A closer look at early returns

Justin Burnett and Stephanie Selvick, former Rotary Youth Exchange students, worked together in Africa in the summer of 2009 through a grant they received from One Laptop per Child. One Laptop per Child is a nonprofit based in Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA, that provides affordable laptop computers to children in developing countries.

Stephanie was a 2001-02 outbound student in Italy and Denmark, sponsored by the Rotary Club of Sturgeon Bay (Breakfast), Wisconsin. Justin was an outbound student sponsored by the Rotary Club of Appleton for a long-term exchange to the Czech Republic in 2004-05. He will serve as the new ROTEX president for District 6220 (parts of Michigan and Wisconsin) later this year.

One Laptop per Child provides computers as learning tools in the classroom. Preloaded on each XO computer are all the necessities for an elementary school education, including protractors, calculators, word processing capabilities, books, and encyclopedias. This summer, the organization awarded a $10,000 grant and 100 computers to 30 teams of university students from Africa and North America.

Stephanie and Justin were assigned to work in Senegal, along with the the Peace Corps, receiving an additional grant, deploying 200 XO laptops to the Ecole Notre Dame elementary school. They completed three weeks of teacher training and introduced over 200 students to their new learning devices. Stephanie tells us that in addition to the five teachers whose classes received laptops, "teachers from neighboring villages, as well as the school's priest and custodian, also attend. Everyone is getting involved."

The first days of student training were encouraging; the students sat three or four to a desk to share ideas, while children from neighboring schools stood on cinder blocks outside and peered in the windows. "The key to getting this program to function long term is getting people in the area involved," Justin points out. "This isn't just a school project, it's a community project."

Stephanie and Justin recognize Rotary District 6220 as great help to the project and generous support from Rotary Youth Exchange, Rotex, those at the District Governors Conference, and local Rotary clubs. Stephanie and Justin, as well as Nicholas Negroponte, the chair of One Laptop per Child, recognize the bridge that Rotary builds between diverse global communities. It is their hope that Rotary will continue to support the effort to provide children with basic educational needs. Stephanie and Justin are looking to work with Rotary clubs in Senegal to continue working toward this goal after they leave. Follow their progress at http://africaxo.blogspot.com.