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laptops: a missing piece of the puzzle

In May 2008, I went on an amazing trip to the West African nation of Liberia, with a non-profit organization called One Bright World. We visited the Great Commission Orphanage in Margibi County. The children living there are all victims of the recently resolved 14-year civil war that devastated Liberia. They are receiving a good education at the orphanage, up to the high school level. They are missing one essential element to their education: Computers.

The head of Great Commission is Reverend Joseph Mulbah (top left). He works tirelessly to create a stimulating educational atmosphere for these bright, good-spirited kids. Unfortunately there are very few educational tools available to the orphanage. The students have almost no access to computers making them ill-prepared to attend colleges with any success.

real-world examples

The orphanage has meager facilities and the classrooms are in disrepair. The kids want to learn but they lack simple resources easily accessible to you and me. Every day I am amazed at how many answers are easily available, at my fingertips; so simply accessible for some, but just out of reach for others. These kids are just one inexpensive solution away from doing what so many now take for granted: recognizing "Google" as a verb!

Currently I am sponsoring Mark Flomo (seen here with me in the bottom photo), an eighteen-year-old who is done with high school, and was financially unable to continue his education. I am helping Mark to go to a University and he has just completed his first year of college. He managed to get passing grades, in spite of receiving some incomplete marks due to his lack of a laptop computer.

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