I have set up a fundraiser, http://www.crowdrise.com/Replacetextbooks/ to raise $10,000 for a server and other expenses at Sugar Labs to create collaborative, interactive, digital textbook replacements for up to a billion children at a time. That's a million pennies, or a thousandth of a cent per child.
There are of course significant other expenses in the overall program, mostly for buying computers to run Sugar and let students work with our digital materials and others. I estimate the total cost at $25 billion annually, to be provided by governments and aid agencies, mostly. When we succeed in getting rid of poverty and its associated ills, and bring the rest of the world up to the standard of the developed countries, that will add about $200 trillion to global GDP. Among the ills associated with poverty, especially the dire poverty of those living on $1 a day, or 50 cents a day, or less, are disease, death, helplessness, hopelessness, government corruption, oppression, and so on. What's it worth to you to put a dent in these problems, and get the children ready to finish the project and then tackle the next round of _hard_ problems? Can you pay forward, for those less fortunate, $10? $25? $50? More? Don't spam this message, but do pass it on where appropriate. -- 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. http://www.earthtreasury.org/ _______________________________________________ IAEP -- It's An Education Project (not a laptop project!) IAEP@lists.sugarlabs.org http://lists.sugarlabs.org/listinfo/iaep