Grant Writing Workshop

Since the blog is considerably behind on everything that's been going on, I will be posting a couple times a week about major events of the last several months to cover what's been going on since you last heard from us. Once we get caught up, you should be able to count on regular posts twice a month.

One of the exciting events of 2011 was a grant writing workshop that teachers from Nohana Primary were able to attend in October. The teachers at Nohana Primary had voted the grant writing workshop as their top priority and Maseru Rotary Club provided the funds for them to be able to go. Four teachers from Nohana Primary and Fortunate Gunzo attended the workshop. The great news is they are already putting their new grant writing knowledge to use! When Janissa was in Lesotho she worked with Matlabe on writing a grant for additional XO laptops. They ran out of time to complete it while she was in Lesotho, so Janissa finished the grant back in the US, but she submitted the incomplete version along with the finished grant application. The foundation was impressed with the work Matlabe and the other teachers had done. Below is an email conversation between Matlabe and the foundation, initiated by Matlabe.

Hi

Thank you very much for best wishes you have sent to us.My coleagues are all wishing you all the best. We really had merry Christmas and happy new year.We hope you had the same.I hope you have aiso received our propposal for 50 XO laptops to Kokobe primary school which we made together with Janissa during her visit in November.We wish you all the best.Thank you

Dear Ntate Matlabe

We did indeed receive your proposal and were very impressed with how well you have applied what you learned in that fund-raising course last week. Well done.

I have been in communication with Janissa this week and am very happy to advise you that we have approved a new Grant to Laptops To Lesotho which will enable her to buy 46 more XO laptops for the project in 2012. I note that you have done extensive groundwork with Kokobe Primary School and look forward to seeing the project in action during 2012.

Good luck for the year ahead!

If you were paying attention, you noticed they mentioned Kokobe Primary School would be receiving 46 XO laptops, not Nohana Primary School. More about this exciting development in an upcoming update, so stay tuned!

New L2L Blogger - Sarah Gardner

I'm happy to announce that Sarah Gardner, L2L Director and Secretary, will be taking over responsibilities for keeping this blog up-to-date.  I'm sorry I haven't done a better job, especially since there is so much wonderful news about the project to share.

Thanks Sarah!  I really appreciate your help.

- Janissa

Grant for 46 XO Laptops for Kokobe

Good news!  We've just receive a grant for $9200 to purchase 46 XO laptops for Kokobe Primary School.

Janissa

A Ringing Endorsement

Date: Tue, 24 Jan 2012
From: "Russell Fox"
To: "'OLPC South Africa Interest Group'" <olpc-za@lists.laptop.org>

Hi,

I met Janissa towards the end of last year and think that the project she is running is wonderful.

Anyone running a project of any sort can take notes from the processes they have put in place to ensure commitment from the children, teachers and more importantly the community. This is NOT another project where a bunch of computers are handed over and everyone pats themselves on their backs, but rather a well thought out process culminating in an improved lifestyle for the children.

Definitely worth getting involved with/finding out about.

Regards,
Russell Fox
Ficksburg, South Africa

Sorry I've Been Away

I apologize for not keeping this blog up-to-date.  In the latter half of 2011, I was overwhelmed with work demands from several other nonprofits I help.  I've taken steps to balance my workload and get help with posting L2L news to this blog. Watch for posts in the next few weeks covering things we've accomplished, problems we've encountered, and progress we've made in the past 6 months.

Janissa

Thank You Letter Received from the Lesotho Embassy

I received a very nice letter from the Embassy of the Kingdom of Lesotho in Washington DC today thanking me for my work in Lesotho:

"Dear Ms. Balcomb,

On behalf of the Government of Lesotho, we would like to convey our utmost gratitude and appreciation for your awesome contribution rendered to our country geared towards improving standard of living.

Suffice to mention, it is through reputable organizations like [your] contribution to Lesotho that economic growth, poverty reduction, good health and harmonious and strong bonds of relations between nations will be sustained.

We wish you all the best in your future plans, and undoubtedly, promise everylasting support and cooperation.

Sincerely,

Christopher Nyaka
Chargé d' Affaires"

It feels wonderful to have this recognition.

- Janissa

Another Request to Film

 From: Ross Frylinck
 Sent: Monday, May 23, 2011

 Hi,

 I am researching topics for a film on poverty for a series called "WHY
 POVERTY" - if successful we will get to make a 10 to 20 minute film
 that will be seen by 250 million people around the world.

You can check out our work here http://www.greenrenaissance.co.za

For info on the STEPS project: http://www.whypoverty.net/#home

One of our ideas is to document a roll-out of the OLPC program - we
are based in South Africa and I've seen from your website that you are
working on this in Lesotho

If you are interested can you please let me know so that we can start
a discussion

many thanks

Ross

Ross Frylinck

---

Date: Tue, 24 May 2011 21:26:59 -0500
To: Ross Frylinck

Hi Ross,

Thanks for your inquiry. I would be interested in discussing the
possibility of filming our project, but first you should know that we
are not an official OLPC project. Though we use their XO-1 laptops and
adhere to much of their philosophy, we are completely independent of
OLPC. We receive no funding and virtually no support from them.

If, in spite of that, you are still interested, please let me know.

Thanks,
Janissa

Janissa Balcomb, President
Laptops to Lesotho Inc.
www.laptopstolesotho.org