There are many gaps. There are many populations at different stages of development with differerent needs. Thus, different solutions need to be developed. I do have a problem with the requirement for 1 million laptops of the same design (which I don't really like, ut will wait to see) - but that isn't that many in Brasil, with a population of almost 200 million or so. There are populations that this tool will server, but the problem will be that having got the million laptops into Brasil, for example, then we assume that they're done and then - why aren't they moving forward?
So - in the Caribbean, we need 1) Free wireless infrastructure (for those who can get a computer - donated, gift, etc but cannot afford US$90/month for internet access) 2) Community telecenters with repair facilities and school centers that cater to more than the computer science students (for those who don't have computers at home) 3) Good electrical power infrastructure (for everybody) 4) Education that takes advantage of the computer tools 5) Affordable Bandwidth to the country 6) Free lunch without stigma for poor children 7) Free school books (we have in T&T) 8) Free transport to school 9) Free uniforms for poor children I'm sure there's more, but that's what I came up with so far. Jacqueline On 11/21/05, Dave A. Chakrabarti <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > Hi Cindy, Taran, others, > > Why do you feel there is an inherent problem with using first-world > technologies to address third-world problems? India owes its status as a > booming IT market entirely to this phenomenon. > > I'll give you a more grassroots example, however. I know of a nonprofit > based in Varanasi, India, that works with children from artisan > communities. They run a school, have several arts programs, and attempt > to address the growing marginalization of Indian artisans. And, like so > many of such groups, they have the typical problems of finding > volunteers, getting exposure, and finding funding. > > In India, website designers are everywhere...but they all want to be > paid. Hosting costs a ton. Search engine optimization is almost unhead > of, and the companies that do it are outsourcing for major US firms, at > very high prices. No one is willing to donate their time or their skills > to a nonprofit in need, which is why the organization I speak of didn't > have a website till a couple of years ago...though they've been working > in this field for 17 years now. No one here had heard of them. I'm sure > each of us can name a dozen organizations (at least) that are in the > same boat. > > A couple of years ago, when I came across them, I was in a different > position. Sitting here in my first-world city, where I can live off food > stamps or my corporate day job and volunteer my time with abandon, I > decided I could easily build them a website. I could host it for them > for very cheap (now, for free) and could apply my first-world corporate > search engine optimization skills to their cause. Now, their site > receives tons of traffic, and was ranked first in Google for "nonprofit > ngo" for almost a year...and as a result, they no longer had to even > look for volunteers, because people spontaneously began finding them > online and applying to work there, from all over the world. This summer, > a group of professors from the University of Michigan travelled to > Varanasi at their own expense to conduct a series of talks and concert > performances, and then concluded with an academic conference. This is a > fairly big deal for Varanasi, since the city's not exactly an academic hub. > > A very efficient, first-world solution, bridging the gaps between what > they needed and what they could never afford to develop on their own. I > could have gone to Varanasi and taught in their school, instead. I could > have worked on the ground, and spent all of my time and effort these > past few years touching the lives of a few children. Instead, I donated > a portion of my time and effort, from my home here in Chicago, and it > resulted in a large number of employees, interns, and volunteers > donating their time, and touching the lives of so many more. > > There are certainly those in Africa and elsewhere who do not have pencil > or paper...but I ask you, do they have TVs? In your writing, you speak > of two very different target populations. I would argue that the poorest > of the poor will not be affected in the least by the advent of > interactive TV, simply because if they cannot afford pencil and paper, > they cannot afford TV, and nor will their governments support > infrastructure to make TV available to their areas unless more affluent, > urban populations reside nearby. Incidentally, the technology to use a > TV for two-way communication has been around for years...no MIT > development needed. Ranging from video game consoles with ethernet > capabilities to the older Web-TV systems, and everything in-between. > There are problems with all of these technologies...the primary one > being that using a TV as an output system is only that, an output > system. You still have to supply a computer to handle processing, on > some level, even for the simplest applications. This is where the cost > factor comes in to play. > > There are different target populations involved here. For a child who > does not have pencil or paper, and cannot read, I agree...there are more > critical priorities that need to be addressed before our laptop will be > needed. Similarly, to address Taran's post, there are populations (like > this hypothetical child I just referred to) who will need food and > clothing long before we can worry about the state of their digital > education. Digital literacy must take second place behind the other > basic necessities. > > However, digital literacy is fast-becoming (I would argue, has already > become) a basic necessity as well...perhaps not as basic as some others, > but far more basic than many. Cindy's critique could easily apply to all > digital literacy initiatives; how are they relevant if the target > population is starving? > > They aren't relevant, perhaps, or must take a back seat to such > concerns. But, for better or for worse, digital literacy is the gap > we've chosen to fill, and these are the tools being considered to do it. > Perhaps there are better, more basic causes to be aligned with. But a > criticism of the cause of digital literacy cannot be an effective > analysis of its tools. > > And, as a justification of the cause, I would point out that there are > audiences that are not in need of a pencil. There are vast populations > that are eager and ready for digital education, and find the lack of it > their main obstacle to social mobility. Taran, if you provide food and > shoes and clean water, you sustain populations. Providing a digital > education (assuming these other needs are met) could trigger a model of > self-sufficiency, where populations can begin to sustain themselves. > > Give a man a fish, but also teach a man to fish...and the hunger of the > man in question is not relevant to our discussion of various fishing rods. > > D. > > ------------------- > Dave A. Chakrabarti > Projects Coordinator > CTCNet Chicago > [EMAIL PROTECTED] > (708) 919 1026 > ------------------- > > > > > Cindy Lemcke-Hoong wrote: > > Reading some of the discussions on this list, somehow they give me the > > impression some of the members on this list is still using FIRST world > > tools to solve 3rd world problems. (Sorry to use the terms first and 3rd > > worlds). > > > > Not that long ago I wrote about children in some African countries do > > not even have paper to write on. They do not have money to buy pencil and > > exercise books. They use twig to trace and practice writing on the > > chair/sandy ground they are sitting on. They have no chairs nor tables, > > and if their parents do not have money to buy them a uniform they are not > > even allow to attend class. So what would you do? Buy them a uniform so > > that they can at least attend the class? Help them to furnish their > > classroom with chairs and desks so that they can have something to sit on? > > OR would you give these same children with the $100 lap-top with FLASH > > animations? Do you think this same child would know how to use Google to > > search for information? > > > > Furthermore, $100 might be dirt cheap in our world. The same $100 is a > > lot of money in thier world. What would you want to provide them first > > with? > > > > In my opinion, if anyone wishes to, they can turn the TV termnal into a > > very useful interactive tool. IF one can use TV monitor to play games, why > > can it not use the same TV monitor and turn it into a computer screen? > > What is the different between TV and PC? TV is sending, computer is both > > send and receive. I am sure some smart person from MIT or the like, IF > > THEY REALLY WANT TO, can come up with a device. > > > > It would also make much more sense to create telecenters. Giving each > > child a lap-top, you are looking at a ' distributed model' that is > > composed of millions and millions of lap-tops. How are you going to > > service them? or train the users? It would make much more sense to create > > 'centralized model/telecenters' and have the users come to the center to > > use the facilities. Not only it is easier to control and manage, one can > > also start creating job for local populations to man the telecenters. > > > > Cindy > > [EMAIL PROTECTED] > > > > > > > > > > ============= > > > > [EMAIL PROTECTED] > > _______________________________________________ > > DIGITALDIVIDE mailing list > > DIGITALDIVIDE@mailman.edc.org > > http://mailman.edc.org/mailman/listinfo/digitaldivide > > To unsubscribe, send a message to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with the word > > UNSUBSCRIBE in the body of the message. > _______________________________________________ > DIGITALDIVIDE mailing list > DIGITALDIVIDE@mailman.edc.org > http://mailman.edc.org/mailman/listinfo/digitaldivide > To unsubscribe, send a message to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with the word UNSUBSCRIBE > in the body of the message. > -- Jacqueline Morris www.carnivalondenet.com T&T Music and videos online _______________________________________________ DIGITALDIVIDE mailing list DIGITALDIVIDE@mailman.edc.org http://mailman.edc.org/mailman/listinfo/digitaldivide To unsubscribe, send a message to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with the word UNSUBSCRIBE in the body of the message.
