OLPCorps University of California San Diego DRC Congo
Democratic Republic of Congo (Congo) has been greatly devastated by political instability, wars, poverty, lack of education and poor health. The hope of advancing such an impoverished region is possible when the community learns to share, educate and take action using knowledge-based solutions to solve the community’s poverty, education, and health problems. Providing access to information through communication tools such as the Internet and modern network technology is essential in educating and empowering the new generations of children and youth in Congo.
Project Description, Objectives, and Approach
This project will empower children to share, educate, and take action to improve the literacy and health of their rural communities using twenty-first century information and technology, laptops offered by One Laptop per Child (OLPC). Using the OLPC Grant, the project aims to implement educational technologies that enhance students learning while providing them with the tools to take action against poverty, poor health and illiteracy. For this purpose, this science, health, and literacy education project has been designed and will be executed through support of a local community-based organization called CAADEC Association in Uvira Territory of South Kivu Province in Congo. In collaboration with local leaders and volunteers, this project will be coordinated by three students (hyperlink1) from University of California San Diego, Loyola University in Chicago and University of Sherbrooke in Quebec.
B. Goals and Objectives
The project goal is to use modern technological tools to teach children science and mathematics, music and art, new languages, health and safety, design, collect data, and team skills while accessing learning tools that they would never see otherwise;
To reach this bold goal, our objectives aim to: Select students and distribute XO computers and facilitate children in implementing community activities and learning tools; Train groups of community volunteers and CAADEC staffs for technical support, distribution and security, pedagogical and assessment taskforces;
Implement a systematic way of assessing the success of the project through quantifiable data collection and analysis.
C. Execution Approach
To achieve the goals and objectives, the project is structured in three components:
First- Training and students selection: Two major taskforces will be trained to implement this project including a technical support group, and a pedagogical and assessment group. The technical support group will be in charge of providing Internet network, software and repair service for students and volunteers. The pedagogical taskforce will help teachers and volunteer facilitate activities discussed in the hyperlink (hyperlink2). Students will be selected by the local teachers in Uvira with an equal distribution in gender and in age group ranging from 6 to 12 years olds. Students attending school will attend the OLPC activity session after school. Parents will be given consent forms that will require them to bring their children to the OLPC CAADEC center.
Second- Project activities: All children will participate in health related projects and computer literacy learning activities directed by a Registered Nurse. Health related activities will include prevention of bacterial, parasitic and viral infection using modern information from the Internet. Computer activities about proven key public health issues will improve sanitation, quality of life, and malnutrition. For example one of the activities will be teaching kids how to clean and collect water for safe cooking. The computer literacy activities will include how to search for related information online and provide students the opportunity to learn from each other through learning activities and games organized at the OLPC center with their community. For more information please visit the hyperlink below. (hyperlink3).
Third- Data collection and evaluation: At the end of the project will be assessed based on the retention of children in the program, amount of friendship and collaborations formed between children using the XO network, and the impact of the OLPC project in community-based activities through survey. Participating children and the activity and pedagogical taskforce will distribute and collect surveys at the beginning of the project, and at end of the summer project in the longitudinal study.
Executing Agency and Execution Structure
The project will be executed through supervision of the CAADEC Association, www.caadec.org, a non-profit organization of volunteers and local leaders with headquarter is in the city of Uvira. CAADEC has a proven good track record in implementing and managing community-based projects in the region. The taskforce will be composed of the CAADEC volunteers, local elementary school teachers and health clinicians who will continue the project and assess its impact on the community beyond the summer. The total project estimates budget is $10,000 (hyperlink4).
Meet the members http://wiki.laptop.org/go/OLPCorps_UCSD_Congo_Members :Proprosal:Activities http://wiki.laptop.org/go/OLPCorps_UCSD_Congo_Activity1 1. Activities http://wiki.laptop.org/go/OLPCorps_UCSD_Congo_Activity2 2Budget http://wiki.laptop.org/go/OLPCorps_UCSD_Congo_Budget : www.caadec.org