Tuesday, September 3, 2013

Help fund computing labs for girls in Afghanistan

Will Goldie is a Boy Scout in California, working on his Eagle project. It’s an ambitious one: working alongside Trust in Education, a group that organises educational, economic and business development programs in rural Afghanistan, he’s raising funds to equip a computer lab for a girls’ school. The Pi will form the centrepiece of what Will’s doing, and he has an Indiegogo running, starting today, to raise the money.

Will’s been emailing with Eben about his idea for a little while now, and we’re really pleased that he’s been able to start putting it in place. The major cost here is the monitor (display technology remains an aggravatingly expensive part of the equation when you’re buying everything as new); Will’s calculations say that it will cost $190 to set up each computer when peripherals are taken into account. He’s aiming to raise sufficient money for ten, but if he exceeds that goal any extra money will go into providing more computers for the girls. It goes without saying, but we would very much like to see him exceed his goal.

This project presses all my buttons. Teaching computing, reaching girls in environments hostile to their education, enabling young women to access opportunities and options that were previously closed to them: making a big difference with a small device. I’ve put my money where my mouth is on this one, and have funded the project – I really hope you will too.

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