Dana Oshiro

One Laptop Per Child is a project created by the MIT media labs dedicated to helping children in developing countries gain access to education via a sturdy wind-up laptop. They are trying to get the cost of producing this laptop down to $100 per computer; however, for a limited time if the general public in the US or Canada decides they'd like to purchase one for themselves or a child they know, another gets donated to a child in need. The total cost of the "Give a Laptop Get a Laptop" purchase is $400. This is alot of money, but when you think about how much money it costs to buy a regular laptop (usually in the $1000+ range) it's actually not a bad deal.

According to the MIT team, many of the children who receive these laptops take them home and teach the whole family how to use them. Often it is the only source of light in their homes. I thought about my friend in Ghana who worked with Reporters Without Borders. This would be an amazing tool as it has a built-in camera, built-in wireless internet connection and can switch between color and monochrome screens in order to be used in direct sunlight. Citizen journalists can cover an election and rebroadcast it without being censored.

I thought about the doctors and aid workers I saw traveling through South Africa who treat children with rare rashes and diseases. Imagine having a Guatemalan doctor halfway across the world recognize the ailment and make recommendations. This can change people's lives. While we know that classroom learning is for the most part the best way to educate kids, and that in-person medical attention is the best way to get treated, this isn't a bad alternative. There are millions of at-risk kids in the world, there is simply no way every single one of them can get the attention they need. This can help bridge the gap.

Tomorrow is both National Name your PC Day as well as National Children's Day

I don't have any kids, but I've decided to name my computer, "Mr. Buttons". He's got black keys, is irritable and likes drawing pictures. I feed him power every day and he outputs data. I don't coo over him like most parents with a Mac Powerbook etc. but I'm still proud of his sturdy Dell exterior. If he were a real child I'd probably still decorate him with stickers. Everyone likes stickers.

On Sunday I finished reading Sue Monk Kidd's "The Secret Life of Bees". It's been months since I've actually read an entire novel for pleasure and I really enjoyed it. I woke up early at about 6am and I read through until about ten. It was great, especially since I had an entire sunny day to live out with my honey after I finished.

There's a line when the narrator talks about a friend that reminded me of Respectance:
"I watched him, filled with tenderness and ache, wondering what it was that connected us. Was it the wounded places down inside people that sought each other out, that bred a kind of love between them?"

There's something about loss that brings us together and makes us want to hold on to life and the people we love more tightly. Sharing memories is important and not wanting to create bad memories is also important. I watch my mother becoming less critical of me after losing her father and more recently, her mother. I watch myself softening to ensure that I maintain a good relationship with my family. We are all watching each other grow old and growing to respect and tolerate each other's vastly different viewpoints. Things have certainly changed for the better.

I remember ten years ago coming home for Thanksgiving and spouting off some sort of political jargon over the carved turkey. There was a blow up and I left in a huff with my hippie boyfriend. Since then I've had a cancer scare (am ok now), my mom started working with underprivileged kids, my dad lost his mother, I started helping the homeless, my brother became an adult and a College grad and we all gained a little more experience with an outside world that isn't always nice. I've come to the realization that I need to be supportive and more empathetic. It's cliche, but I'm going come right out and say it, "They're the only family I've got." (And...I might add, they're pretty darn good) While it's healthy to discuss viewpoints on world issues, it seems pointless to lose my cool. Why pour salt into the wounds of a loved one? Life can be difficult and it's really sort of common sense to try to make things pleasant for the people I love. The old me might disagree, but let's face it, she was dumb enough to believe everything she read.

Whoa mama. I am settling into my new job at Respectance and I feel like there is tons of work to get done. Breathe deep.

About ten years ago in Canada...as I typed featured articles in my closet-like studio apartment, I noticed a few cool NGO's organizing human rights, health and education campaigns online. I was so envious. These lucky few activists were passionately chasing their burning causes while also designing amazing resources. I joined Respectance knowing that we can expand this into a great resource. Anyone who is reading this is contributing to that resource and helping people cope with the questions in life that are so difficult to ask aloud. Thank you.

WHY CELEBRATE SOMEONE WE'VE LOST?
Unfortunately most of us have lost someone we love. It's all great and good to admit that death is inevitable for all of us; however, the fact of the matter is, we rarely know the last meeting when we see it and most of us never get to say goodbye. For me then, there is that period where I have to remember that someone is no longer with me and I'm a mess. With my grandmother I went so far as writing a lunch date into my day planner only to realize that I'd be the only one there. And then I cried. This is how it always happens. I'm late on the draw with my tears. (Usually about 3 weeks late)

Admittedly, being from a slightly conservative Asian family, I have a hard time being emotional in public. I almost never cry at funerals but will totally lose it 3 weeks later in an awkward sobbing scene at a supermarket full of strangers. And that's when I feel most alone. I look out at all the perfectly normal people squeezing fruit and I think, "If you had known him/her, you'd stop tapping your stupid melons and realize what the world is missing out on." (I guess that qualifies me as an angry mourner.) More than anything though, I believe in justice. And what kind of a world are we living in where Paris Hilton gets a fansite and my friend Sherry, a woman who spent years helping others while battling her own breast cancer, doesn't? I guess what I'm saying is, it is really important to me to sing about the unsung heroes in my life. I would hate for people of the future to look back and see that in 2007 the world was completely populated by morons.

Thanks for posting and drop Martha or I an email if you've got feedback on the site. We are still so new as a company that we are working out some of our details and would love to hear how we can improve for you.