http://www.olpcnews.com/countries/nepal/ole_nepal_video.html
“One often thinks of Nepal as Mt. Everest and mountain climbers and it sounds like a wonderful, exotic place to visit, which it is. But, beneath all of that, you have to realize that half of the five year old and unders in Nepal are undernourished to the point where they need food aid in order to simply survive.”
-Richard Rowe, Founder, OLE
The Open Learning Exchange of Nepal (OLE) has been working tirelessly, using technology and innovation as game-changers in a traditionally regimented, feudal society, to change the prospects for some of these historically neglected children. OLE has partnered with the One Laptop Per Child Initiative to bring low cost technology to the schools of both rural and urban Nepal. But this is only part of the story with OLE. A team of local designers and developers has also created the local software and a fantastic educational database that can be preloaded onto the machines, or accessed through the inter/intranet, which provides the children with a full range of educational materials and activities. The site is a precious resource; it can be accessed by teachers and students alike, providing educational tools and electronic versions of local texts that would otherwise simply not be available to the concerned parties. This is an example of technology being used in its finest manner to support radical educational transformation, to close the digital divide, and to give some of the most disadvantaged children in the world a first-rate education that can be used as a platform for a brighter future. Using open source content, using technology, creating platforms for knowledge. Simply radical.
“We're particularly interested in making sure that the young girls get training. If you enable a young girl, then they tend to stay in the village, and improve the quality of life for the whole village.”
I look forward to sitting with, and learning more from, the great folks at The Open Learning Exchange Nepal.
