[OLPC-Philippines] Vision, Mission, and harnessing the power of volunteers...

[Arthur Soller]

To two cents complicated is my tow dents worth; I've seen kids in the US
learn computing with a limited access to computers. Let the learning become
an exploration. We have taught limited-English-speaking adults with grade
three level of education with success in the US. So get the organization
structure up with responsible people to manage it and start it.

2009/2/23 Ryan Letada <rletada at gmail.com>

> Hello Everyone,
>
>
>
> Hmm. Where to begin?
>
>
>
> Essentially, this goes back to the question of what our purpose and mission
> are as an organization. With Jerome's important points regarding sugar, and
> despite the instability of OLPC and G1G1 program,  I think we have to
> continuously look at the bigger picture – which is using technological
> innovation to improve access to quality education for Filipino youth. The
> current discussion regarding organizational focus is certainly an important
> one, especially in regards to scalability and sustainability. Regardless of
> whether we use Sugar on a Stick or XO laptop, or even both, we need to focus
> on increasing access to education through whatever means.
>
>
>
> Depending on the capacity of our team, we can focus on both sugar and XO
> development in the meantime. Despite my lack of technological knowledge, I
> still see the benefits of deploying XOs. For examples, we can deliver
> education to indigenous communities, and rural communities that do not
> necessarily have stable electricity or reliable infrastructures [which is a
> major percentage of the population]. Sugar on a Stick, on the other hand, is
> cost effective and can be deployed in urbanized areas, Netopias and internet
> cafes. Developers can begin to focus on creating content, but how do we
> deliver these contents? I do not see why we cant focus on both. I guess this
> is how we differentiate ourselves from other OLPC grassroots movements. We
> can employ numerous strategies in answering the "education access" question.
>
>
>
> Second, I feel that it is important for us to begin to build our capacity
> by developing an efficient and effective  volunteer model. For the past
> months, our conversations have centered on content delivery and development.
> However, there are other numerous important matters that we need to address
> -funding capability and development, partnership development, education and
> curriculum development. For the past few months, numerous interested parties
> and individuals with different specializations have approached our group. I
> think that we can appropriately harness their potential contributions in
> parallel to the development of content.
>
>
>
> Third, I was given the task of scouting for some possible schools for an
> information sessions. I have approached a couple of schools and educations
> groups regarding our intentions, however, I am somewhat hesitant
> to finalize anythign them. We have a vision, but we do not have a clear
> mission yet. Our who, what, where and why have yet to be clarified, even
> within our group. Once we answer these questions, we can then provide some
> sort of value proposition to potential benefactors of our vision. I just
> fear we may be jumping the gun, without actually having a solid foundation.
> So…. Would you guys still like me to schedule a meeting with these schools?
>
>
>
> Phew. These are definitely tough questions and I hope I didn't overwhelm
> anyone or set us back. As my mentor would say *"you have a sexy idea, but
> it the not-so-sexy work that you have to focus on."*
>
> * *
>
> Cheers guys, and thanks for reading this long-winded email,
>
>
>
> Ryan
>
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> OLPC-Philippines at lists.laptop.org
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>
>
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