20 XO laptops on their way to Lesotho

Twenty more XO laptops, purchased with funds from a foundation which wishes to remain anonymous, began their journey to Nohana Primary School today.  The XOs will travel via USPS from Idaho to Ohio, shipping paid for by students at Pueblo West High School (Colorado).  In Ohio, Craig Balcomb, one of our volunteers, will deliver them to a group from the Springfield Rotary Club and Wittenberg University.  The group will be traveling to Lesotho later this month to do volunteer work, and they have graciously offered to carry the laptops over for us.  They will deliver them to Deepak Pullanikkatil of Maseru Rotary Club & a Peace Corps staff member.  He will hold them until they can be transported to Ketane.

Thanks to the chain of many helpful hands who are making this possible and saving us a lot of money!

- 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.

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

Recent Donations & Pledges

Recently, we have been very fortunate to receive several large pledges of funding and a number of cash donations:

Pledges
Maseru Rotary Club - M10,000 (about $1500)
Anonymous Foundation - R50,000 (about $7500)

Cash Donations
Faye Farmer - $25
Mike Fisher - $20
O'Hara Fleming - $250
Peter Siegenthaler - $100
USFWS Southeast Idaho Refuge Complex employees - $100

Ninety of the 314 students at Nohana Primary School are classified as orphans. Those children meet their daily needs with help from their extended families, the local community, and the World Food Program, which provides them with two basic meals each day.

What our project hopes to do is look beyond their immediate daily needs and save their futures. We strive to prepare them to achieve better, healthier lives so their children, and grandchildren, aren't destined to face life as orphans.

Thank you for your support. Together we are making a positive change and giving these children real hope for a better future.

- Janissa