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Help Wire Remote Laos Villages

Posted by timothy on from the net-drop-in-every-pot dept.

rODbegbie writes "Lee Felsenstein is appealing for donations to help provide Internet access to remote Laos villages. The New York Times considered the idea one of the best in 2002, but they need to raise $25,000 to get this in place before monsoon season. Donations can be made using Paypal (mention that it's for "Remote IT")."

5 of 263 comments (clear)

  1. Get to know Lee by ch-chuck · · Score: 5, Informative

    Read an interview here.
    Lee was involved in getting public access terminals deployed in the early 70's in San Francisco, created the Pop 'Tronics "Penny Whistle Modem" project, and the highly collectible SOL-20 personal computer, member Honbrew Computer Club - this guy was /there/ during the genesis of the personal computer revolution.

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  2. Re:More important things than the Internet by stevejsmith · · Score: 4, Informative

    However would you disagree that $25,000 worth of teaching jobs would probably be at least twice as useful? When teachers get paid less than $500 per year, that could buy five teachers for ten years. A much better investment, I would say.

  3. Re:More important things than the Internet by Jogar+the+Barbarian · · Score: 2, Informative
    This is something that the Laotian villagers asked for.

    I don't think it's reasonable to expect 4th-worlders to necessarily know what's best for them.

    I've heard a story from a missionary to SE Asia describe this problem. He asked an utterly destitute mountain village what they needed, and first they said more alcohol. When he urged them to focus on the absoluete necessities, what would improve their standard of living, they discussed amongst themselves... and replied, "We've decided that what would really make our lives better is having a karaoke machine like they have in the town."

    It took the missionary and his wife a year just to teach them basic hygiene.

    Somehow, I don't think having access to cnn.com and cnet.com is what these people really need...

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  4. Re:Who initiated? by ntk · · Score: 4, Informative
    It's my understanding that it was initiated by the locals, who asked for access to information and knowledge about stuff like crop prices.

    I wrote a bit about this in my Irish Times article on the project:


    Farmers will be able to monitor the price of crops in the town markets, negotiate group purchases with the other villages, and make business deals without having to spend days travelling away from the farm. And families will be able to make direct contact for the first time with the Laotian Diaspora - relatives who've left the war-torn area to earn money in the capital of the country, and beyond.

    Cheap technology like this, dropped into the very poorest of countries, may provide a chance for these nations to leapfrog into the digital revolution.

    Of course, there'll always be someone who'll argue that providing this kind of technology to the least developed countries of the world is missing the point: that we should, as Bill Gates said recently, be spending our money instead on medical and food projects. And, of course, everyone involved in the Jhai project suggests we should do that too. But it's notable that it was the rural villagers themselves who asked for ways to communicate and gain knowledge, not the foundation.


    Info about donating via Paypal here.
  5. Re:You're Joking Right? by Any+Web+Loco · · Score: 2, Informative

    Speaking as someone who's not American, why does your comment not surprise me.