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We’re all ears - share your ideas!
Everyone has good ideas. Everyone thinks they can do things better. We’ll this is your chance.LearnAsOne is of ultimately about giving more kids the opportunity to go to school. But it’s also about creating something fun, inspiring, interactive and engaging for you and your friends to get involved with.
So if you have ideas for improving the website, spreading awareness, raising more funds, know people to talk to, organisations to consider working with, ways to get LearnAsOne into the papers or onto the front page of Digg, please share your ideas here.
It doesn’t matter how big or small you think your idea is - please share it in the comments section below. And feel free to help develop or expand on ideas that other people post too.
The more ideas we have between us, the more likely we are to develop good ones that will give more kids the chance to go to school.
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9 comments
What a fantastic initiative.
Really like the site as well.
Amazing. I’ll reccommend my friends to visit you. Do you want to write more about it?
Hi LearnAsOne, I have just stumbled across your webpage via facebook and am very intrigued to know what progress you have made with this great idea over the last year! I have been volunteering in Zambia since November and have run two fundraising events using the internet for a community school in the suburbs of Livingstone during this time. Through this I managed to raise enough funds to kit the whole school (300 pupils) out in uniforms and pay two teacher’s salaries for a year. My only problem is that these funds will only last a year and there are many other problems that the school needs finance for in order to tackle. Are you considering any schools in this region and is it a must that they are linked to an NGO?
Keep up the good work! Lois
@ Adam - thanks for your message. Anything you can write would be greatly appreciated. Please drop me an email (see the contacts page) if you want any more information.
@ Lois - good work in Zambia! Yes we would be considering schools in the Livingstone region. In fact, we are happy to consider schools anywhere across the country. And in answer to your NGO question, it’s a yes as well I’m afraid. We are looking to build partnerships with NGOs who have the capacity to build a number of schools in one region. The idea being to keep costs down and share learning from school to school.
That said, I’ll drop you an email so we can discuss things further. Steve
Hi There,
I’ve had an idea that may work well with your initiative. I want to set up a way of getting basic laptops into homes, that way both parents and kids can learn.
In South Africa, we have 3 major cell companies (Cell C, Vodacom, and MTN) as well as 2 landline companies (Telkom and Neotel(a new company)) who all provide internet access. Perhaps they could offer a basic package, where one can get a really basic phone, and a really really basic computer for a minimum cost. Perhaps the government could subsidise? Then the client could buy cds in the major stores, with basic computer skills training, primary,secondary and teritiary education, as well as lifeskills training cds, or logon to an educational website, according to thier needs. These laptops could also have training courses for teachers, social workers etc. In this way the cost of educators and fascilities is reduced.
I know that this won’t reach the poorest of the poor, but it might be able to help those who have a family member who earns a minimum wage, or could be sponsored by an employer.
I also thought of a laptop library?…Or reclaimed PCs?…
The problem with current ICDL centres is that they require organising transport, childcare, and time away from work/jobhunting, staff and fascilities.
Volunteers can then help to make the cds required (a lot of the info is already available online eg http://www.alison.com), and in this way African countries can go from learning on chalkboards, to joining the international information revolution.
Thanks,
Robyn
Hi Robyn,
This sounds like a great idea, especially the teacher training angle. At this stage of our development I have to be honest and say it isn’t something we would have the resources to get behind (and I’m not sure it fully falls into our charity objects), but I would be very interested in learning more about applying such an idea with regards to teacher training.
Off the top of my head I’d suggest that you look at One laptop per child - laptop.org and possibly the Shuttleworth Foundation and see if they can open any doors for you.
Good luck with your project and please, stay in touch.
Many thanks,
Steve
Hi there
Fantastic initiative and I wish you luck.
I have been working with the charity http://www.friendofedusport.co.uk and its co founder Derek Keir for the past 18 months to create a library to support 10 schools in Bauleni (south of Lusaka). I aimed to get 7,000 books and am now pleased to have catalogued 15,000 books ready to go on the library shelves - we are now putting a library in each school. The books are due to ship out in June.
I am sure Derek would pleased to hear from you and will be able to tell you his experience working with schools in Zambia.
Keep up the good work - anything is possible if you want to do it badly enough.
Anne
Hi there, love your charity and your drive. I am a graphic designer and got involved with doing some work for a journalist on the Mercy Ships call Scott Harrison. This was about 3/4 years ago, he then when on to start his own charity back his home town NY. Why I am telling you this is that he has a similar story to yours in founding a charity organization. Its called Charity:water. He has grown this charity massively in the past 3 years you may be interested in seeing the website and how he is getting funds in. You may have some synergy with these guys. http://www.charitywater.org
Good luck Nikki
Thanks Nikki. Yes I know of Scott and charity:water. They are brilliant story tellers and do absolutely amazing work. One of my favourite charities. Thanks for the tip!
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