Laptops to Lesotho Closing

Thank you to the many supporters of Laptops to Lesotho.  On October 22, 2023, the Board of Directors voted to dissolve Laptops to Lesotho.    Our goal of improving educational opportunities for the children was met with the completion of the school and library at Kokobe Elementary School. All remaining funds will be donated to Friends of Lesotho They are an excellent organization that provides funding for many projects in Lesotho. It has been an exceptional 13 years working with the people of Lesotho.

excellent organization that provides ng for many projects in Lesotho.  It has been a wonderful 13 years working with the people of Lesotho.

 

We finally made it back to Kokobe Primary School in March.  We were thrilled to see the building being utilized and we had the grand opening of the Alice Ranthimo Library.

We had a successful two weeks organizing and decorating the new learning center that was created for the students of Kokobe.  The learning center now contains more than 500 library books, 13 Kindle Fires, a SolarSPELL computer from Arizona State University, numerous puzzles, games, drawing tools and more to supplement the students educational opportunities.

The students were so excited to be able to checkout books and utilize the many resources Laptops to Lesotho provided for the students and teachers.

Successful Fundraiser Held

 

A great time was had by all at our first Paint and Sip Fundraiser to benefit the educational program at Kokobe Primary School.  The event raised over $1600. and the proceeds will be used to purchase Kindle Fires for the classroom.

So many have worked hard to make this classroom/library a reality.  Thank you to all of our donors!  Thank you to Florence and Mme Alice for coordinating everything for us in Lesotho.  Our builder has come through as promised.  We even have solar power so they have electricity in the building.  We are in the home stretch but we are not done yet.  The final touches are being put on the building, desks are being delivered, and the library is being coordinated and hopefully will be operational by spring when a team of Laptops to Lesotho educators will visit if travel restrictions are lifted. We are working to purchase the Kindle Fires and are making final decisions on the server we will use to supply the educational information for the students and teachers. In a year that seems to be filled with bad news, this is certainly a bright spot for us.

Progress!!

It is the middle of winter in Lesotho but that has not stopped progress on the classroom/Library.

Progress!!

The test of our progress is not whether we add more to the abundance of those who have much it is whether we provide enough for those who have little.

Franklin D. Roosevelt

While sometimes we want to progress more quickly we know it takes time to advance towards what will be.  We must remove roadblocks, plan carefully, and collaborate.  Behind the scenes, the collaboration with Arizona State University and its SolarSPELL project is already showing the benefits of working with this proven team. SolarSPELL Technology  Building plans are progressing with plans for the classroom/library/computer lab coming together.  Contracts are being finalized and a timeline is being created. A teacher strike halted progress for a period of time but the project is back on track.

If you would like to contribute to the advancement of this project please click on the link below.  A $50 contribution will purchase a Kindle Fire or 5 library books.
Thank you for your support.  We will keep you informed as we progress on this wonderful project.  https://www.gofundme.com/f/j78s5-education-for-all

Phase 1 Update

One of the most important aspects of this project is raising funds to make it happen.  We would like to thank Friends of Lesotho for their generous support.  Also, the Panhuise Foundation has been a major benefactor and we thank them for their continued support.  Many individuals have donated various amounts and large or small, they all add up to helping us complete this project.  We now are in the process of drawing up building plans and obtaining bids and signed contracts.  We still need to raise funds for tablets, library books, and supplies.  If you would like to contribute to the success of this project please check out our gofundme page.

Exciting new development

L2L is beginning a completely new phase of educational support at Kokobe Primary School.  Through a collaboration with Arizona State University, we will be bringing “education in a box” to the students.  The XO Laptops currently used will be phased out and replaced with the Kindle Fire.  Students will be able to access the SolarSPELL Educational Library. The SolarSPELL is a rugged, portable, solar-powered digitized library which includes an offline digital hotspot, designed to simulate an online experience.  Currently, more than 275 SPELL libraries have been deployed across the Pacific and East Africa.  The content can be specific to the area and offer many resources for teachers and students.

The school has little space for a dedicated computer lab and the principal requested our help in building a dedicated computer classroom and library. That will be phase 1 of the project.  The computer lab will have a solar-powered electrical system to charge computer hardware.  

“SolarSPELL’s mission is to provide relevant, localized educational content to resource-constrained locations around the world.”  To Learn more about SolarSPELL visit solarspell.org.

Lesotho Teachers on Strike

The strike has been going on for a month now with no end in sight, according to this article:

http://lestimes.com/teachers-vow-to-fight-education-bill/

 

This article gives more details about the teachers’ grievances and demands:

https://maserumetro.com/news/teachers-unions-petition-lesotho-parliament/

New Lessons for XO Laptops

New math lessons created in the program Scratch are now available to students at Kokobe.  Perseverance is the key to success.  Our on the ground person in Maseru, Florence, received the lessons and an internet café person was going to help her download the lessons onto flash drives.  After a number of failed attempts Florence was able to find the right person to help her.  Hence – new math lessons for students at Kokobe.

Back in Action

After a short hiatus, Laptops to Lesotho is working again to provide educational opportunities to rural Lesotho.  What is in the works for L2L?

Janissa has been busy creating lessons to be used with the XO laptops.  Most lessons have been created in a program  called Scratch.  Volunteers are always needed to help with creating these lessons.  Our contact in Lesotho, Florence, will be purchasing flash drives to download the lessons to, and make them available for the XO laptops.

In Kokobe, Florence will provide the flash drives with the lessons and provide a refresher on uploading the lessons to the computers.  She will also check on the solar panel wiring and laptops that need repairs. In addition, she will provide the funds for repairs, inspect winter damage, view and support teachers giving classroom lessons with the laptops, and coordinate the dates for the next training session.

Currently Janissa and a new volunteer, Bill Savage, are planning on going to Lesotho for the next intensive training for teachers and students.  More volunteers would be welcome with the understanding that they would need to pay their own way. If you have some computer and teaching skills, this is a wonderful opportunity to experience the wonderful people and culture of Lesotho.

Janissa has found a wonderful source for laptops and parts.  The source is in the process of testing and refurbishing the laptops and batteries.  These are needed as laptops wear out or need repair.

We will provide updates as Laptops to Lesotho goes back into action.

L2L To Temporarily Suspend Operations

Providing Laptops to remote locations in Southern Africa comes with its challenges.  Hardware constraints, reliable on the ground support, and changing leadership requires Laptops to Lesotho to temporarily suspend operations.  The board unanimously agreed that resuming operation in the future will occur, but the timing is uncertain.  Please check back with us in the future and learn about the positive changes to Laptops to Lesotho.

Lesotho: What's behind the political unrest

BBC News

L2L Featured on Quickflics

We're excited that we were chosen to be the featured charity on
Quickflics Corporate Blog. Quickflics is an app service that lets users upload photos and videos to a cloud sevice (QuickCloud), and they send users a DVD or USB Flash Drive of their memories each month.

https://quickflics.com/laptops-to-lesotho/

Scratch Lessons for Lesotho

 L2L volunteers have been making digital lessons for the primary school children in rural Lesotho who are using XO laptops at their schools. 

The lessons cover topics in ESL (English as a Second Language), math, science, and cognitive skills.  There are games, instructional lessons, and practice exercises. 


These lessons are customized for the language and academic skills of the children in rural Lesotho, and they use familiar images from  their culture and environment.

A key advantage of using computer lessons to teach standard subjects in Lesotho is that students in overcrowded classroom can repeat a lesson as many times as they need and get instant feedback on their answers.  Scores on screen help teachers see immediately who is struggling with a particular lesson.
 



 
Scratch is a computer program language designed by MIT to help teach children how to program.  It is also highly suitable for creating lessons on XO-1 laptops like we use in Lesotho.  The program code is made up of color-coded blocks that are interlocking.  Children have the option to watch the live action (lesson) while viewing the programming that created it.

You can view a sample of these lessons on the L2L's page on the Scratch website.  To start a lesson, click on the green flag.
https://scratch.mit.edu/users/L2L/projects/ 

Vodacom Lesotho Extends Internet Coverage

Vodacom Lesotho has expanded it's broadband internet services to all parts of the country that previously could receive only a cellphone signal but no internet signal.  This could be great news for our programs in Ketane, meaning the laptops there might now be able to access the internet. 

This news was reported by Public Eye Online about two months ago:

"Vodacom Lesotho has finished rolling out its broadband internet service (3G) across all its towers to become the first operator to provide internet coverage to the majority in the country.

"This means that any part of the country that has Vodacom signal in Lesotho now also has internet coverage.

"We firmly believe that access to communication services has been a driving force for development in Lesotho and that it continues to be transformational as we work to make accessible, voice, internet and m-pesa services for Basotho."

Read the full story by Public Line Online:  Vodacom Extends Internet Coverage

 

Beware of Others Using the Laptops to Lesotho Name

If you see a "laptopstolesotho" URL in some form other than www.laptopstolesotho.org, it is not in anyway associated with our organization, Laptops to Lesotho Inc.

I believe a Chinese network registry company , in conjunction with an individual or business there, is trying to coerce Laptops to Lesotho into paying for the rights to the "laptopstolesotho" domain names and internet keyword in China.

In emails from the network registry company, it's company name was not specified, which made me suspicious from the start.  The company's URL is www . cnwebregistry . net and Jim Gong lists himself as their general manager, though he signed the email only as "Jim".  

Mr. Gong said the business that wants to use our name is called Huayu Ltd.  However, in correspondence with the supposed representative of this company, Jiang Zhihai, neither his title nor the company's name was stated.

Via Mr. Gong, I asked Huayu Ltd. to respect our name and give us the courtesy of finding a different name to use, but Jiang Zhihai refused. 

Unless we pay for the domain names ourselves, we have no legal standing to dispute anyone using our name.  As we have very limited financial resources, we cannot afford to bend to extortion which would divert resources from our valuable humanitarian work. 

While I do not have specific proof that these companies are engaged in actual extortion or a scam, an internet search brings up their names in relation to attempts to coerce others to pay for domain name and internet keyword rights in exactly the same way.  Please feel free to email complaints  about their unethical practices as many times as you like to "Jiang Zhihai" jiang_zhihai088@vip.sina.com and "Jim" jim.gong@cnwebregistry.net.

Janissa


 

More XOs for students

Taking every opportunity to save on shipping, Janissa just shipped 10 more XO laptops, some spare batteries, and computer mice to a group of Rotarians, who will carry them in their luggage to Maseru. Eight will then go by public transport to Kokobe Primary School in a remote mountain region of Lesotho. Two of the laptops will be awarded to the December 2014 valedictorians of the graduating classes at Kokobe and Nohana Primary Schools. The laptops and batteries were donated to Laptops to Lesotho by I Love My XO. Thank you so much to the Rotarians and I Love My XO.

Travel Alert

The State Department alerts U.S. citizens residing in or traveling to Lesotho to the upcoming parliamentary elections scheduled for February 28, 2015.U.S. citizens are urged to exercise caution and remain abreast of the security situation throughout the electoral period. This Travel Alert expires on March 21, 2015.

As a result of a political and security crisis in late 2014, Lesotho¿s political parties agreed to hold early elections in February 2015. Although Lesotho¿s 2012 parliamentary elections were generally orderly and peaceful, the State Department recommends U.S. citizens maintain a high level of security awareness during the electoral period and avoid political rallies, demonstrations, polling stations, and crowds of any kind. Instances of unrest related to the election are possible, and U.S. citizens should be aware that even peaceful gatherings and demonstrations can turn violent. Review your personal security plans; remain aware of your surroundings, including local events; and monitor local news stations for updates.

Local stores, including grocery stores, may be closed over the electoral weekend. U.S. citizens are reminded that as a general matter of emergency preparedness, you should maintain adequate supplies of food, water, essential medicines, and other supplies that will allow you to shelter in place for at least 72 hours. Additional recommendations on emergency preparedness are available in Mission South Africa¿s recently-posted "Message for U.S. Citizens: Emergency Preparedness for U.S. Citizens Living Abroad."

We strongly recommend that U.S. citizens traveling to or residing in Lesotho enroll in the Department of State¿s Smart Traveler Enrollment Program (STEP) at travel.state.gov. STEP enrollment gives you the latest security updates, and makes it easier for the U.S. Embassy or nearest U.S. Consulate to contact you in an emergency. If you don¿t have Internet access, enroll directly with the nearest U.S. Embassy or Consulate.

State Dept. Post 

Project Support

A problem has arisen and it looks like the Nohana teachers will not be attending the January training Tony planned for them.  It is still uncertain whether or not the Kokobe teachers will be able to attend.

 

I had asked the teachers to pay for their own transport and food during training, but the Nohana teachers have just decided that they cannot pay.  Knowing that they might not be able to pay the expenses themselves, I also asked Matlabe to submit a proposal to Solon Foundation to pay for their training expenses.  (Cecily has already told me she would support such a proposal.)  However, Matlabe met with the Nohana School Board, and together they have refused to submit a proposal because they are afraid it will jeopardize their plans to submit a proposal to Solon for new desks. 

 

This is an indication of where Matlabe and the Nohana School Board’s priorities are, and unfortunately, they are not with the computer project.

Part of our original agreement was that the schools would pay a portion of the annual project expenses, and that they would eventually take complete control of the computer project, including funding.  If Matlabe, the teachers, and the Nohana School Board are not willing to make any effort, let alone personal sacrifices, to improve their own computer skills so they can help their students, then I see no reason for L2L to pay their share of the expenses. 

They are leaning on L2L too much and not doing enough for themselves.  It is my opinion that we must stay true to the project’s guiding philosophy.  We must let the project’s success or failure rest on their shoulders.

It is not clear yet how the Kokobe teachers will respond to the request to pay their expenses, either out of their own pockets or via a grant proposal.  I am hopeful that Alice will work with Florence to submit a proposal to Solon Foundation.   Florence is looking into the possibility of holding training just for the Kokobe teachers, possibly in Mohale’s Hoek, with lodging in a school dorm there.  It would cost the Kokobe teachers significantly less to travel to Mohale’s Hoek than to Morija or Maseru.

If that does not work out, we will fall back on Plan B.  The teachers would submit questions to Florence, then she and Mamatsepe would meet with Tony in Maseru to get his answers to the teachers questions.  Tony could also provide them further training on the XO laptops and the school servers, then Florence and Mamatsepe would travel to Ketane and train the teachers there.

Today is my last day as President of Laptops to Lesotho.  I have responded to these latest events as I saw best, a continuation of my slow dance of nudging, guiding, reinforcing, and prodding the Lesotho participants to get them to move in the direction I think will ensure their success.  As of tomorrow, it will be up to you all whether or not to continue down this path.  Whatever course you take, I have faith in you, and I look forward to supporting your efforts in the future.

Best wishes for a happy and fulfilling new year,

Janissa