KUMU Project wants to become a Non-Governmental Organisation

KUMU Project [Free knowledge for communities] is a project aiming to become a Non-Governmental Organisation that has been inspired by World Possible – worldpossible.org (creator of RACHEL-PI), the digital off-line library provided.

My name is Mauro Depaoli, self-appointed promoter of RACHEL-PI in Australasia; currently working for a leading New Zealand construction company as Group ICT Manager. I have been living in New Zealand for almost 10 years’ and have 15 years’ experience in network engineering and enterprise project management with an innovative, strategic and solutions-focused approach to businesses.

KUMU Project is my personal philanthropic and dynamic project committed to providing educational and other related services, such as solar powered solutions, to children, youth and remote communities.

KUMU Project operates in Australasia and Pacific Islands, like in Vanuatu where recently 18 devices have been installed in Sanma province; one library in the office of Ministry of Education in Luganville and 17 schools providing educational resources to more than 7000 students and 440 teachers. New Zealand is however our primary placement area, as there are rural schools with limited internet access or expensive costs.

During the installations teachers were immediately engaged and have seen great value in the off-line digital library (RACHEL-PI) saying how much time it would save them, such as avoiding travelling to another island to use often outdated resources, sparking new ideas and so leveraging the content to enhance and create better lessons and programs for the students.

RACHEL-PI promoted by KUMU Projects contains ten years’ worth of educational resources for children between the ages of five to fifteen years old.

The content on the device is inclusive of millions of articles, thousands of videos and digital books that can also be downloaded, printed and easily accessed via computer networks or wireless devices completely free of charge from internet providers.

Teachers can utilise the resource for lesson planning with updated content. The subjects on the device are very diverse and very valuable from Agriculture, English, History, Health Studies, Religious Studies, Geography, Maths, Agriculture, Environment and much more. The content is currently available in three languages and is all contained in a microcomputer within a single memory card, that is easily updated.

Feasibility study underway for two rather large installations in Papua New Guinea and Kingdom of Tonga.