[IAEP] [OLPC-SF] Partnering with OLPC

[Martin Langhoff]

Hola Evan!

I strongly suggest you get in touch with the Zamora Teran foundation
in Managua. They run the largest deployment in Nicaragua, and are a
strong point of contact and coordination for us. See
http://www.fundacionzt.org/

regards,


martin -

On Wed, May 18, 2011 at 11:29 PM, Edward Cherlin <echerlin at gmail.com> wrote:
> On Wed, May 18, 2011 at 12:44, Evan Markiewicz
> <emarkiewicz at sbcglobal.net> wrote:
>> I am writing to introduce you to our organization, ViviendasLeon. We are a
>> non-profit community development and global education organization based in
>> San Francisco and Leon, Nicaragua. We work in rural communities creating
>> development programs in construction, environmental, economic, capacity
>> building and education development. We have recently been informed of your
>> organization by a teacher in San Rafael who knows of your organization OLPC
>> and recommended we contact you.
>
> We are delighted to hear from you.
>
>> I would like to know how we might partner with OLPC to provide computer
>> training and equipment for the pre-school through 11th grade students in the
>> communities we work in, and for small business start ups we develop in
>> Nicaragua.
>
> OLPC provides XO laptops running Sugar education software through
> governments and NGOs. It commonly happens that people in a particular
> country get together over the Internet to work on such projects. In
> your case, this is
>
> http://wiki.laptop.org/go/OLPC_Nicaragua
>
> Sugar Labs has just begun a project to produce learning materials for
> free distribution. If you tell us your requirements, and introduce us
> to your trainers, we can work together using our Replacing Textbooks
> server.
>
> http://wiki.sugarlabs.org/go/Replacing_Textbooks
>
>> ViviendasLeon partners with other organizations and institutions to provide
>> the spectrum of development programs we offer in Nicaragua.  One of these
>> partners is the USF School of Business.  We have been working with the PSIP
>> program there for 3 years to develop small businesses including a sewing
>> cooperative and our current project, a bee keeping cooperative.   These
>> small businesses in particular, and like everything we do in Nicaragua is a
>> laboratory to explore best practices in development and implementation of
>> projects uniquely suited to the location and community.
>
> I am of the opinion that creating businesses through microfinance and
> other methods is a critical factor for the success of the OLPC
> education project's mission to end poverty. I would be delighted to
> discuss this with your partners.
>
>> We would be interested to find out how we might work with you.
>
> There are several possibilities.
>
> Obviously, OLPC is most interested in getting XO laptops with Sugar
> software into schools. Can you tell us how many schools you have in
> and near Leon, with how many teachers and students? We can then
> discuss what it would cost for such a program, including XOs,
> electricity, Internet connections, school servers, training, and so
> on, and consider how to raise the funds needed.
>
> If any of your schools have any computers, we can show you how to get
> Sugar software running on them, and discuss how you could use it.
>
> We are in need of help to translate software and other materials into
> Spanish, and to translate Spanish-language teacher training materials
> into English.
>
> Do you have any contacts within the Nicaraguan Ministry of Education?
>
> What is the political climate around education?
>
> How is the economy doing?
>
> How do you choose communities to work in?
>
> How are your relations with local leaders?
>
> I will have many more questions after you answer those. ^_^
>
>> Regards,
>>
>> Evan
>> --
>> Evan Markiewicz
>> Executive Director
>>
>> ViviendasLeón
>> Sustaining Communities
>> Connecting Cultures
>>
>> 1585 Folsom St.
>> San Francisco, CA  94103
>> (415) 255-2920
>> (415) 255-2921 fax
>> evan at viviendasleon.org
>>
>> www.viviendasleon.org
>> _______________________________________________
>> OLPC-SF mailing list
>> OLPC-SF at lists.laptop.org
>> http://lists.laptop.org/listinfo/olpc-sf
>>
>>
>
>
>
> --
> Edward Mokurai (默雷/धर्ममेघशब्दगर्ज/دھرممیگھشبدگر ج) Cherlin
> Silent Thunder is my name, and Children are my nation.
> The Cosmos is my dwelling place, the Truth my destination.
> _______________________________________________
> IAEP -- It's An Education Project (not a laptop project!)
> IAEP at lists.sugarlabs.org
> http://lists.sugarlabs.org/listinfo/iaep



-- 
 martin.langhoff at gmail.com
 martin at laptop.org -- Software Architect - OLPC
 - ask interesting questions
 - don't get distracted with shiny stuff  - working code first
 - http://wiki.laptop.org/go/User:Martinlanghoff