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[school-discuss] [Fwd: OSS lab in Crique Sarco]



I'm forwarding this message to the mailing list in the hope that some of
us can help Gabe.  If you reply to this message, please be sure to
manually add Gabe's email address to the recipients, as he's not on the
mailing list.

-----Forwarded Message-----
From: Gabriel Shaputnic <shaputnic@sbcglobal.net>
To: info@schoolforge.net
Subject: OSS lab in Crique Sarco
Date: Fri, 06 Aug 2004 14:08:48 -0700

Hi, my name is Gabe Shaputnic, I'm a Peace Corps
Volunteer working in Crique Sarco, a Mayan Village in
Belize's Toledo District.  I'm setting up a project to
begin a solar powered computer lab in the village
primary school.  It will be used not only to introduce
students to computers but to provide the high-quality
education many schools are finding educational
software to provide.  The lab will be running all day
during school hours, and will utilize, if possible,
Open Source software.  

The big roadblock will be technical support.  It's
difficult in Belize, where Windows dominates, and even
more difficult in the village, which is fairly remote.
 Right now the lab is not planned to be connected to
the internet, mainly because computers are brand-new
technology and the village doesn't feel ready for the
internet yet.  

A fellow Peace Corps volunteer has set up a
thin-client Linux test lab at the University of Belize
(UB), and if the hardware is received in time (in the
next year) I can count on him to set up the lab and
for some initial training, but support will be needed
further down the road.  

Do you have any ideas?  I want to see OSS in the lab,
possibly a thin-client set-up (to reduce maintenance
and, I think, energy usage).  Any thoughts you have on
maintenance/training or any other issues would be very
welcome.  

Thanks very much for your time, I hope to hear from
you soon, and best wishes for the very necessary work
you are doing today!

Sincerely,
Gabe Shaputnic
Crique Sarco Village, Toledo District
Belize, C.A.