Oliver Hansen

This Christmas (or any time after Nov. 12) you can purchase a neat laptop for your child or yourself and one will be sent to a child in a developing country at the same time! The OLPC project has been an interesting one. Initially their goal was to make a laptop for $100 so that every child in the world could have access to the same information and technology enabling them to learn. The price has gone up since that time to about $188 but it’s still a great idea and the creativity in developing the laptop is quite inspiring as well.

I’m a geek, so just having one of these would be neat. They’re also not bad for children as that is their intended audience.

Starting November 12, One Laptop Per Child will be offering a Give 1 Get 1 Program for a brief window of time in North America. For $399, you will be purchasing two XO laptops—one that will be sent to empower a child to learn in a developing nation, and one that will be sent to your child at home.

Sign up for the reminder email or donate today!

The way I found the site Green Eyes In Africa is a little interesting in itself. Ever since I discovered my old site was on the front page of the Google search for my name I have been curious to see how high I could get my sites. Some call this a vanity / ego search but the point is I found another site that popped up on the same search and decided to check it out. As I read through the site the stories became increasingly interesting to me because of my brief time spent in Mexico at an orphanage which instilled the value of volunteering and had a lot to do with my deciding to join the Peace Corps later in life. For a reasonable donation Green Eyes In Africa will send you one or both of the DVD documentaries An Orphan’s Gift and Green Eyes In Africa.

Reading more about this person who shares two of my names, it turns out Ryan Oliver Hansen is quite an amazing young man. As an art student at BYU he decided to make a touching documentary which in his words in an article at The Daily Utah Chronicle he says

Originally, my trip was meant to be a summer-only endeavor-a fun, feel-good experience that would look smashing on my ever-improving résumé.

That documentary An Orphan’s Gift took place as he spent 7 months at an orphanage in Esmeraldas, Ecuador which would change his life forever. (more…)