Doug, Your project is on the mark--sound, well conceived, and it will make a difference in Ghana. (My own work has taken me to Ghana, most recently in March, where we conducted workshops in distance learning for Ghanaian academics, sponsored by Ghana Telecom.
You are looking for ways to leverage the impact of your project, to do more for more people. I'm copying Dr. Osei Darkwa, Principal of the Ghana Telecom Training Center in Accra, soon to become an accredited University College. You and Dr. Darkwa will want to be in touch with each other. He is coming to the US on June 5: I'm hoping that you and he are in Ghana at the same time. Dr. Darkwa is a Ghanaian who did his first degree in Ghana, his Phd in the US. He taught at the University of Illinois's School of Social Work before repatriating to Ghana to work for his country. And he is also Microsoft certifed! Ghana Telecom, which has physical presence in all ten geographic areas of Ghana, and whose telephone lines and other services span the nation and beyond, is committing itself to helping the continent, beginning with Ghana, to harness the teaching and learning power of the new ICT technologies. It is creating, among other new structures, a Center for Education and Technology in Africa, and is proposing to establish "Africa Virtual Campus," quite different in intent and service from the existing Africa Virtual University: it is to be a centralized service that will provide the training, tools, and services the learning organizations of Africa need if they are to move to open and distance learning: if they are to move rapidly to narrow the digital divide. And Dr. Darkwa is also involved in in village economic development, and we work him on those project as well: see www.patriensa.com You two have much to talk about, and I hope you can meet. Dr. Steve Eskow [EMAIL PROTECTED] -----Original Message----- From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Behalf Of E-quip Africa Sent: Wednesday, May 25, 2005 9:54 PM To: The Digital Divide Network discussion group Subject: [DDN] Rotary & Cooperating Organizations working to reduce the DD I am a Rotarian, retired computer instructor and founder/president of a nonprofit responding to discussions involving Rotary International�s assistance in reducing the Digital Divide. This is my first post after joining DDN Discussion Group a few months ago. I recently received an Individual Grant from The Rotary Foundation to travel to Ghana, West Africa (leaving in less than 2 weeks) to plan... yes PLAN, an international project between my local club and two clubs in Ghana. It is not a fishing trip to find a project, but travel to finalize a collaboration with previous agreement. TRF is one of the few sources I have seen with a grant available just for planning! The project involves bringing refurbished computers to Ghanaian primary & secondary schools and supplying a Ghana Rotary Club's local project of building a city library in Sekondi/Takoradi. Our local club is working with my nonprofit 501 (c) (3) organization (E-quip Africa) as a non-Rotary, "cooperating organization" to solicit the donation of computers and find volunteers to refurbish, clean, pack and ship them via container. We have established standards for acceptance of donated machines which are in constant flux, but need to take into consideration the lag between the time of collection and the time of shipment. E-quip Africa will be registered in Ghana as a corporation with application for NGO status during this trip. We see this project as win-win in that computers with many years of use left in them are now available for elementary and secondary students who have had no previous access rather than sitting on shelves or being buried under 15 feet of clay and topsoil. Of course new would be preferred and anyone wishing to donate them will have our undivided attention! Fundraising for shipping and packing costs are made easier because matching grants are available from The Rotary Foundation at the District and International levels possibly quadrupling the amount kicked in by the originating club. Since most landfills and recycling businesses now require a disposal fee to get rid of computers, especially monitors, we ask for a cash donation at the same rate to accompany the equipment we receive which is tax-deductible when given to us. An interesting side to this is the use of used clothing to pack computers in cardboard boxes rather than bubble wrap or Styrofoam. The clothing is so in demand it almost evaporates out of the boxes when the computers are unpacked. The 40 foot container was packed by a professional mover so that perhaps one or two credit cards could have been inserted in the space left. This is essential for ocean container shipping. Our plan after a container is shipped is to follow up with a tour of interested volunteers and others. Chief among purposes are: 1.) To receive the gratitude of the Ghanaian school personnel (important in Ghanaian culture) 2.) To be of assistance in start up programs and 3.) Strengthen ties between Ghanaians & Americans. We will urge local Rotarians and their families to make this travel after our project is complete, thus generating more international cooperation and hopefully good will. Last year's group had a spectacular time and has now become the core of E-quip Africa's volunteers. The 2004 shipment resulted in a computer school and internet caf� open to the public after day students are finished thus generating some income to help maintain the computer school, hire trained instructors and upgrade the equipment and services. Future dreaming involves filling a return container with African art, clothing, furniture, jewelry, etc. and selling it to finance the program. All of this could easily be replicated by local Rotary Clubs anywhere. If Rotary International wants to use our project as a "Case Study" we would be happy to provide the details. What are our present needs, and what problems might be expected in starting something like this? (In other words--HELP!) 1.) Getting the attention of Microsoft for licensing Windows and Office products--we're talking Win98 and Office 97--nothing new. Some days I feel like it is me against the established computing world when trying to open doors. Any pointers? Links? Sources? This should be a no-brainer--simple--but I haven't found it so. 2.) Getting the attention of USAID and/or other sources to help fund projects like this. 3.) Finding trained individuals who can properly and efficiently clean/wipe a computer plus the software to accomplish it. 4.) Curriculum suggestions and/or guides for Ghanaian schools, understanding that most school personnel will lack computing skills. 5.) Obtaining storage and work space to refurbish and pack the equipment. 6.) It was suggested we forget Microsoft and go with open source software. I am an average computer user, not a designer, developer nor am I what you would call techno savvy, so I would need to learn about it plus get a lot of help in convincing the end users they can improve their job skills and become employable in Ghana by using it. Doug Wilkowske E-quip Africa P.O. Box 3178 Willmar, MN 56201-8178 Phone: (320) 894-1680 Extending Opportunities for Learning _______________________________________________ DIGITALDIVIDE mailing list [email protected] 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 [email protected] 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.
