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Our team is also in the process of establishing an official student organization at MIT dedicated to overseeing our program, logistically, financially, and personally, after we return to the U.S. By becoming an official club, we will be able to apply to the MIT Undergraduate Association Finance Board for any funds related to our organization; this board receives around $200k every year to provide funding for student groups. In addition, we will be able to fundraise both on-campus, by holding university-wide events, and off-campus, by soliciting alumni for funds or by soliciting corporate sponsorships. These are all ways in which we will be able to provide financial support after we leave, in order to maintain internet connectivity, power, connections to servers, repairs, and eventual replacement of the laptops. In addition, forming an MIT group will further student interest in our program and in OLPC in general. By forming an organization, we hope to provide support and maintenance for existing programs and also to raise the necessary funds to send new OLPC teams to Africa every summer.
Language and Communication
The local spoken languages in Bababe are Pulaar, a language used in Senegal, Mauritania, Gambia, and western Mali; Hassniya, a dialect of Arabic that is understood by most children because they must learn the Koran at a young age; and French. The children also learn English in school, but at the age of 6-12, they probably only know the basics. For this reason, we will most likely teach the children in French, although we will obviously still use English in English language classes.
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