+1! Very well written with highly inspirational thoughts.
-- Ankur On Tue, Jan 13, 2009 at 3:28 AM, Sameer Verma <[email protected]> wrote: > So, a lot of people have been asking me this lately in the OLPC > context. "What keeps you going?" Of course, this question has been > asked by different people with different intentions. Some are > genuinely surprised that I have so much free time, while others > suspect a hidden treasure. So, I decided to shoot off this e-mail to > the lists for two reasons. One, I am not sure which list is > appropriate, and two, I think many of us do question the merits of > this project from time to time, and I want to share my sentiments with > you all. Feel free to delete if you don't like it. > > During my visit to India a long time friend asked me this question. > "What keeps you going with a project like this?" He wanted to know > where I got all this free time from. Well, the assumption is a bit > off. A lot of the time I put into the project aligns with my > profession as well. Sustainable IT, network infrastructure, software > development, collaboration, etc. are all parts of my research stream. > so is FOSS development, adoption and use. So, finding time isn't that > much of a stretch. Its a two way street. I am able to bring these > things into my classroom and into my research. Of course, without > support from my family, this would be extremely difficult. For > instance, when I am off, gallivanting in Jamaica and working on a > pilot there, my wife has to cover for me and she does so with a lot of > effort, but we think its all for a good cause. We hope some of this > will make a difference in the lives of communities there. > > Others, such as some of my students, have asked me the same question > but with a little "wink wink" glint in their eye. They think there is > something ulterior or somehow I am getting paid or I am bucking the > system (wonder where they got that idea from). Getting across the > volunteer ethic is very hard. Either you get it or you don't. Of > course, volunteer-ism is driven by many things including ego, fame, > and little green laptops. It is also driven by a desire to make a > difference in the system. Sometimes the system doesn't want that > change, but we still push for it. But that's another e-mail. > > Then there are some of us who have an addictive desire to take things > apart. You know who I'm taking about! Take apart and put back together > things that most people would leave untouched. People who subscribe to > Make magazine or own a soldering iron would know. Its a strange itch, > but its an ethic that brings people together. Its hard to explain > these things to people who've never opened a radio, or a watch. On the > other hand, if you are the "Maker" type, you would instantly know. We > were surprised at the courage of attendees at the December OLPC-SF > meeting. They took their XOs apart and put them back together. Well, > most of us did. Only Robert needed some help from a 7 year old > attendee :-) (Sorry Robert. Couldn't resist!) > > I think its a lot of these reasons that keep us all together in this > project and its offshoots, but one experience has captured my > enthusiasm unlike any other. This was a trip to Khairat, India's first > pilot site (http://wiki.laptop.org/go/Khairat_school). I had seen > pictures, and even videos and news clips of Khairat. But driving out > there with the folks from Reliance (the pilot partner) was a turning > point. Seeing five year olds handling their XOs with ease was just > amazing. Seeing them document their lives and showing me photos via > the journal suddenly made a lot of sense. All discussions of a lack of > a file manager were moot at that point. Rahul and Manisha sure don't > need a file manager to show me what they did! They could care less > about /etc or /usr/local/ I wish I could get the journal on my Ubuntu > Thinkpad laptop. > > They had documented a tight rope walker who visited Khairat. They had > documented Gandhi's birthday (2nd Oct) and showed me the photos. They > didn't care that Sugar was slow. After all, for them to know that > Sugar is slow, they would have to know something faster! They love > their XOs and it shows. Then there is Mr. Surve, the teacher at > Khairat. With very little training, this man gets his gang going. He's > built solar system animations in e-toys and precipitation cycle in > Paint. He has made his own lesson plans in Write and is constantly > yelling in Marathi (local language) "Go to the neighborhood. Join the > mesh". Who woulda thunk it? In the middle-of-nowhere-Khairat, a > teacher is yelling a his kids to join the mesh. A draft version of > 802.11s has made it that far! Of course Rahul and Manisha don't know > that. And they don't need to, because we have a team of do-gooders who > take care of all that. And that's where my respect and unconditional > support for this group comes from. I've met very few of you in person. > But, my sentiments for this group as a whole are always equated with > the joy that is now in the lives of kids like Rahul and Manisha. > > OLPC brings a level of hope that is rare in projects. Netbooks, while > an offshoot of what OLPC has done, still fail to address key issues. > They still have embedded Wi-Fi antennas with poor range, they still > are not sunlight readable and I don't think any of these are fanless > (no moving parts). All these in my view are failures, and I think > these companies have failed to address these items because their > constraints and goals are very different. They are not thinking of > Rahul and Manisha in Khairat, or Garima in Bhagmalpur, who does not > have a classroom and has to sit under a tree outdoors. They are very > much thinking of Lawrence and Raj (two of my students) in San > Francisco, who will sit inside a well light room, next to a power > outlet. So, yes netbooks are cheap and many of us flock to it, but its > still no answer to the original problem. Nothing revolutionary there. > Its just "Honey, I shrunk the laptop". > > In Bhagmalpur (http://wiki.laptop.org/go/Bhagmalpur), my maternal > village, I saw what passes for education. Its more along the lines of > going through the motions of going to school. The children are sent > there so that they don't pester the folks at home. They also go to > school because the government provides a free meal. But, as far as > learning is concerned, there is none. At least none that happens in > class. The school has rooms too small to house children, so they sit > outside. Many don't have books, or have books that are torn and need > TLC. The teacher can barely corral 100 students per class, let alone > teach from a book or the board. They are more like shepherds than > teachers. The children know this well, and have resigned to it as a > way of life. Will XOs make a difference in their lives? The enthusiast > in me says "Yes!" The researcher in me says "If the null hypothesis is > 'no, it won't', then there is only one way to find out." > > Times are difficult. We are facing severe cuts in our own system here > at SF State and we have to start thinking creatively. In light of a > weak budget, some are starting to look to FOSS for cheap software - > something good is coming off of this downturn :-) If the OLPC project > were to shut down, I think some of us will still live in denial and > hang on to our XOs like a worn blanket, but let's hope that day does > not come. Please keep plugging away. Karma is a terrific attribute. I > hope you all earn lots of it. > > OLPC-SF will meet on Jan 17, 2009 and celebrate our first anniversary > (http://wiki.laptop.org/go/OLPC_SanFranciscoBayArea) > > cheers, > Sameer > -- > Dr. Sameer Verma, Ph.D. > Associate Professor of Information Systems > San Francisco State University > San Francisco CA 94132 USA > http://verma.sfsu.edu/ > http://opensource.sfsu.edu/ > _______________________________________________ > Devel mailing list > [email protected] > http://lists.laptop.org/listinfo/devel > -- Best regards, Ankur Verma Email : [email protected] Web: http://ankur.nsit.googlepages.com/
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