to set up a "public" computer in Ketane.
• I have been in contact with Chris Leonard about translating the XO laptop interface into Sesotho.

- Janissa

Dates for FIPE Professional Exchange

The Foundation for International Professional Exchange (FIPE) has been involved in this project from its inception.  They have provided $1600 in funding for hardware, and they've pledged to pay the expenses for Matlabe Teba, prinical/teacher at Nohana Primary School, to come to the U.S. as part of a professional and cultural exchange. 

We've had a little trouble working out dates for the trip, but it looks like now Matlabe will come over around March 14, 2011, for several weeks.  He will spend that time in Colorado, where both Andrew Dernovsek and FIPE are based.

Andrew is Back in the States

Andrew Dernovsek, our Treasurer and Co-founder, is back in Colorado after his trip to Uganda as Executive Director of UCE.

'Ntate Matlabe is Online!

I received my very first email today from 'Ntate Matlabe Teba, our Project Treasurer and Community Organizer in Ketane. He is the principal at Nohana Primary School and also teaches classes there.

Matlabe had learned basic computer skills from Andrew last year, but he hadn't yet learned how to use email or the internet when Andrew left. He promised, though, that he would learn it, and today I got the evidence that he has indeed fulfilled that promise.

Congratulations, Matlabe. I look forward to many more email exchanges.

- Janissa

Andrew Headed to Uganda

Andrew is leaving for Uganda tomorrow, for his work as Executive Director of the NGO UCE. He'll be back in the U.S. on July 2. Unfortunately, because we didn't get funding lined up in time, we weren't able to combine his Uganda travel with a work visit to Lesotho and Ketane.

- Janissa

Discounted Accounting Software and Grant-writing Service via TechSoup.org

We purchased the accounting software, QuickBooks Premier Edition 2010, which includes the Nonprofit Edition, via TechSoup.org. It was donated by Intuit, the company that created QuickBooks, so that we were able to get it for just $45. The going rate on the open market is around $315. Thank you, Intuit! Now Andrew gets to learn how to use it.

We were also able to buy a one-year membership to GrantStation.com, normally $599, for just $99. GrantStation is a funding research and grant-writing assistance service. I'm hoping I can use it to find funding for this year if the grant applications we have out now don't get funded, and for next year so we can buy lots more computers, work on the curriculum integration for other grade levels, and do interface translation into Sesotho, among other things. Thanks, GrantStation, for providing this service at a price we can actually afford!

- Janissa

History of Community Support & Project Sucess

from an email from Andrew:

The school was the first of its kind in the entire area of Ketane. It is the only computer school, and it is also run by solar power.

The school, although currently very small, has already begun to improve the education of the children. The computers have helped to improve their Enlish language skills, other subject skills, and given them a great interest in pursuing learning through the computers.

The community has given strong backing to the computer school since its inception. The parents and school committee have begun to build a new building for the computer school donating there time and resources on the weekends. The parents are very excited and even had some of there children attend the school during the break months, and during harvest times when the children would normally be required to work. In addition, the school raised it's own money to purchase an old laptop computer and used money it raised from charging cell phones with the solar panel to buy a printer/copier/scanner.

Various members of the community of Pueblo, Colorado, held fundraisers and donated to the computer school so that the solar equipment and desktop computer could be purchased.

excerpt from an email from Andrew to Janissa about his recent talk with Matlabe

"I finally made it through and talked with Ntate Matlabe today. They have been having a lot of rain, and didn't have signal which is why I couldn't get through. Also, he said the internet at the clinic is out so Mapesh hasn't emailed. Anyway, he was of course very excited about the prospect of coming to the United States. He said he is trying to learn as much as he can" ... "He said he will even take a full course in Maseru in June so that he can learn internet and all that."

"Also he said that they are trying to get a PCV that would come in August."

"[Matlabe and Mapesh] are going to talk about the pros and cons of each person going. I also told them about the laptops that you have for them, and just the other general news. They did say that the computers are all still running and working well."

64 XO laptops and counting ...

I've just bought 11 more XOs, these for the amazingly low price of $57 each, with free shipping! That brings us up to a grand total of 64.

That gives us:
35 - one for each grade 6 student
10 - one for each teacher
15 - for shared use by the other grades(2-4 students sharing one XO laptop at a time)
2 - for Shaun (I.T. use, fundraising)
1 - for Andrew (fundraising)
1 - for Janissa (fundraising)

Nineteen have been paid for with donations. Now I just need to find money to pay for the rest.

- Janissa

Check Out Our YouTube Videos

Videos from Andrew:

A Nohana Primary School student tells how our laptops will help her become a teacher

A Nohana Primary School student tells of her ambition to be a nurse, and says "Thank You."

Registration with other websites -- GuideStar.org, TechSoup.org

Last week, I registered Laptops to Lesotho with GuideStar.org and TechSoup.org. Both required verification that L2L was a 501(c)(3) organization, so I had to send them our IRS Letter of Determination. I got a confirmation back but it will take a few days for Laptops to Lesotho to show up on their sites.

GuideStar.org is a verified list of official tax-exempt nonprofit organizations. Other websites that accept donations for causes, like Facebook Causes and JustGive.org, require that our organization be on the GuideStar list before they will accept us on their websites. As soon as we get into the GuideStar database, we can start accepting donations via Facebook, JustGive, and others.

TechSoup.org gets tech hardware and software donated by a variety of companies and then distributes them to nonprofits for a small processing fee. Now that Andrew is Treasurer, he will be looking at getting accounting software from TechSoup. We can also get other hardware from them, like a network server and possibly internet access hardware.

- Janissa

L2L bank account set up

I got the bank account set up for L2L, finally. First we had to wait for our official 501(c)(3) status from the IRS, then the bank took a week to set up the account -- they had to do a special investigation because we're a new nonprofit that's going to be using the account for international payments. I have to go back into town next week to sign the papers and deposit the FIPE check. Andrew and I will be signers on the account.

- Janissa

Communications - Ketane internet, email & phone

Mapesh has been back in touch using the clinic internet connection. Janissa sent a new USB 3G modem to Ketane, but no word yet on whether they got it or whether it works with their existing SIM card.

Aaron and Mapesh have agreed to spend time teaching Matlabe and other teachers how to use email so we can all keep in touch better.

Andrew has been calling Ketane periodically to talk to Matlabe and Mapesh in person.

- Janissa

BIG NEWS: Funding from FIPE

Andrew has been working with FIPE (Foundation for International Professional Exchange). Thanks to Andrew's hard work, they have donated $1500 to put toward the purchase of XO laptops. They have also agreed to provide an exchange for one of our team members to travel to Colorado to meet American teachers and observe their classroom teaching. Andrew is still hammering out the details for the exchange.

A HUGE THANK YOU to the FOLKS at FIPE!

- Janissa

Contact Updates -- IRS, OLPC, Nohana Primary

* Still no news from the IRS on our tax-exempt status

* Still no word from OLPC on how they might be able to help us

* Still no direct contact with Mapesh, though the internet modem at the school is apparently up and working again. Andrew talked to Matlabe at Nohana Primary School using Skype. I'm going to talk to Andrew tomorrow morning and will post the news he got from Nohana Primary afterwards.

- Janissa

Fundraising - Training, Presentations

Janissa has signed up for two fundraising seminars:
* signing sponsors in a lean economy (webinar, Feb 16)
* grant writing basics (at Boise Idaho, Feb 23)


She's also started putting together a powerpoint presentation to give for local groups as part of her fundraising effort.

Andrew has given several presentations in Colorado.

- Janissa

No new PCV at Ketane

I got word from Aaron that all the new PC recruits have been placed, and none were sent to Ketane to replace Andrew. This will be a huge disappointment to the school. It shouldn't have a huge impact on our project, but it will mean Aaron and Mapesh will have a heavier work load.

-- Janissa