[OLPC India] Fwd: OLPC Afghanistan starting!

Mon Oct 20 01:24:56 EDT 2008

I find this idea of putting XOs into computer labs unacceptable. What
do others think?

On Sun, Oct 19, 2008 at 9:35 PM, Svetlana Senajova
<svetla at paiwastoon.com.af> wrote:
> Dear Edward,
>
> Thanks for your points. The idea behind this is that more children have
> access to computer, as the supply is very limited

"The shortage will be divided among the peasants."--Walt Kelly

I am well aware of this argument. It is wrong-headed. The problem is
that the answers you get depend on whether you are asking the right
questions. This project does not.

> - don't forget that
> Afghanistan is one of the poorest countries in the world. Besides that the
> computers will be in the school where all children will have a chance to
> get to know computer, their parents will have access to it in the evenings
> to get a learning for themselves - e.g. about hygiene, about how to start
> a business, how to get better crops out of their fields, connecting to
> buyers and supplies of agricultural products etc. And this shall at the
> end prove that it can contribute to economic development of the rural and
> urban areas and that in the future when parents' standard of their living
> increases they can purchase XO themselves and whole family - both children
> and parents can use it.

What is this about having parents buy XOs? That violates the
fundamental principle of the OLPC program. I'm copying Nicholas
Negroponte on this.

> It is per wish of Ministry of Education and with support of USAID/ASMED

I need to see the documentation on this project so I can ask my
Congressman to investigate USAID for this violation of the project's
fundamental principle. Is there a public URL for any of the
agreements? I find a press release at

http://www.mcit.gov.af/detail.asp?CatID=1&ContID=179
Posted on: Sep 18, 2008
Ministry of Education and Ministry of Communication and IT Launch the
One Laptop Per Child Project in Partnership with Roshan and ASMED

http://www.moe.gov.af/news/Sanbullah/15September2008.htm
Ministry of Education and Ministry of Communication Launch the One
Laptop Per Child Project in Partnership with Roshan and ASMED
Quotes Bryan Rhodes, Chief of Party for ASMED, USAID's Small and
Medium Enterprise Development project.

I can't find anything about this program on http://afghanistan.usaid.gov/en/

Well, I will inquire at

Contact Us

USAID/Afghanistan
U.S. Embassy Cafe Compound
Great Masood Road
Kabul, Afghanistan
Tel: 202.216.6288

USAID/Afghanistan
(mailing address)
6180 Kabul Place
Dulles, VA 20189-6180

USAID Press and Outreach
Email: kabul-info at usaid.gov

USAID/Washington
Bureau for Asia and the Near East
Afghanistan Desk Officer
Email: skeyvanshad at usaid.gov

Embassy of the United States
Kabul, Afghanistan
Tel: (00 93) (20)  230-0436
Fax: (00 93) (20) 230-1364

U.S. Embassy Press Attache
E-mail: mellottj at state.gov

U.S. Department of State
Bureau of South and Central Asian Affairs
Afghanistan Desk

> and hopefully will a new way of how XO can help in developing world.

It is vital that some of the computers, even if only a few hundred, be
distributed one-to-one, even if most go into computer labs. That way
the Ministry can have a chance to see its error.

> Regards,
>
> Svetla
>
>
>
>> On Sun, Oct 19, 2008 at 2:42 AM, Svetlana Senajova
>> <svetla at paiwastoon.com.af> wrote:
>>> Dear All,
>>>
>>> Perhaps Afghanistan is not the first place you think of when considering
>>> your next vacation or internship.  But since OLPC are donating 10,000
>>> G1G1
>>> machines to Afghanistan and is working with the top level of the
>>> Ministry
>>> of Education this could very well become a showpiece for OLPC in S.
>>> Asia.
>>>
>>> Other 1,000 XO laptops are donated by telecommunication company Roshan
>>> and
>>> PAIWASTOON Networking Services Ltd. is responsible for the complete
>>> project implementation in upcoming months. XOs will be introduced to
>>> more
>>> than 85,000 children as they will not be deployed at 1XO to 1 child but
>>> 21
>>> XOs to 1 school in form of a computer lab, reaching 283 schools across
>>> the
>>> country.
>>
>> That is a great shame. One of the most important aspects of the OLPC
>> program is the ability of children to own their XOs and take them
>> home. They get the greatest advantages of mesh networking and
>> collaborative software not in class, but when doing homework together.
>> It is also essential for parents to see what the children are doing.
>>
>>> We are looking for 2 Interns / Graduates / Motivated volunteers to help
>>> us
>>> building the capacity of the local team.  We need to operate university
>>> outreach programs, training, and a fair bit of direct server config in
>>> advance of having sufficient locally built capacity.   We are looking
>>> through various graduate/student/internship organisations.
>>>
>>> We can offer flight support, accommodation, and a living stipend.
>>>
>>> Afghanistan day to day in most provinces and most places remains pretty
>>> safe - one can walk around, go out, visit people using taxis or your own
>>> car.  Driving can be just a little chaotic, but nowhere near as bad as
>>> in
>>> India.  If you look beyond the media there is a lot to see here,
>>> hospitality that even exceeds other developing countries, and really
>>> rapid
>>> progress.  There are some places (like the south) that are dangerous,
>>> but
>>> in Kabul and the north things are pretty stable.  One just needs to know
>>> places to go to and places to stay away from (like military bases, big
>>> foreigner parties, etc).
>>>
>>> Right now we are half way through setting up an open source localisation
>>> team for Afghanistan and building the open source community.  For those
>>> of
>>> you who are more interested in remote contributions to Afghanistan
>>> specifically, a chance is here too.
>>>
>>> Afghanistan could be the case study that shows the ability of the XO to
>>> be
>>> at the center of redevelopment. If we can make the XO work here - then
>>> we
>>> can prove to the world that it can work almost anywhere!  You might hear
>>> on the news about the chronic waste of money out here, the hundreds of
>>> millions missing, wasted, and worse. And you know how cost effectively
>>> the
>>> XO can change that.  The great thing about Afghanistan, is being a
>>> development work in progress, we can together, and will, improve that
>>> situation.  I hope we can find some people to join us on the ground and
>>> help make that happen.
>>>
>>> For info about OLPC Afghanistan please visit www.olpc.af or email me at
>>> svetla at paiwastoon.com.af.
>>>
>>> Thanks/Regards,
>>>
>>> -Svetla
>>>
>>> Svetlana Senajova
>>> Business Development Director
>>> PAIWASTOON Networking Services Ltd.
>>> svetla at paiwastoon.com.af
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> _______________________________________________
>>> India mailing list
>>> India at lists.laptop.org
>>> http://lists.laptop.org/listinfo/india

--
Silent Thunder (默雷/धर्ममेघशब्दगर्ज ) is my name
And Children are my nation.
The Cosmos is my dwelling place,
The Truth my destination.

-- 
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Silent Thunder (默雷/धर्ममेघशब्दगर्ज ) is my name
And Children are my nation.
The Cosmos is my dwelling place,
The Truth my destination.

Edward Mokurai Cherlin
http://wiki.sugarlabs.org/go/User:Mokurai
http://www.amazon.com/xo
Give One, Get One, from Nov. 17