In this advanced technological age, it's easy to take for granted having one or more computers in our households and in many cases, round the clock, portable Internet and e-mail accessibility. It almost seems hard to believe there are nearly two billion children in the developing world without this type of access and who are inadequately educated, or receive no education at all.
The One Laptop Per Child Foundation (OLPC) is a non-profit organization dedicated to ensuring children in developing countries are exposed to a world of ideas and learning by providing them with computer and Internet access. OLPC is initially concentrating on those governments that have made commitments for the funding and program support required to make certain all of their children own and can effectively use a laptop.
OLPC works with individuals, businesses and foundations to donate its XO laptop, the world's least expensive and most child-friendly computer, to school children in emerging countries. The XO was created specifically with children in developing countries in mind, addressing the unique challenges of living in some of the world's most remote environments.
The laptops are already in use in countries including Brazil, Nigeria and Thailand and the project has recently reached children in the South African town of Kliptown, Soweto through a donation by sisters Julie and Hannah Weber from Boston, MA. The teenagers were inspired to donate the laptops after visiting the town on a recent trip. These laptops were localized to include content in both Zulu and English as well as educational software suited to the South African curriculum. English literature such as Julius Caesar, Macbeth, and other works are also preloaded on the laptops.
All of the bright green, textbook-sized XOs have built-in functionality for still and video photography, voice recording and game playing. Children can also connect to the Internet and each other's machines through the laptops' wireless router and network.
You can find out more about the OLPC initiative and easy ways to donate by logging on to www.laptop.org.
Source: BecauseAction.com
