Hey Karama,
I'm an avid reader of So What Can I Do? I know you are always looking for ways to enact social change so I think you and your readers will be as excited about this as I was. OLPC, One Laptop Per Child, a non profit organization based in Cambridge, MA, set out a few years ago to design and build affordable and easy to use computers for children all over the world. So today they are announcing that between Nov. 12 and Nov. 26, consumers can participate in the Give 1, Get 1 program. Every time anyone from the USA or Canada orders an OLPC xo laptop during this two-week period, another laptop will be donated to a child in a developing country. The total cost for both computers is $400, a cost that allows a person here to have a hand in providing a valuable resource and a very fun educational tool for a deserving child. Added bonus: Any order placed during this period is assured to reach by Christmas so the laptops you get and give will be great gifts!
The Give 1, Get 1 program was announced this morning on Good Morning America so for more information you can check out the ABC News!
For more details you can take a peek at the official release on BusinessWire or the XO giving site at: XOgiving.org.
Thanks Neha! I had heard about One Laptop Per Child on 60 Minutes but didn't know about the Give 1, Get 1 program. What a neat idea! If you agree:
* Visit XOgiving.org.
* Order your computer between November 12 and November 26, 2007. UPDATE: Extended to December 31, 2007. Order now!
* Get your snazzy new laptop computer.
* Give a child a computer and access to the information and opportunities on the internet.
* Consider donating your computer to a children's school or educational nonprofit or service agency in your community.
What a way to help close the digital divide, in the US and around the world!
“Computing is not about computers any more. It is about living.” - Nicholas Negroponte
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4 comments:
I have volunteer taught in India for an extensive amount of time, and experienced the challenges and clear differences with classrooms without a computer. Nearly two billion children in the developing world receive inferior education – computers, as we know, are a way to expand past our confines and break into a world that we would normally not have access to. For these children, this would mean the world. :-) Thanks for the post Karama!
Thanks for suggesting it, Neha! Keep the recommendations coming.
This just in from my good friend Lynne:
Hey Karama,
I received the link to this website from my sister who is on a mission to get these XO computers to kids in developing nations. I saw on your blog, you listed the give one get one program (in October). Here is an update. In view of the response, the give one get one program has been extended to December 31st. After the 31st you will be able to donate moneys to the organization or to send a minimum of 100 computers overseas with your organization, but you won’t be able to obtain the computer in the US. If you participate in the Give One Get One program OPLC will do their best to get the computer you “get“ to you by January 1, 2008. Here is the link: http://www.laptopgiving.org/en/index.php.
Could you give an update on the blog?
Lynne
Kwadjo and I are so excited! Our XO laptop arrived earlier this week. We've already started using it and look forward to discovering more about what it can do. More importantly, some child somewhere also has a new computer, and a new access to information. Enjoy! Stay tuned for more on this amazing machine . . .
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