Rotary Club Funding Received

Laptops to Lesotho has received a grant from the Unadilla Rotary Club, Maseru Rotary Club, and Rotary International for $7,500.

The money will help support a Mosotho in-country volunteer, provide additional technical support to the schools in Ketane, expand our audio-visual capacity for creating and translating country-specific educational materials, replace malfunctioning touchpads and weak speakers, and purchase more XO laptops and solar chargers.

A huge Thank You to these Rotary Clubs  for their support helping us improve education in rural Lesotho!  A special thank-you to Rotarian Donald Tuttle who facilitated this grant.

Grant Specifics

1. Volunteer Living Expenses    $2,400
   For housing and food for the project volunteer while staying in Ketane
2. Volunteer Travel Expenses    $360
   For work-related trips between Ketane and Maseru by the project volunteer
3. Communications    $300
   For work-related phone and internet services for the project volunteer
4. Technical Support    $1,000
   For hiring I.T. specialist(s) to install and maintain project equipment at the schools
5. Audio Recording Equipment    $300
   For purchase of voice recording and editing equipment for creation and translation of educational audio materials
6. Computer Peripherals    $600
   For purchase of 150 computer mice to use in place of malfunctioning touchpads and 150 headphones in place of weak speakers (problems inherent on the XO-1 laptop model)
7. New XO Laptops    $2300
   For purchase of 20 new XO laptops, charging station, router, and spare batteries.
8. Miscellaneous Expenses    $240

Unadilla Rotary Club, New York

District 7170

www.unadillarotary.org

 

Maseru Rotary Club, Lesotho

District 9370

www.rotarymaseru.org.ls

 

Rotary International

www.rotary.org

 

 

 

- Janissa

First Deployment Trip: Planned Objectives and Tasks Accomplished

Here's a quick summary of the objectives of our recent trip to Lesotho and what we actually managed to accomplish. Much more detailed information will follow soon.  

1. Deliver computers and supplies to Nohana Primary School:
        Completed, except scanner - repair part ordered 
2. Provide secure storage for laptops and project supplies:
        Completed
3. Supply additional educational and HIV/AIDS materials:
        Partially completed, ongoing 
4. Set up a generator and charging system to power the laptops:
        Mostly completed, system functional, will be fully completed soon
5. Set up a network server with internet access:
        Not completed, though we expect it to be completed before the new school year in January
6. Train the teachers in computer skills, how to use the laptops for lessons in their classrooms, basic laptop reformatting and repairs, and generator operation and maintenance:
        Completed
7. Negotiate contracts between all parties involved:
        Completed
8. Develop community and regional support:
        Successful, ongoing

All in all, the project has been a great success thus far. There were a few glitches that still need to be addressed, but that's not unexpected when working in a developing nation and a very remote setting. All the glitches are being actively dealt with, and we believe they will be resolved in the very near future.

 

-Janissa

Updates from August & early September

My apologies ... I am long overdue for updating this blog.  It's been a busy time with lots of things happening.  Here's a quick summary:

Team Members

• Delia Helie, a new Peace Corps Volunteer in Ketane, has offered to help.
• Shaun Ilderton, our I.T. specialist from Durban, has resigned due to time conflicts.  He will be returning the two XO laptops he has.
• Matlabe has started using his new email account.  Please add matlabeteba@gmail.com to your address book.

Fundraising & Donations

• Janissa submitted a grant application to EiF (Engineering Information Foundation).
• We've received a number of personal donations, including several online contributions through JustGive.org and Facebook Causes.
• Janissa set up a Laptops to Lesotho table at a local rodeo and raised $60.
• We received a donated XO laptop (nonfunctioning, usable for spare parts) from an unknown person in California.
• Janissa is working on grant applications to Ananda Foundation and an anonymous foundation.
• Craig is working with teachers in the Cincinnati area on fundraising.
• Diane McWethy is working on fundraising through the Goshen Public Library.

Shipping

• Maureen Powell and her husband carried eight of our XO laptops from the U.S. to Maseru.  They had no trouble going through security and paid no customs fees.  The laptops are currently being stored by Deepak Pullanikkatil of Peace Corps/Lesotho, awaiting pickup by someone from Ketane.

Partners & Support
Initial and/or follow-up contact was made with the following people and organizations.  I'll write more about these in upcoming blogs.

• Jane Hale, Family Literacy Lesotho, & Peter Maphatsoe, Family Art & Literacy Center
• Colleen Smith, MindSet
• Angel Knapp, GrantStation
• Andrew Steele & Bill Thompson, BLOOM Africa
• South African representative of a Swiss foundation which wishes to remain anonymous
• Jennifer, I Love My XO
• Nia Lewis & Adam Holt, One Laptop Per Child
• OLPC News Forum
• Adi Nochur, 1Sky.org

Scheduling

• Matlabe is still working on arrangements to have Dr Kasongo of MS STIC travel to Ketane for a needs assessment for our school network and internet connection (no dates set yet)
• Fortunate is still working on arrangements for teacher training at Kliptown Youth Project (no dates set yet)
• Janissa is making arrangements to travel to Lesotho in November and December (approx Nov 2-Dec 7).  Her brother, Craig, will probably travel with her to help with training.
• Janissa has created a Google online calendar for the public to view L2L events and also a private Google calendar for team members to post their schedules on.

Ongoing

• Aaron is still trying to figure out why the USB modems don't work in Ketane.
• Mapesh & Matlabe are working out contract details and what-if scenarios

Pending
Janissa needs to follow up on fundraising through:

• Deepak Pullanikkatil, Maseru Rotary,
• Cindy, Soda Springs Library, and
• Shawnae Somsen, Soda Springs Public Schools.

Janissa needs to follow up technical assistance through:

• Jennifer Getz, eduWeavers (eSibonisweni)
• Indiana University OHOT (One Here One There)
• Seth Woodworth
• Cilliers du Preez
• Malizo Sinono, GCNS Communication

Brochure & Business Cards

•  Janissa has created a three-panel color brochure you can print double-sided on an 8½ x 11 sheet. The brochure was very well received at its first fundraising event, the Grays Lake rodeo. Contact Janissa if you want to receive a copy of the pdf for your own fundraising events.
• Janissa has also ordered business cards for herself. The minimum order size was 250, so she'll have lots of extras if you'd like to have some. They have the L2L contact info including the new website & email addresses.

Microsoft STIC leader to visit Ketane

I spoke to Dr. Kasongo of the Microsoft School Technology Innovation Center (STIC) today. It sounds like he will be able to help us a great deal. In general, he said that Microsoft can help us with hardware, software, maintenance, and advice.

To begin with, he has offered to travel to Ketane to take a look at the school and surrounding area in order to determine what we will need in the way of network hardware and the best way for us to connect to the internet. After he has seen the site, he will write up a 'needs assessment' for us. The network and internet system is something I've been concerned about and haven't been able to get any answers about. His visit will be extremely helpful, and his assistance a great relief for me!

Dr. Kasongo will be contacting Mapesh to arrange the visit. He will be out of Lesotho August 10-30, so I'm not sure whether he will be able to make the visit between now and the 10th before he leaves or whether he'll want to do it after he gets back.

In the phone call, Dr. Kasongo also mentioned that his team has been working with the Lesotho College of Education to develop digital curriculum for science and English studies. I don't know yet what grades they have the materials prepared for, but we may be able to get some for use in Ketane.

It is still early, but I think that Dr. Kasongo and his team will be very good people to have helping us!
 
- Janissa

Microsoft Team in Maseru offers help to Laptops to Lesotho

There is a Microsoft team working with the Lesotho Ministry of Education and Training on an innovative educational project at Piting Secondary School (about 40 miles from Maseru). They contacted me and said they would like to help our organization.

I am in touch with a Dr. Kalanda Carlos Kasongo. He said he could offer us help and technical assistance. I don't have any more details about what form that will take. We are in the process of trying to arrange a meeting/phone call to discuss it. I will keep you posted as this develops.

In the meantime, you can check out information about the Microsoft School Technology Innovation Centre (STIC) project at Piting at Microsoft STIC (pdf).  It's a very interesting concept called a Compujector which uses one computer, a special projector, and multiple "mouses" connected to the computer. The teacher can give a presentation on a wall (no screen needed), and each student can interact with it via their own mouse. The system is portable, fits in a briefcase size container, and is powered by a solar array that is also about briefcase size.

It's based on a Windows system, of course, but we could still make use of it. If we wanted to stick with the XO Linux Sugar system for the teachers to learn and use, it is possible to download a program that emulates the XO system on a Windows computer.
This projector system is something we could use in the other grades until we can distribute individual XO laptops to those students. We could also use it for our training sessions on using the XO's and "traveling" presentations about our program in the villages around the school.

The Microsoft STIC team has partnerships with several organizations that provide educational materials -- MindSet, who I am already working with, LearnThings, and Microsoft Encarta. With Microsoft's help, we might be able to get access to extensive educational resources.

Microsoft STIC is also partnered with two Maseru-based ICT companies, DenverTech and Sha Computers. Through them, we might be able to get technical support and service.

All in all, there is great potential for a partnership with Microsoft. We'll have to wait to see how much we actually get. One thing I don't want is for Microsoft to appropriate our project. I think we should keep this a grassroots, community-based project, with decisions made in Ketane by the people of Ketane. We'll have to stay alert to Microsoft trying to give assistance with strings attached that give them control over how our project proceeds.

This is an exciting development, definitely something to think about.

- 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.

I.T. News - Shaun explores the XO laptops

In late March, Shaun received the two XO laptops Janissa sent him and has been playing around with them, figuring out how to reload the operating system (so all the XOs are identical when we distribute them and so we can fix some of software problems that may arise), learning how best to hook them up to the internet, and tearing them apart and putting them back together to learn how to make hardware repairs.

Go Shaun! I just hope you can explain all that to the rest of us non-I.T. types.

- Janissa

New Team Member -- Shaun Ilderton

We have a new member on our team, Shaun Ilderton of Durban, South Africa. Welcome to the team, Shaun!

Shaun will be an excellent asset to our project. He is a family man and is active in community affairs. He works as an I.T. specialist for a Durban company, and he frequently travels to Sani Pass, Lesotho.

Shaun was thinking about starting a project similar to ours when he came across our website. Instead of duplicating our efforts, he offered to join our team. Shaun has jumped in with both feet. He is already investigating what is required to form a nonprofit in South Africa to raise funds for the project.

Because of limited leave, Shaun will serve as our technical adviser from a distance; however, there may be a chance that he will be able to travel to Ketane to assist us on site. Shaun has already provided assistance with information about internet assess and sources of modems.

We look forward to working with Shaun in the coming months.

- Janissa

Email from Andrew

Lumela 'M'e Janissa,

I hope all is well there. I have lots of good news for you on this
end. Firstly, the name that the teachers chose was Our Treasure
Highland Computer Project. I have attached the logo. I think this
could always be shortened to Highland Computer Project if we want to
later. The girl was going a bit slowly on making follow up drafts for
the logo so I just sent this one. There should be a second Basotho hat
in the top right corner and the bottom phrase should read Together for
a Better Lesotho and curve around the logo. The logo is meant to be a
Basotho shield and any color improvements you can make will be
appreciated.

The winners of the contest are:
Makhotso Makanke 14 years old female-standard 6 The main winner
Manatala Thopa 14 years old female standard six- second winner

Also we think we have succeeded in finding a Mosotho college student,
a female, who is good in computers and computer networks (but not
solar). Also, Aaron the PCV you emailed has been brought fully on
board. I held a meeting with him and all of the teachers to let him
take over my role in the project and current computer school. He was
very happy to do so, and once I leave will be resuming computer
classes and other activities with the Primary School. I think you can
begin to include him in our communications.

It was dissapointing to hear that OLPC may be cancelling their Africa
program, however, your email was very uplifting to everyone here. They
were all thrilled to know that the work and project will continue even
if we don't get the grant and that you 'won't let the kids down.'
Thank you for that.

I had planned on making a video that we could use for fundraising etc.
As my time is almost finished I think it would just be easier if I
sent it to you once I was back in the States if that is ok.

Sala Hantle,
Andrew

Alternative Sources of Computers

I'm checking out alternative sources for computers and hardware just in case the OLPCorps Africa grant doesn't work out. I found a nonprofit enterprise called Inveneo (www.inveneo.org) where we might be able to get basic computers that use very little power. They can even be loaded with the XO laptop OS and programs, so they'll be compatible with the XOs and will have the kid oriented programming.

Inveneo also provides technical advice on setting up a network, internet connection, and power system. I've made initial contact with them and received a request for more information. Even if we get the OLPCorps grant, I think we can still benefit from working with Inveneo on technical aspects of our project.

There is still hope!

Janissa