Laptop Donation/Education

About

Education is by far the best way to break a cycle of poverty. To this end, we at BTM are donating laptops/solar powered table systems to rural schools where we work. This is done as part of our medical mission trip. During that trip our IT experts, Jennifer Hardy and Naomi Lisse, train both students and faculty in the use of these computers, including teaching them basic programming skills. The laptops and tablets are filled with educational software including “Khan Academy” which functions as a sort of “internet without the internet,” placing a vast amount of readily accessible knowledge and literature at a student’s fingertips.  Included in this information are discussions of best farming practices and conservation agriculture to enable those who stay on the farm to improve their crop yields. The computers also have Microsoft Office in them. Working with laptops and tablets and this software can potentially give a poor rural Malawian student sufficient skills to get a good paying job in the city. This would help the student get off the farm and also improve the income of his/her farm family as he sends money home from his/her new job.



Zodiak, Malawi’s National TV channel, recently aired a story about Bridges to Malawi’s donation of laptops and solar power in Malawi.

What We Do

  • Donate solar power systems, laptops and projectors to rural communities in the Kasungu District of Malawi, Africa
  • Support a local team of 4 technicians who
    • Visit schools monthly
      • Repair laptops and troubleshoot solar
      • Train teachers on use of technology for digital learning
  • Visit 1-3 times per year to
    • Deliver additional laptops and technology
    • Provide professional development for ICT (Information/Computer Technology) teachers
    • Provide model lessons to students
    • Expand the program to additional schools
    • Train and support tech team
  • Provide scholarships for university studies
  • Support further education of the technicians

IT Education and Laptop Donation Trip – Jan 2023

For further details and photos, see our January 2023 Detailed Trip Presentation slides.

Trip Objectives:

  1. Communicate program objectives to beneficiary school leadership
  2. Observe school’s implementation of Information/Computer Technology (ICT) studies
  3. Evaluate solar power systems
  4. Add projector and 5 additional laptops to each school
  5. Offer professional development (PD) to beneficiary school teachers
  6. Enhance female student ICT studies and access
  7. Offer model lessons to beneficiary school students
  8. Build collaborative relationships within Malawi
  9. Build efficiencies within ICT technician team

Achievements as of Feb 2020

  • 80 Laptops and a Solar Powered 8 Tablet System Donated to 7 secondary schools respectively.
  • Over 200 Solar Powered Flashlights Donated to poor farm families, decreasing the need for fuel to light a house at night and thus also allowing children to study after dark.

Additional Photos