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<div class="gmail_quote">On Fri, Sep 12, 2008 at 8:13 AM, Marc Valentin <span dir="ltr"><<a href="mailto:mvalentin@oeuvredespains.org">mvalentin@oeuvredespains.org</a>></span> wrote:<br>
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<p class="MsoNormal" style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><font face="Times New Roman" size="3">I appreciated your last post. </font></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal" style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal"><font size="3"><font face="Times New Roman"><font color="#3333ff">Thank you!</font></font></font></b></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal" style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><font size="3"><font face="Times New Roman"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>I hope you will be able to bring more transparency </font></font></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal" style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal"><font size="3"><font face="Times New Roman"><font color="#3333ff">I sure aim at that.</font></font></font></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><font size="3"><font face="Times New Roman"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span></font></font></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><font size="3"><font face="Times New Roman">We at 'Oeuvre des pains' received 15 XOs from G1G1 miscellaneous</font></font></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><font face="Times New Roman" size="3">donations and purchased 20 XOs from 'Digital Bridge Foundation'.</font></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal" style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><font face="Times New Roman" size="3">What price did you pay for the ones you purchased in India?</font></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal" style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal"><font size="3"><font face="Times New Roman"><font color="#3333ff">It seems you want 325 more laptops??</font></font></font></b></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal" style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><font size="3"><font face="Times New Roman"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>I have to say that we choose the XO because it is an incredible machine, not because of the educative 'ideology' connected with it.</font></font></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal" style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal"><font size="3"><font face="Times New Roman"><font color="#3333ff">For whatever reasons, results for children hopefully will mean something for the better..</font></font></font></b></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal" style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><font face="Times New Roman" size="3">What I understand from your messages is that OLPC decided to start seriously the expansion in India. That is good, but I feel your goals are completely unrealistic (quantities) and that makes me a little bit nervous. Actually, I don't really care if OLPC manage to distribute 10 M or 150 M XOs in India but I really care about WHO is going to get them. </font></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal" style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal"><font size="3"><font face="Times New Roman"><font color="#3333ff">It's the children who cannot afford to buy on their own that OLPC India is targeting.</font></font></font></b></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal" style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><font face="Times New Roman" size="3">I don't think you can say : 'every time a child gets an XO it is a success'. No. Even if local governments or private companies donate for the project, OLPC should have a clear (and transparent) policy to develop backward areas. There are so much differences between the cities and the rural areas, between the expensive private schools and the poor children roaming around and not going to school in the villages. There is also a very big difference between south India and north India. You cannot compare education in Kerala and U.P. for example.</font></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal" style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal"><font size="3"><font face="Times New Roman"><font color="#3333ff">Good observations. Will address them as move forward.</font></font></font></b></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal" style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><font size="3"><font face="Times New Roman">So, practically, I suggest you prepare some rules for OLPC for India (for yourself). For example : For each XO deployed in south India, one (or two) should be deployed in north. For each XO deployed in a city, one (or two) should be deployed in a rural area.</font></font></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><font face="Times New Roman" size="3">And somehow, 'we', the public, should be able to control that OLPC is doing it right. (That is what I call transparency ! :-) )</font></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal" style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal"><font size="3"><font face="Times New Roman"><font color="#3333ff">Appreciate your thoughts.</font> </font></font></b></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal" style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><font size="3"><font face="Times New Roman">I would be happy to know what others in the list think about this.</font></font></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><font face="Times New Roman" size="3">I think you definitely cannot trust politicians and managers and let them deploy computers where they want, even if they finance them, otherwise you will miss an harmonious development of the education everywhere. Certainly backwards area would never be touched.</font></p>
><br></blockquote></div><br><br clear="all"><br>-- <br>-- Satish Jha <br>T: 301 841 7422<br>F: 301 560 4909<br>IN: +91 98 75 68 39 50<br><a href="http://www.laptop.org">www.laptop.org</a><br>_________________________________<br>
<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Satish_Jha">http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Satish_Jha</a><br></div>