I was invited to the Sri Lankan President's residence at temple trees today for the launch of the OLPC program in Sri Lankan. 1300 laptops are to be distributed to 13 rural schools. A lot of partners were involved in getting this off the ground including many members of the FOSS community. Virtusa specifically sponsored the server machines for the schools as part of their CSR "digital reach" effort. We wish the Ministry of Education, who is at the center of this effort the best success as it certainly will do wonders for kids in rural areas. I remember the amount of keen curiosity and interest the kids had when we did our field tests in the schools. Apart from that, it was an great opportunity to see the president up close, as he was sitting just two chairs just in front of me. I am generally a fan of our president as whatever said and done, he lead this country out of a devastating civil war, the magnitude of problem, militarily, economically, socially and politically (particularly international politics), which no other president before had to face or ever had firm a resolve to overcome. All our kids have a chance for a future in this country because of the end of this war, that deteriorated our nation for decades. So the president can rest on his laurels as far as I am concerned at least for now, as he delivered on this important promise to his fellow Citizens only just few months ago. Now it is time for all of us to contribute to heal the wounds left behind after the civil war and ensure that the reason for the civil war does not rise again.
Ref Article: http://blog.laptop.org/2009/12/10/sri-lankan-president-launches-a-national-xo-program/
