Help Wire Remote Laos Villages

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")."

Comments

More important things than the Internet

[stevejsmith]

I don't think that Laos needs free Internet connections. I think what they need is houses, and a literacy rate above 60%. How do expect a small village, only 60% literate, to know how to use the Internet? In a country where the phones to people ratio is well over 1:100, I doubt that the Internet will be of must use.

I'll repeat what I said about India regarding the Simputer: there are more important things than the Internet. You know, food, water, shelter during the monsoon season

Re:More important things than the Internet

[plierhead]

I don't think that Laos needs free Internet connections. I think what they need is houses, and a literacy rate above 60%. How do expect a small village, only 60% literate, to know how to use the Internet?

I agree theres a whole lot of other stuff they need more than internet access. But, if thats whats on offer, I wouldn't say it is useless because of high illiteracy rates. It might only take one semi-literate person in a small village, AND some compelling content, to plant the seeds for others to teach themselves to read. It might be surprising just what people can teach themselves, and perhaps the internet could be the key to reducing illiteracy.

Re:More important things than the Internet

[Draxinusom]

Did you bother to read any of the linked webpages? First of all, there are plenty of useful applications for the internet: to get accurate and timely information about crops pricing, to stay in touch with relatives scattered by poverty and war, to bid on things like construction jobs. The bare necessities are also desperately needed, but it's not completely inconceivable that one communally-owned computer could bring much more cost-effective and immediate benefit to a village than, say, literacy education, which while necessary in the long-term is expensive and doesn't pay dividends for years. Secondly, if you take what's been written about this project in good faith, this is something that the Laotian villagers asked for. It's fantastic that you seem to know better than the people themselves what they need, but unless you're going to put your money where your mouth is and pony up some housing, why deride the efforts of people who are actually trying to help?

Re:More important things than the Internet

[raju1kabir]

I don't think that Laos needs free Internet connections. I think what they need is houses, and a literacy rate above 60%. How do expect a small village, only 60% literate, to know how to use the Internet?

So you don't think that anyone should be able to do anything beyond subsistence until everyone has been raised to their level?

You have to keep education and opportunity moving forward, or else there's no room for people to grow into.

Among the 60% who are literate, some will do great things given the opportunity. They will also be able to prepare their society for a smoother transition into greater capacity when more resources are available, because computers will not be alien to them.

Of course, you and Trotsky are free to disagree with me.