A volunteer here lent me her OLPC laptop to take around and introduce to teachers and computer professionals here in Sokode. This laptop got a lot of press recently for trying to develop a machine that can be used in developing countries to introduce children to computers.
I brought it to my computer training of trainers. I tried to explain that the computer is cheap, durable, and for education. They looked at, but at first did not understand that it is for children. It was like I had showed up with a porshe and said it was for preschoolers. Why would someone give a computer to kids? I finally opened a simple math game and showed them how to play. They finally got the idea, that yes, technology can be used as a tool to learn other things, like math.
I think the laptops are a great idea, but I saw that there will be challenges in changing the paradrigm about computers. The idea here is that Computers are fancy technology for big important people, and one must be trained on using computers themselves extensively. Giving computer to children to help with their schooling is a novel and foreign idea.
But after playing awhile themselves, they seemed to get the idea and started asking how they could acquire them.
After 10 years as a techie in the United States, Rebecca Hunt joined the
Peace Corps in Togo, West Africa. She taught computer skills and
business skills in a medium sized city. After 2 years in Togo, she
moved to Accra, Ghana to work in a internet and mobile telephone
startup.
