OLPC Training

I love the concept of the OLPC (One Laptop Per Child). However, the implementation really falls short. Case in point: Rehaboth Integrated School in Bugembe near Jinja, Uganda. A generous donor gave 100 OLPC’s to the school, and they’ve sat in a closet for almost two years. The primary reason is that the staff had no real idea what to do with them. They needed training. (They were also waiting on the donor to release them to the school. They wanted the laptops to go home with the students… a HORRIBLE idea in a developing country.)

That’s where we were happy to step in. Together with Monte Hoover, a recent graduate of West Point and the faculty and staff of West Point, we broke those machines out of the closet and began putting them to use. Many more photos and info after the break ..

Monte wrote an amazing game of Tetris Math and together we installed it and began training the staff and students of Rehaboth.

This was an amazing partnership, and I’m proud of the work we did there. Enjoy the photos!

Monte, Henry and Fred installing Monte’s “Tetris Math” app on the OLPC’s at Rehaboth Integrated.

Henry and Monte showing off the OLPC.

The crowd grows…

…and grows until eventually Monte is swallowed up by a crowd of enthusiastic students!

These things are magnets for kids!

They just can’t wait to try them out!

We did some teacher training as well, again at Rehaboth Primary.

Monte teaching a group of P7 students.

More teacher training. The teachers really had fun!

Fred and Henry translating and teaching with Monte.

More P7 students.

The students loved Monte’s program! It was a real winner.

Gerod helping out with the student training.

Monte sitting with a student that’s playing his game. The students really loved this thing!

Thankfully, we had a little time to see the sights. Here’s Monte at the Source of the River Nile. Thank you Monte for your excellent work for HFC and the teachers and students of Uganda. We will never forget you! We hope you come back soon!