Diepsloot, South Africa
December, 2005
By Dan Shine, 50x15 Program Director

The sound of the hard earth under our feet was remarkably loud as we moved across the schoolyard to visit the new computer lab at the Diepsloot School. Even more memorable was the sound of the school principal's voice as she explained that a number of her eighth and ninth graders had recently decided to work harder to stay in school and move to the tenth grade. Why? Because tenth grade is the level at which students are trained to use computers and can access the Internet at the school. So, they stay in school. Simple, and yet another amazing by-product of enabling people around the world with access to the internet.

In the December, 2005 issue of 50x15 Connections, we cover the Diespsloot experience in more detail. It's a solution that's working, replicable, and most importantly, scalable. In addition, on our Website you’ll find a thought provoking CNN News video feature related to the Diepsloot story.

There are nearly 800 million people in Sub-Saharan Africa. As Thomas Friedman highlights in his compelling book, The World is Flat, the number of Africans living on less than a $1 a day has doubled since 1990. This is in sharp contrast to India and China, where this level of poverty has dropped by half in the same period. As the book describes so well, the world is becoming flat but there are still places like Africa dangerously close to being left off this newly-drawn map completely. Internet access can put those same places on the map in a way nothing else can. Most leaders in Africa understand this and are taking action. It's an exciting, challenging time, in Africa and around the world.

Dan Shine
50x15 Program Director