50x15 and The Miracle Foundation Help Extend Digital Inclusion to India
In a remote town in eastern India, AMD is helping provide computer access to some of its youngest inhabitants as part of its 50x15 initiative. Located in Birmitrapur, The Miracle Foundation orphanage houses 50 children, between the ages of 3 and 12, who attend the area’s local schools.
Finding their way to the orphanage through various avenues (some as victims of the devastating tsunami), the children face a life of uncertainty. What’s more, Birmitrapur is remote – 45 minutes by car from the nearest town of Rourkela – and faces significant challenges in infrastructure, power management, and connectivity. It is in this environment that AMD and The Miracle Foundation, a non-profit started by Austinite Caroline Boudreaux that finds American sponsors for the orphaned children, collaborated to deploy the 50x15 Learning Lab.
A key component of AMD's 50x15 effort, Learning Labs comprise strategic deployments of technology solutions with a common goal - to gain insight on the best means to foster digital inclusion. The 50x15 program is a shared vision designed to result in empowerment and self-reliance, and in keeping with that, the main findings from each Learning Lab project are encapsulated and published to serve as scalable models for future digital inclusion efforts. The larger objective is to create sustainable ecosystems that leverage technology, infrastructure, micro-financing and entrepreneurial experience to provide affordable technology to people in high-growth markets and help develop the skills they need to succeed in modern globalized economies.
In the Learning Lab at Birmitrapur, India, the fundamental goal is to provide the children of the orphanage with educational capabilities and a means of keeping in touch with their adoptive parents around the world. The deployment consists of 10 Personal Internet Communicators (PICs) connected to the Internet through an AMD Athlon 64-based PC that acts as a server.
The Miracle Foundation staff is teaching the students how to use the mouse and keyboard for word processing and drawing. Many students have already begun to enjoy the pre-installed games on the computers. Volunteers are also helping prepare the new classroom by purchasing desks and chairs and installing the electrical wiring to enable adequate Broadband connectivity. Future plans include the installation of educational software on the server and the recruitment of a local teacher to conduct a computer literacy class. AMD will continue to assist in obtaining and installing additional software, and will help resolve technical issues that emerge as construction of the permanent lab is completed.
The children’s excitement extends beyond the fact that they can now develop new skills or study millions of topics through the Internet. Through the opening of the Learning Lab, a new world has been opened to these children, most of whom have never seen a computer; much less had the opportunity to use one. Not only do these children acquire life skills at the orphanage, but now they learn about technology-driven opportunities and discover a new way of learning about the world.
About The Miracle Foundation: The Miracle Foundation is a non-profit organization dedicated to empowering orphaned children in India. Formed in 2000, The Miracle Foundation provides a livable solution for the children by finding American sponsors for them, focusing on one orphanage at a time. To learn more about the initiatives implemented, differences being realized or how you might get involved, log onto www.themiraclefoundation.org.