Retired tech executive Patrick O’Sullivan, moved by the plight of a Maasai tribe that needed
three years to complete a school for their children, raised the money and materials needed to build a new school that runs day and night on solar panels.
He brought three new laptops, along with some colleagues from Apple, to East Africa. One of them, a 14-year-old, trained the teachers to use the computers. Now the village kids are gazing wide-eyed at the ocean for the first time…
The volunteers shot digital video in the village for a documentary designed to raise funds for education in Africa. It also captured the laughter and fun of working with the Maasai people…
In the new school, students investigate the world maps plastered on the wall and study the science of solar power that provides their light and power. “It was amazing to watch the children use the new Powerbooks with such ease,” said O’Sullivan. “They were intuitively touching, feeling, laughing and investigating. It became clear to me that it doesn’t matter whether you’re from the north, south, east or west of anywhere on this earth: people are naturally curious and once they see a tool, they want to see how it works.” (Apple News)
Check out a related GNN-i story from March 2006, about bringing computers to children in India, but with a twist — No one teaches them how they work. Innovative kid-only computer kiosks (built to keep large adult hands out) were installed in many rural village squares and in every instance, the kids investigated and played until within two days they were downloading and saving files! Impoverished Kids Find Computers No Problem