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This report about the reality of the One Laptop Per Child initiative in one of the poorest countries on earth, the mobile revolution, the reality of radio, and what this all means for children was written by Martin Lucas in Malawi, and posted on a mailing list. We are publishing it here in its entirety for its insights and opinion. We'd love to hear from you - tell us what you think!

One Slate per Child by Martin Lucas

I have been reading with interest the discussion of the 'hundred-dollar laptop' and the One Laptop per Child initiative as I sit in Malawi, a small landlocked Southern African nation lodged between Mozambique, Zambia, and Tanzania. According to Wikipedia, the OLPC effort has its philosophical base in the idea that children with laptops will be able to do a certain kind of thinking that isn't possible without the computer - exploring certain areas - particularly in math and science where computer access offers a qualitatively superior learning experience. Making such machines available at low prices should allow developing countries to bridge the 'digital divide', and leapfrog learning. Countries that have signed on include Uruguay. India has given a definite no. Either way, the OLPC initiative is an aspect of 'development' even 'IT for Development.' How does the initiative square with the reality of a small African nation?

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We have written previously about the Android Developer Challenge by Google that has a strong emphasis on humanitarian applaications. Because (we think) the process and SDK was rather buggy, Google has decided to move the submission deadline for the first Android Developers Challenge to 14 April 2008.

From the Android blog:

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We are occasionally commissioned to write introductory articles about the mobile revolution and implications for NGOs for various publications. Here is one broad overview of some areas where mobiles are deployed in civil society.

Cellphones have become the most ubiquitous communication device in the hands of human beings. There are an estimated 3.5 billion mobile phones in use and there is coverage in even remote corners of the world. Cellphones have revolutionized not just the way we work and organize within cultures and societies, but have the potential to change how NGOs (non-governmental organizatios) operate.

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Groundviews is now featuring its latest content on mobile devices. Go to http://groundviews.mofuse.mobi/ to access articles from the award-winning Sri Lanka citizen journalism site  on a mobile phone. Groundviews mobile works with Blackberry’s, the iPhone and all recent Nokia, Sony Ericsson, LG, Samsung and other mobile phones capable of and set up for Internet access. Our site does not require 3G or high speed connectivity and is not tied to any mobile operator or service.

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Welcome to MobileActive's 3,000th community member, Ignacio Nieto, Universidad Andres Bello in Chile.

Since our inception in 2005, we have grown from 40 handpicked practitioners using mobile phones in their social change work to an astonishing 3,000 participants in the MobileActive community. You come from NGOs, the academic community, the private sector, government, and as individual organizers and activists. You are technologists and developers, bankers, marketers, healthcare workers, and consultants. You come from more than 60 countries (63, to be exact) and you are interested in everything mobile - from mobile banking and mobiles in economic development to grassroots organizing and advocacy and mobiles for better health care.

In short, you are an amazing, diverse, passionate, and commited community.

To become part of MobileActive, simply register on the site to find others, communicate with them, post announcements and blog posts, and list your tools, social change projects using mobile phones, and list vendors you use. You will receive occasional announcements and our newsletter, if you want. If you simply want to say informed, sign up for our low-traffic mailing list for the occasional MobileActive newsletter that keeps you informed of the 'mobile for good' field.

If you are on Facebook, join MobileActive in the Facebook Group and follow me on twitter here where I post updates on all things social mobile.

Thank you for being MobileActive!

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MobileActives are increasingly making the news as mainstream press is picking up the potential of mobiles as organizing, advocacy, and mobilization tools in social change movements. In an article in the Financial Times today, the focus is on young social change leaders using technology, and increasingly, cell phones in their work. Profiling Maft and its (former) leader Erion Veliaj of Mjaft, an Albanian young people's political movement, it's clear that good organizing and social change is unthinkable today without mobile phones.

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Have you heard the joke about Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad? If you're a young person in Iran you probably have. Political jokes are spreading like wildfire in Iran, reports Parisa Dezfoulian in an article on texting in Iran in Middle East Online.

According to Desfoulian, SMS has become a way for young people to circumvent authority, largely through the spread of political jokes on subjects from nuclear energy to petrol bans to government rationing. She notes that with more than 20 million SMS messages sent every day in Iran,

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This is the phone we have been waiting for! The Groen Brothers do it again. Hat tip to Steve Albertson of Community Voicemail!

Ever wondered how Walmart ranks when it comes to supporting gay and lesbian employment equality? What about Starbucks, Coca-Cola, or Microsoft? Employment equality is an issue that the gay and lesbian community has advocated for for years. It has now moved into the cellphone age with point-of-purchase company information for conscious consumers. The U.S.-based Human Rights Campaign recently launched a new tool: An SMS buyers guide that that brings instant information about businesses' support of gay and lesbian equality straight to your mobile phone.

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SEND YOUR Mobile FILMS AND PROJECTS! REGISTRATIONS ARE OPEN UNTIL MARCH, 1st, 2008 .
The 4th edition of the Pocket Films Festival, organized by the Forum des Images, will take place at the Pompidou Center, Paris, France, on June, 13-15th 2008.

The 2008 registration forms for the Pocket Films Festival are online : www.festivalpocketfilms.fr

1. INTERNATIONAL CALL FOR PROJECTS

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