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Help give away a One Laptop Per Child

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The One Laptop Per Child program makes a lot of sense globally.

I have stood in remote rural African villages, and I have talked with Herera and Masubya people about their educational opportunities. I think this project is a very positive step that can fit with their own current work to improve their lives.

To quote Chris Brogan on the tech-y benefits:

  • The boxes are inexpensive. Under $200 a box.
  • They feature FIVE full programming environments (for geeks, read here).
  • They come built with a mesh network right out of the box.
  • They have collaboration built into almost every app. So two kids sit down somewhere, open their XOs, and they can write on the same doc.
  • They have webcams, so places with literacy issues can suddenly open the conversation to parents, who’ve been excluded from a child’s school experience, until now.

I also like the ability to hook to a solar panel (relatively common in villages I saw) or to use a hand powered recharger.

Phillip Z is combining donations to give away two of them. Perfect for me, who doesn’t want to chump off all $400 myself. I donated securely via PayPal.

Yes, you can still chip in. Phillip is eyeing an extra battery and solar panel to give, also.

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About Becky McCray

Becky started Small Biz Survival in 2006 to share rural business and community building stories and ideas with other small town business people. She and her husband have a small cattle ranch and are lifelong entrepreneurs. Becky is an international speaker on small business and rural topics.

Filed Under: global

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