One Laptop Per Child!

The final charity that we’re sponsoring for this Imagine Peace Fest is doing big things globally with a great mind towards education and universal access to technology! So before I get started I think I nice way to plunge into OLP is with their own introduction video to show you what their about and what they’re doing!

So basically you can tell that their goal is to create a wider availability of education for all children, everywhere. This education comes, in their model, in the form of a durable, sensible, laptop that the children can use to access the internet and gain first hand experience with technology. OLP also believes that if these children get to have fun and access to a new way of learning and education that they’ll stay in school longer and work harder which will ultimately benefit their community when they get older.

Some people may say that their goals are unattainable or unachievable because of the lack of electricity to power these laptops but OLP works closely with several different manufacturers to make sure that these computers can be solar powered. Also some of the critics of OLP have given them a hard time for focusing on technology education when people in their communities may be starving and have a lack of water supply. OLP argues back that education cannot be thrown away for the sake of building the infrastructure of these communities and that when education is introduced these children may be the key to solving those problems.

OLP does not just believe that it’s goal should be to help the children in these poor, rural areas, but also to get the parents involved by having a new media between them to communicate. At the same time that the children are learning and adapting to new technology with their education their parents are gaining exposure just from the virtue that the child has the laptop in the house.

I think that OLP is doing a great job in their mission so far and it’s an honor to be able to contribute to their charity this year. but don’t take it just from me, check out their stories yourself at http://one.laptop.org/stories

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IMAGINE PeaceFest 2011! Heads, Hearts, Hands!

We’re so excited to keep bringing you guys news about the awesome events we have lined up for this years IMAGINE PeaceFest!

IF you haven’t done so already you can check out our previous posts for some details as to what’s going on when in Second Life and in Real Life! We also have some short biographies of the Organizations we’re supporting this year!

Check out the video below for some more information about IMAGINE PeaceFest and be sure to tell all you friends so we can make the biggest difference in peoples lives this year.

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IMAGINE PeaceFest 2011 Updates!

Hey everyone we’ve all been hard at work trying to make this year’s peace train the biggest ever! That being said we thought it’s only fair to clue you guys in to some of the great stuff that we’re planning both in Second Life and in Real Life here at Old Dominion University.

Also we’re in the process of updating the schedule over here so check back soon for a more complete listing of s

On the Second Life front:

Some of the live virtual performances include:

– Ga Go Gigamon (from Japan!)

– Louis Landon (aka Louis Volare in SL)

– Cylindrian Rutabaga

– Blues Heron

– Max Kleene

and Gina Stella

Some of the virtual discussions and interviews include:

– Water Rights and Peace

– An interview with READA Cambodia

Some of the Learning sessions include

– Democratic organizing

– Tour of the RAWA virtual space

– Talk with Dr. Andrew

Some of the other virtual events include

– CARP Benvolio

– A reading / performance of The Universe is a Green Dragon

Again More Updates on the schedule coming up soon.

At the Old Dominion campus we’re going to have two sepearate spoken word events to help sponsor Imagine Peace Fest.

The first day will be put on by the Flowetic Movement on Friday, November 11 around 5 PM at the House of Blues Cafe at ODU. More specific details to come.

The second event will present live poets from the area preforming poems and spoken word pieces in support of peace fest on Sunday, November 13, around 5 PM at the House of Blues Cafe at ODU. More specific Details to come!

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Rural Economic and Agriculture Development Agency Cambodia

The Rural Economic and Agricultural Development Agency’s was founded in 2004 with the sole mission, “to change the rural community people from a situation of poverty towards advanced socio-economic autonomy with professional skills that leads them to have their own sustainable small and medium business or livelihood activities with a high awareness of society and health.”

READA is revolutionary in the way it’s thinking about helping impoverished individuals. READA takes economic principals and mixes them with community environments to help create sustainable farming practices that help these communities raise standards of living and improve farming practices. Their model allows innovation on a base level; the farmers themselves implement and create new strategies to make their farming more successful. The idea is that when these farmers implement and begin to grow it pays back into the community as word spreads and their farming practices are re-implimented into other nearby communities.

Working with Non-Governmental Agencies and Local Governmental Agencies READA has spent the past 7 years using this method to help creating better communities in rural areas. Not only does this method improve the local farming culture but it also helps create a better sense of communal education as one generation passes it’s ideas on to the next.

Since READA has started they’ve expanded their operations into other parts of society such as HIV Awareness, societal protection, and helping create equality within their communities. READA is a model for what an amazing NGO is and we’ve chosen to sponsor them for this years IMAGINE PeaceFest because of all the great work they’ve done and continue to do.

You can find more about READA here.

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Peace Train Info Video!

If you guys like what we’re doing then tell your friends to hop on board. Change starts in the smallest of places so lets all work together and make a difference! Make sure to share this video all around to help support people in need!

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