A child’s path to becoming a strong and self-determined learner can be difficult in even the best conditions.  Now, imagine you are a child trying to read after soldiers have interrogated your teacher, again.  Imagine you are a child who just lost a home, school, and half your friends in the instant of a massive flood. Families coping with emergencies and war consider education as life saving as water, food, shelter, and medical supplies. Education builds back community, gives children tools to cope, and provides a link to a future beyond their current stresses.

This week One Laptop per Child took part as a new partner in the bi-annual meeting of the Education Cluster Working Group, a UNICEF and Save the Children led initiative for Education in Emergencies born out of the EFI. New friends in the Cluster shared their education relief efforts in Haiti, Pakistan, occupied Palestinian territories, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo over the past two years.

Stay tuned for news of OLPC’s input to the Cluster on open-source material for learning, protecting education from attack, and community participation for education in emergencies. After all, the XO was built to provide learning opportunities for children in the most remote and difficult circumstances.