[Localization] Fwd: Work with OLPC (possibly in Vietnam)?

[Clytie Siddall]

To: OLPC Localization list; Nancie Severs and Marina (OLPC Vietnam)

Hi everyone :)

Today I received a response to my email (quoted further down) to CBM, a great organization working with kids with disabilities in third-world countries. These guys find the most marginalized kids and make a big difference. It occurred to me that CBM and OLPC could work together. My own experience since being so ill is that computers make a huge difference to a disabled person. Without computer access, I would be completely cut off from the world, unable to communicate, make choices or contribute. So I think of how an XO could change the life of a disabled kid, for example in Vietnam...

So, how do we set this up? Whom should CBM contact?

Thanks for any help you can offer. :)

Clytie

Begin forwarded message:

> From: Shannon Harmer <SHarmer at cbm.org.au>
> Date: 12 April 2010 1:25:38 PM ACST
> To: "clytie at riverland.net.au" <clytie at riverland.net.au>
> Subject: RE: Work with OLPC (possibly in Vietnam)?
> 
> Dear Clytie,
> 
> Thank you for contacting CBM, my apologies for the delayed response to your enquiry.
> 
> In answer to your questions, CBM Australia does support a number of projects in Vietnam. The OLPC project sounds like a great initiative. Is there any intention of OLPC to target persons with disabilities in Vietnam? Do you personally work for OLPC? Who is appropriate contact person to discuss the project with?
> 
> What happens from here is once I have the appropriate contact details, I will forward your suggestion for partnership to the Regional Office in Vietnam who will decide how to proceed from there. Should they be in contact with OLPC it may not be immediate, as they receive a lot of enquiries of this nature and do not always have the resources to contact everyone.
> 
> 
> Thanks again,
> 
> 
> 
> Shannon Harmer
> International Programmes Admin Officer
> cbm Australia, 56 Rutland Road, Box Hill VIC 3128
> Phone: +61 3 8843 4564 * Fax: +61 3 8843 4545 * www.cbm.org.au
> 
> 
> ----Original Message-----
> From: Clytie Siddall [mailto:clytie at riverland.net.au]
> Sent: Thursday, 4 March 2010 7:50 PM
> To: cbmaus
> Cc: Nancie Severs
> Subject: Work with OLPC (possibly in Vietnam)?
> 
> To: CBM Australia
> Cc: (FYI) Nancie Severs, OLPC Vietnam
> 
> G'day :)
> 
> I'm a regular supporter of yours, but also involved in a number of open-source software projects internationally. I have a couple of questions:
> 
> 1. Do you operate in Vietnam?
> 
> 2. In any case, would you be willing to cooperate with the OLPC (One Laptop Per Child) project?
> 
> http://laptop.org/en/
> 
> Initially, as a free-software Vietnamese translator, I would love to see this happen in Vietnam. I am a member of the OLPC project, and have recently made contact with OLPC staff engaged in projects in Vietnam.
> 
> http://olpc.vn/
> 
> However, if you don't operate in Vietnam, hopefully we could set this up in other countries which need it just as badly.
> 
> OLPC gets basic laptops to needy kids all over the world. They try to target vulnerable communities, but IIRC they haven't done anything for disabled kids. As a severely-disabled person myself, I am keenly aware of the huge difference computers make to my quality of life (without my laptop I would spend all my time just staring at the opposite wall), so I'd really like to help setup a cooperative effort between CBM and OLPC.
> 
> What do you think?
> 
> from Clytie
> 
> Clytie Siddall -- Renmark, in the Riverland of South Australia
> 
> Apologies if this email is badly written or difficult to understand: due to illness, the writer has cognitive problems, has great difficulty typing and is severely debilitated.