Hola Evan! I strongly suggest you get in touch with the Zamora Teran foundation in Managua. They run the largest deployment in Nicaragua, and are a strong point of contact and coordination for us. See http://www.fundacionzt.org/
regards, martin - On Wed, May 18, 2011 at 11:29 PM, Edward Cherlin <echer...@gmail.com> wrote: > On Wed, May 18, 2011 at 12:44, Evan Markiewicz > <emarkiew...@sbcglobal.net> wrote: >> I am writing to introduce you to our organization, ViviendasLeon. We are a >> non-profit community development and global education organization based in >> San Francisco and Leon, Nicaragua. We work in rural communities creating >> development programs in construction, environmental, economic, capacity >> building and education development. We have recently been informed of your >> organization by a teacher in San Rafael who knows of your organization OLPC >> and recommended we contact you. > > We are delighted to hear from you. > >> I would like to know how we might partner with OLPC to provide computer >> training and equipment for the pre-school through 11th grade students in the >> communities we work in, and for small business start ups we develop in >> Nicaragua. > > OLPC provides XO laptops running Sugar education software through > governments and NGOs. It commonly happens that people in a particular > country get together over the Internet to work on such projects. In > your case, this is > > http://wiki.laptop.org/go/OLPC_Nicaragua > > Sugar Labs has just begun a project to produce learning materials for > free distribution. If you tell us your requirements, and introduce us > to your trainers, we can work together using our Replacing Textbooks > server. > > http://wiki.sugarlabs.org/go/Replacing_Textbooks > >> ViviendasLeon partners with other organizations and institutions to provide >> the spectrum of development programs we offer in Nicaragua. One of these >> partners is the USF School of Business. We have been working with the PSIP >> program there for 3 years to develop small businesses including a sewing >> cooperative and our current project, a bee keeping cooperative. These >> small businesses in particular, and like everything we do in Nicaragua is a >> laboratory to explore best practices in development and implementation of >> projects uniquely suited to the location and community. > > I am of the opinion that creating businesses through microfinance and > other methods is a critical factor for the success of the OLPC > education project's mission to end poverty. I would be delighted to > discuss this with your partners. > >> We would be interested to find out how we might work with you. > > There are several possibilities. > > Obviously, OLPC is most interested in getting XO laptops with Sugar > software into schools. Can you tell us how many schools you have in > and near Leon, with how many teachers and students? We can then > discuss what it would cost for such a program, including XOs, > electricity, Internet connections, school servers, training, and so > on, and consider how to raise the funds needed. > > If any of your schools have any computers, we can show you how to get > Sugar software running on them, and discuss how you could use it. > > We are in need of help to translate software and other materials into > Spanish, and to translate Spanish-language teacher training materials > into English. > > Do you have any contacts within the Nicaraguan Ministry of Education? > > What is the political climate around education? > > How is the economy doing? > > How do you choose communities to work in? > > How are your relations with local leaders? > > I will have many more questions after you answer those. ^_^ > >> Regards, >> >> Evan >> -- >> Evan Markiewicz >> Executive Director >> >> ViviendasLeón >> Sustaining Communities >> Connecting Cultures >> >> 1585 Folsom St. >> San Francisco, CA 94103 >> (415) 255-2920 >> (415) 255-2921 fax >> e...@viviendasleon.org >> >> www.viviendasleon.org >> _______________________________________________ >> OLPC-SF mailing list >> olpc...@lists.laptop.org >> http://lists.laptop.org/listinfo/olpc-sf >> >> > > > > -- > Edward Mokurai (默雷/धर्ममेघशब्दगर्ज/دھرممیگھشبدگر ج) Cherlin > Silent Thunder is my name, and Children are my nation. > The Cosmos is my dwelling place, the Truth my destination. > _______________________________________________ > IAEP -- It's An Education Project (not a laptop project!) > IAEP@lists.sugarlabs.org > http://lists.sugarlabs.org/listinfo/iaep -- martin.langh...@gmail.com mar...@laptop.org -- Software Architect - OLPC - ask interesting questions - don't get distracted with shiny stuff - working code first - http://wiki.laptop.org/go/User:Martinlanghoff _______________________________________________ IAEP -- It's An Education Project (not a laptop project!) IAEP@lists.sugarlabs.org http://lists.sugarlabs.org/listinfo/iaep