"I commend the interest and participation of the Ethiopian community in North America in partnering with us to provide the olpc project for kids in Ethiopia. We are very much encouraged by this and look forward to an active partnership in this effort"

Nicholas Negroponte Founder and chairman of the One Laptop per Child non-profit organization

Ethiopia is one of the first countries in Africa to pilot the One Laptop Per Child initiative – with ecbp’s help. This powerful educational tool has already been successfully piloted in two Ethiopian schools. Currently, 5,000 laptops have been distributed by ecbp in 4 schools and many more will follow.

ecbp has introduced e-learning to Ethiopian universities. In a country that often struggles to find enough qualified teachers, this is invaluable. The more students avail of e-learning, the more time is freed for their teachers. Twenty-five courses will benefit by the end of the year.

Open source software has proved an important tool all over the world. It is easily developed, collaborative, and – most importantly – it is free. ecbp has been involved in introducing this software to Ethiopia. Business software has been provided to small and medium enterprises along with training on how it can be fully exploited.

Computer terminals loaded with the latest open source software and e-books have been put in Addis Ababa University. Students can then download all kinds of digital content at their leisure – priceless in a country where Internet connections are often slow. ecbp plans to provide 75 more of these machines and distribute them countrywide.