Laptops + South Carolina Schoolchildren = Win!
May 10, 2009 by Clair Ching
Filed under advocacy
Want to get inspired? Check out this article about a laptop, a child, a dollar — and a promise. In the Philippines, school starts in a month’s time and I can’t help but be reminded of the state of education here. I am glad that there are still stories that could inspire me like this initiative in South Carolina. This is happening through the Palmetto Project. This is their perspective:
It is our view that somewhere in the world, some community is using an innovative approach to solve the very same problems we face in South Carolina. Our job is to study these ideas, learn what makes them work, and adapt them to the needs of our communities.
The thing that they want to achieve is distribute 50,000 laptops to eligible students. And along with that is the pledge that these students will use the laptops to create something great and a contribution worth 1-2 US Dollars. So in essence, the laptops aren’t free. It’s as if they are still the ones who have paid these laptops, not a total dole out from the group.
I hope that other groups will also find it worth their time and effort to help out school children in this manner. Not everyone has enough to pay for one laptop for each child in each household. I guess I believe in this project because I see young people contributing to their community possibly through their blogs or whatever other personal projects that they begin.
What is the cost of a Linux-powered netbook to some of us? Maybe we could invest in one child we know and give him/her one for his/her schooling. It might not be something as big as this group’s project but it could be the beginning of empowering someone who would make brilliant projects for our community.
