English Audio Request

Cavallo tells me of a child he encountered in Uruguay where One Laptop Per Child supplied XOs to every schoolchild in its biggest scheme to date. "This kid took one home. When they came back they'd filmed one of their cows giving birth and turned it into their project. That is what is so incredible. They work out for themselves what they want to do with the computer."
Cavallo and One Laptop Per Child are cautious about how they present themselves. One day he describes to me an advertising campaign that they rejected. It is one that the Rwandan government might have liked, but it jarred with Papert's ideals. "It was this Hollywood idea. The hero comes in. Does everything. That's what we rejected. It showed a Nobel prizewinner then wound back 20 years to the XO. But it is not what we're about. We are about teachers and nurses."
In his office on the top floor of his ministry Charles Murigande, Rwanda's education minister is talking about the economic potential offered by his country's embracing of technology. After a while he changes tack from the politician's hard selling of Kagame's Vision 2020 programme that would see Rwanda reimagined as an offshore technology hub to compete with Asia. Instead, he talks about connecting Rwanda with the world; how it will change Rwanda's people; perhaps even protect them.
"I believe that this will help us build a more cohesive society," he explains carefully. "We cannot disguise that terrible things happened here. But it has allowed us to reflect on who we are and who we want to be. To ensure these things never occur again.
"If the country is a closed society – as it once was – thinking about its Hutu-ness and Tutsi-ness, its smallness, it would not take long to recreate conditions for a new genocide. Being a connected part of the world helps build ramparts against that risk."
This idea, of Rwanda looking outwards rather than inward, is not simply a hoped-for by-product of the project but is as specific to it as teaching children to write simple computer code. Modules on health education and environmental protection are integral to the programme as is the introduction of children to the idea that they have human rights, that it is their right to have a proper education.
Chris Plutte works for Search for Common Ground, an organisation specialising in conflict resolution and reconciliation. He tells me about a proposal he has in for funding to support the development of a game written specially for the XO. "We see in One Laptop Per Child the potential for peace-building through gaming in primary schools," he says. It will be part of a genre of "serious gaming" programs that encourage players to solve conflict problems; where the gamers' acts have consequences for the outcome.
"Rwanda is a very reserved society. The thing about gaming is that it is very personal. You can play it by yourself – make choices that show benefits or consequences. Play it out multiple times to see the different outcomes. It is an idea I came to David [Cavallo] with six months ago. If we get the go ahead from our backers we would hope to get the game ready in 12 to 18 months."