[Olpc-Haiti] Fwd: Laptops?!?

[Adam Holt]

    Subject:  	Re: [support-gang] Laptops?!?
Date: 	Tue, 2 Feb 2010 09:01:09 -0500
From: 	Allison Bland <bland.allison at gmail.com>
To: 	Community Support Volunteers -- who help respond to "help AT 
laptop.org" <support-gang at lists.laptop.org>
CC: 	IAEP <iaep at lists.sugarlabs.org>, Support Gangsters 
<support-gang at laptop.org>



wow, I am so impressed by everyone! 

to all I haven't met, hello and I hope to meet you soon.

Carmina, I love your recent article, it is fantastic.
Geraldine, the book list is so exciting.
Adam, the wiki is turning out great and is much more appealing.

Everyone doing translating work -- THANK YOU!

I want to share a piece of yesterday with you this morning, because I 
think it really serves the cause well. So yesterday we introduced the 
pilot to two classes at two different schools. I will talk more in depth 
about both later, but wanted to tell you all about what I learned in the 
afternoon session right away. 

In the afternoon we visit with 8 Haitian-American students at Graham & 
Park Alternative Public School. The students range from ages 10 - 13. 
There are 5 girls and 3 boys. They all primarily speak Creole at home 
and also in the classroom with their friends - they speak english with 
varying proficiency, though most are quite good. (Their teacher, Chris 
Low, translated as Tim spoke so there was not a comprehension problem.) 
Of course they were all thrilled when we introduced them to bright XOs 
and even more excited when we told them they could bring them home. Most 
importantly, they love the idea that the very same machines they are 
using will be used by students in Haiti. 

Tim said, "So you have to take good care of them..." 
"Sure, sure, of course," said one girl finishing his statement.
"We touch them, and they touch them," said another. 

But the most interesting part of the session came when we realized one 
boy, Johnson, and one girl, Rose-Claire, were silently getting 
frustrated following the lesson on their actual computers. These were 
the two students who had most recently come from Haiti.. and I don't 
know if it was coincidence or not, but they were the quietest kids in 
the room. Their friends were very protective though, discretely helping 
them through the instructions in a way so they did not fall behind. 
However, when we noticed pretty quickly anyway, and Tim suggested that 
they switch the language on the computers to Creole. This is where I 
realized more than ever the usefulness of the tasks of the translation 
team, and why going through line after line of somewhat benign text is 
actually so important.

It made an immediate difference to see Johnson's control panel changed 
into Creole. Before there were icons that he could kind of guess at 
their meanings, but now everything was identified clearly for him. Every 
simple english command and directive seemed to be translated into 
Creole. He could comfortably change the color on his avatar and join in 
the "neighborhood" of the other kids in the classroom and also get 
involved in the "friend requests" each student was making of the others 
in the room. He didn't have to miss out on that fun connection process, 
or move through it with confusion. His eyes really did light up.  But 
later as we progressed through the lesson I saw with my own eyes the 
limitations of the current translations. When we asked them to open up 
Etoys, his screen was again in english, and the formatting was a little 
off. "Make a Project," "Gallery of Projects, "Tutorials and Demos," were 
displayed instead of the translated equivalents. So although we 
continued to pay close attention to the learning experience Johnson and 
Rose-Claire were having, it was inevitable that they were really having 
half, or at least lesser, of the experience of their peers. This isn't 
fair to them, and I am so happy to be connected with you all who are 
working to be sure this discrepancy ends here. We will be with the group 
for the next three weeks, so there is no fear that Johnson and 
Rose-Claire will catch up and no, they won't fall through the cracks.. 
but let's make sure no child in Haiti falls through the cracks either. 

Thank you again! 

I encourage everyone to check for news (and soon video) at 
http://www.waveplace.com/news/blog/
 And you can follow on Twitter @waveplace (spread the word!)

Have a great day,
Allison

On Tue, Feb 2, 2010 at 1:17 AM, Adam Holt <holt at laptop.org 
<mailto:holt at laptop.org>> wrote:

    By Carmina, one of many Haitian-American
    bloggers/entrepreneurs/educators/open sourcerers I met in NYC
    Saturday, /willing to Take a Stand for Haiti:/


    Laptops?!?

    My good  friend Mike asked puzzled. And  I understood his reaction
    because I had the same one at first.

    Haiti ’s children don’t need laptops; they need food, shelter, the
    basic stuff…

    I’m grateful that others have the skills and the opportunity to go
    to Haiti and help with those basic needs.

    I applaud their efforts and admire their courage: unfortunately, I
    don’t have the skills  or opportunity to do so myself.

    Almost a month has passed already…It’s time to build Haiti back!

    It’s not going to happen overnight and it’s not going to happen by
    itself.

    It’s starts with everyone doing a little bit, where they are, when
    they can.

    So I’m doing the little bit I can by actively supporting 2
    organizations in which mission I believe in.

    What motivates and excites me about the One Laptop Per Child
    <http://www.laptop.org> / Waveplace <http://www.waveplace.org>
    project is its potential to impact

    the next generation of Haitians,  out of which future parents,
    citizens, mayors, senators and even presidents will come from.

    I see a potential to open the minds of our children to other
    realities, other worlds,  give them new dreams, broader horizons.

    So last Saturday at a CrisisCamp <http://www.crisiscommons.org> in
    NYC, when I heard Adam Holt and Allison Bland, exhausted from an
    early morning train ride from Boston to NY

    talked enthusiastically about this project I saw a chance to make a
    difference.

    No matter how small my part would be.

    Then I witnessed something awesome:  people were gathering around
    them,  coming together, rallying around this project.

    The ideas started flowing,  out of the box ideas.

    Suddenly, a simple translation project request became a movement to
    revolutionize the educational system  in Haiti.

    2 days later, we have a coloring book project under way, translation
    parties in the works, blogs, websites, publishers/authors

    willing to giving us permission to make their children Creole books
    into e-books, an active and growing online community of a people
    exchanging ideas and

    ready to make a difference in anyway they can. Wow! If we can do
    that in 2 days, what can we do in 1 week, 1 month, 1 year!

    Yes, I realize that it’s a drop in the ocean, but if you could even
    indirectly impact the future of 1 child of Haiti,

    Would it not have been worth your while?

    You can help!

    Join our community at The New Haiti Project
    <http://newhaitiproject.ning.com/group/onelaptopperchildwaveplaceproject>.

    Donate 1 hour of your time to translate material from English to Creole

    Start here: http://translate.sugarlabs.org/ht/
    <http://translate.sugarlabs.org/>


    [ Originally published at: http://RaiseHaitiUp.com - /Rebuilding
    Haiti by Educating its Future Leaders/ ]
    [ Carmina is now translation volunteer coordinator for:
    http://wiki.laptop.org/go/Haitian_Creole_Translation_for_Education ]

    _______________________________________________
    support-gang mailing list
    support-gang at lists.laptop.org <mailto:support-gang at lists.laptop.org>
    http://lists.laptop.org/listinfo/support-gang



-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: http://lists.laptop.org/pipermail/olpc-haiti/attachments/20100202/d1dd381e/attachment-0001.htm