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<th align="right" nowrap="nowrap" valign="baseline">Subject: </th>
<td>Re: [support-gang] Laptops?!?</td>
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<th align="right" nowrap="nowrap" valign="baseline">Date: </th>
<td>Tue, 2 Feb 2010 09:01:09 -0500</td>
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<th align="right" nowrap="nowrap" valign="baseline">From: </th>
<td>Allison Bland <a class="moz-txt-link-rfc2396E" href="mailto:bland.allison@gmail.com"><bland.allison@gmail.com></a></td>
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<th align="right" nowrap="nowrap" valign="baseline">To: </th>
<td>Community Support Volunteers -- who help respond to "help AT
laptop.org" <a class="moz-txt-link-rfc2396E" href="mailto:support-gang@lists.laptop.org"><support-gang@lists.laptop.org></a></td>
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<th align="right" nowrap="nowrap" valign="baseline">CC: </th>
<td>IAEP <a class="moz-txt-link-rfc2396E" href="mailto:iaep@lists.sugarlabs.org"><iaep@lists.sugarlabs.org></a>, Support Gangsters
<a class="moz-txt-link-rfc2396E" href="mailto:support-gang@laptop.org"><support-gang@laptop.org></a></td>
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<br>
<br>
<div>wow, I am so impressed by everyone! </div>
<div><br>
</div>
<div>to all I haven't met, hello and I hope to meet you soon.</div>
<div><br>
</div>
<div>Carmina, I love your recent article, it is fantastic.</div>
<div>Geraldine, the book list is so exciting.</div>
<div>Adam, the wiki is turning out great and is much more appealing.</div>
<div><br>
</div>
<div>Everyone doing translating work -- THANK YOU!</div>
<div><br>
</div>
<div>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. </div>
<div><br>
</div>
<div>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. </div>
<div><br>
</div>
<div>Tim said, "So you have to take good care of them..." </div>
<div>"Sure, sure, of course," said one girl finishing his statement.</div>
<div>"We touch them, and they touch them," said another. </div>
<div><br>
</div>
<div>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.</div>
<div><br>
</div>
<div>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. </div>
<div><br>
</div>
<div>Thank you again! </div>
<div><br>
</div>
<div>I encourage everyone to check for news (and soon video) at <a
moz-do-not-send="true" href="http://www.waveplace.com/news/blog/">http://www.waveplace.com/news/blog/</a></div>
<div> And you can follow on Twitter @waveplace (spread the word!)</div>
<div><br>
</div>
<div>Have a great day,</div>
<div>Allison</div>
<br>
<div class="gmail_quote">On Tue, Feb 2, 2010 at 1:17 AM, Adam Holt <span
dir="ltr"><<a moz-do-not-send="true" href="mailto:holt@laptop.org">holt@laptop.org</a>></span>
wrote:<br>
<blockquote class="gmail_quote"
style="border-left: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); margin: 0pt 0pt 0pt 0.8ex; padding-left: 1ex;">
<div bgcolor="#ffffff" text="#000000">
<p>By Carmina, one of many Haitian-American
bloggers/entrepreneurs/educators/open sourcerers I met in NYC Saturday,
<i>willing to Take a Stand for Haiti:</i><br>
</p>
<p><br>
Laptops?!?<br>
</p>
<p>My good friend Mike asked puzzled. And I understood his reaction
because I had the same one at first.</p>
<p>Haiti ’s children don’t need laptops; they need food, shelter, the
basic stuff…</p>
<p>I’m grateful that others have the skills and the opportunity to go
to Haiti and help with those basic needs.</p>
<p>I applaud their efforts and admire their courage: unfortunately, I
don’t have the skills or opportunity to do so myself.</p>
<p>Almost a month has passed already…It’s time to build Haiti back!</p>
<p>It’s not going to happen overnight and it’s not going to happen by
itself.</p>
<p>It’s starts with everyone doing a little bit, where they are, when
they can.</p>
<p>So I’m doing the little bit I can by actively supporting 2
organizations in which mission I believe in.</p>
<p>What motivates and excites me about the <a moz-do-not-send="true"
href="http://www.laptop.org" target="_blank">One Laptop Per Child</a>
/ <a moz-do-not-send="true" href="http://www.waveplace.org"
target="_blank">Waveplace</a>
project is its potential to impact</p>
<p>the next generation of Haitians, out of which future parents,
citizens, mayors, senators and even presidents will come from.</p>
<p>I see a potential to open the minds of our children to other
realities, other worlds, give them new dreams, broader horizons.</p>
<p>So last Saturday at a <a moz-do-not-send="true"
href="http://www.crisiscommons.org" target="_blank">CrisisCamp</a> in
NYC, when I heard Adam Holt and
Allison Bland, exhausted from an early morning train ride from Boston
to NY</p>
<p>talked enthusiastically about this project I saw a chance to make
a
difference.</p>
<p>No matter how small my part would be.</p>
<p>Then I witnessed something awesome: people were gathering around
them, coming together, rallying around this project.</p>
<p>The ideas started flowing, out of the box ideas.</p>
<p>Suddenly, a simple translation project request became a movement
to
revolutionize the educational system in Haiti.</p>
<p>2 days later, we have a coloring book project under way,
translation
parties in the works, blogs, websites, publishers/authors</p>
<p>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</p>
<p>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!</p>
<p>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,</p>
<p>Would it not have been worth your while?</p>
<p>You can help!</p>
<p>Join our community at <a moz-do-not-send="true"
href="http://newhaitiproject.ning.com/group/onelaptopperchildwaveplaceproject"
target="_blank">The New Haiti Project</a>.</p>
<p>Donate 1 hour of your time to translate material from English to
Creole</p>
<p>Start here: <a moz-do-not-send="true"
href="http://translate.sugarlabs.org/" target="_blank">http://translate.sugarlabs.org/ht/</a><br>
</p>
<p><br>
</p>
<div align="center">[ Originally published at:
<a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="http://RaiseHaitiUp.com">http://RaiseHaitiUp.com</a>
- <i>Rebuilding Haiti by Educating its Future Leaders</i> ]<br>
[ Carmina is now translation volunteer coordinator for:
<a moz-do-not-send="true"
href="http://wiki.laptop.org/go/Haitian_Creole_Translation_for_Education"
target="_blank">http://wiki.laptop.org/go/Haitian_Creole_Translation_for_Education</a>
]<br>
</div>
</div>
<br>
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</blockquote>
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