Thursday, March 29th 2012
Islamic Development Bank Funds One Laptop Per Child in Cameroon
One Laptop per Child (OLPC), a nonprofit organization whose mission is to provide every child in the world access to new channels of learning, sharing and self-expression, announced today that the Islamic Development Bank has fully funded the initial distribution of 5,000 XO laptops to primary school children in the West African nation of Cameroon. The project will initially span 51 schools in six regions; planning is underway to extend the deployment across the entire country.
The Islamic Development Bank is a multilateral financing institution whose purpose is to foster the economic development and social progress of its 56 member countries - of which Cameroon is one. The Cameroon project represents the first time that the Islamic Development has financed an OLPC deployment.
This deployment establishes Cameroon as OLPC's hub in francophone West Africa. A team from Cameroon's Ministry of Education has provided training assistance to an OLPC project in Mali. Other countries in the region are expected to launch XO deployments in 2012.
"We are delighted to be working with the Islamic Development Bank on the financing of projects that support our mutual objective of fostering economic development and social progress," said Rodrigo Arboleda, Chairman and CEO of the One Laptop per Child Association. "We are seeing tremendous interest in OLPC throughout Africa and look forward to working with both public and private sector partners in a number of countries to launch, expand and support other initiatives in the months ahead."
Cameroon will be the first country in Africa to receive XO 1.75 laptops, which go into production in March 2012. The XO 1.75 uses the Marvell ARM-based ARMADA PXA618 SOC processor, which compared to the earlier XO 1.5, maintains performance while using only half the power. The XO 1.75 features a sunlight-readable screen and all the other features and design characteristics of the two previous versions of the XO laptop.
The Islamic Development Bank is a multilateral financing institution whose purpose is to foster the economic development and social progress of its 56 member countries - of which Cameroon is one. The Cameroon project represents the first time that the Islamic Development has financed an OLPC deployment.
"We are delighted to be working with the Islamic Development Bank on the financing of projects that support our mutual objective of fostering economic development and social progress," said Rodrigo Arboleda, Chairman and CEO of the One Laptop per Child Association. "We are seeing tremendous interest in OLPC throughout Africa and look forward to working with both public and private sector partners in a number of countries to launch, expand and support other initiatives in the months ahead."
Cameroon will be the first country in Africa to receive XO 1.75 laptops, which go into production in March 2012. The XO 1.75 uses the Marvell ARM-based ARMADA PXA618 SOC processor, which compared to the earlier XO 1.5, maintains performance while using only half the power. The XO 1.75 features a sunlight-readable screen and all the other features and design characteristics of the two previous versions of the XO laptop.
19 Comments on Islamic Development Bank Funds One Laptop Per Child in Cameroon
Stop teaching people the only way to learn is through the internet!
The computer (and internet) is a wonderful tool which you can do just about anything with it, and right now I cannot think of a well paying job which doesn't involve the use of a computer at all, except maybe plumbers but even then you might need to contact/look for suppliers.
Whatever is given, I'm sure it's from the heart first. Doesn't matter what group of people sponsors OLPC to give out x number of laptops, it's the fact that they are GIVING and not asking for anything in return, only that the children learn something so they can become better educated for the future.
Paper is organic, and as such, is returned to the environment.
PCs are made from heavy metals and petrochemical thermoplastics.
I wonder which is more environmentally friendly?
with good education they would have better chance to make things better, OLPC is good as start point when most related to computer, so OLPC makes them learn better with introducing computer at early age :cool:
we donate them seed, fertilizer, medical supplies, they sell it for small amount of money and wait for next year donation, we gave them cheap electricity to preserve their product, they use it to all night party. Education is the only viable choice..
i'm only afraid many of their poor parents will actually sell their kid new PC..
someone who know how to spell is not brighter for it.
tools are tools, depends on how you use those tools.