Expanding Access to Free Offline Educational Resources Initiative

Converting Obsolete Personal Computers Into Educational Information Servers and Helping Schools and Farmers Generate More Income Using Biochar.

The team at CharityHelp International has developed a guide on how to convert obsolete laptops into educational information servers. These servers are loaded with a wide range of educational resources including information about biochar. We are starting by reaching out to agricultural centres in developing countries since they are able to train others on how to benefit from these free educational resources. They can also take advantage by learning how to earn income from producing and utilizing biochar.

These multi-formatted educational information servers include a wide range of topics including math, science, history, technology, climate solutions such as biochar, and learning English as a second language. These servers distribute this information via ethernet and WiFi to other devices nearby such as smartphones, tablets and computers at no cost. 

The information content on this server is organized and distributed using two complementary software platforms; Kolibri by Learning Equality and Kiwix. Along with serving educational content to users, these software platforms allow administrators to add additional educational material to this server by downloading content from the master Kolibri and/or Kiwix online servers.

We are starting by connecting with agricultural centres in developing countries since they are able to train others on how to benefit from combining free educational resources with making and using biochar. 

Biochar is a charcoal-like substance made by heating organic waste (also called biomass) in an oxygen-limited environment. It can be combined with organic matter and incorporated into soil to enhance its ability to grow food. One study found that when mixed with compost, biochar can increase a crop yield by 40%.

Many organizations around the world are training people on how to make and use biochar such as the International Biochar Initiative. As well, there is also a major initiative underway called Biochar Life by Warm Heart Worldwide to pay smallholder farmers for producing biochar once they are approved through an application process. As a result, we are promoting awareness of this material along with how to convert obsolete laptops into educational information servers.

As we raise more funds for this initiative, we plan to reach out to international NGOs that focus on education in developing countries with the capacity to provide online technical support to these organizations. This technical support will complement the online forums provided by Kolibri and Kiwix.

After we reach out to education-focused international NGOs, we plan to connect with smaller NGOs that are based in one of our selected developing countries and focused on education. Ultimately, we plan to expand our initiative to as many developing countries as possible. Over time, our goal is to increase awareness on how to convert obsolete laptops into educational information servers and on the benefits of biochar. 
If you are interested in supporting this initiative, please contact us via our contact us page.