Difficulties Communicating with Africa Continue

We're still experiencing problems with email and internet connections at Ketane. Apparently, the GSM modem (USB stick/dongle) Janissa sent isn't working. We're not sure what the problem is yet, so Mapesh, Matlabe, and Aaron can only communicate by email when they travel away from Ketane. We may have to wait until we get an I.T. person on the ground in Ketane to fix the problem.

We also haven't heard from Shaun, in Durban, for several months. He hasn't responded to emails. We're trying to track down the problem there too.

This is very frustrating and slows our progress somewhat, but it's not unexpected in the early stages of a project like this, and it's not insurmountable.


- Janissa

L2L Partners with BLOOM Africa

BLOOM Africa has agreed to raise $3500 (about M25,000) for Laptops to Lesotho!!!

This is great news! The money will pay for 10 XO laptops, one solar panel and storage battery, and shipping to get the laptops to Ketane. There is no guarantee when they will raise the money, but they've got several fundraising events planned for in the next few months, so hopefully we'll see some of the money soon.

You can see more about BLOOM Africa on their website, BLOOMAfrica.org. Their mission is to help Orphans and Vulnerable Children, so one stipulation of their support is that we must work on HIV/AIDS prevention using the laptops. I've officially added several tasks to our work in Ketane so that we can meet that objective, though most of these goals were already on the drawing board.

Things are really starting to come together for us. We have now received or been promised:

• $3500 for laptops, power, and shipping from BLOOM Africa,
  
• $1436 from Friends of Lesotho for network hardware, internet service for 1 year, construction materials, and office supplies,
  
• $1500 from FIPE for laptops, plus all expenses for a Mosotho team member to travel to Colorado, USA, for a professional exchange,
  
• $2550 from public donations,
  
• donated labor and services from the Ketane community,
  
• donated software from TechSoup.org, and
  
• donated grant research subscription from Grant Station.

There is a lot of work still to be done to make this dream come true. I will be writing more on that soon. But for now, LET'S CELEBRATE!

- Janissa

'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

Letter of Inquiry Submitted to The Global Fund for Children

I just submitted a Letter of Inquiry to The Global Fund for Children. They look like a good prospect as a funding source as their priorities and criteria match our project very, very closely.

They award grants of $5,000-$20,000 in June and December every year. I probably didn't get our Letter of Inquiry submitted far enough in advance for the June awards, so it may be some months before we hear anything.

As always, keep your fingers crossed.

-Janissa

Help Us Grow >>> Post a Review of Our Organization

Will you help us out by writing a public review of Laptops to Lesotho? Without your input, we're just a faceless group of people and an untested start-up organization.

Because we're new and still in the early stages of our program, now is exactly when we need your help to tell potential donors who we are, how we're doing so far, and what we're capable of. Donors need information from people who know us or have followed our progress, so they can decide whether or not to trust us.

In writing a review, you can talk about how you came to know us,who we are as individuals, about our passion, our work ethic, whether we're honest and trustworthy, whether we're well organized or not, how our team works together, whether we have the skills, knowledge, and perseverance to accomplish our goals, what we've accomplished so far, what we're currently working on, mistakes we've made, our "transparency" or willingness to share information about our organization, why our cause is worth supporting, ... essentially anything and everything related to us and our work.

Even if you only know a little bit about our organization or one person on our team, you can still provide information useful to potential donors.

Please go to Review Laptops to Lesotho and write a review today.

And remember, your comments both good and bad will help us build a better, more effective organization.

Thanks!

- Janissa

Friends of Lesotho Funding Update

Friends of Lesotho (FOL) has agreed to give us $1436 for network and internet hardware, one year of internet service for the school, and miscellaneous construction and office supplies. We're still waiting for their official Letter of Agreement, but their promise to provide funding, especially for network and internet service, brings us another step closer to our goal.

Please let Friends of Lesotho know you appreciate their support of our project.
Click here to Thank FOL.

Thank You FOL!

- 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