Serene. Full-of-Life. Promising. Words to describe the community of Lubang, Mindoro. This small, and remote island is home to approximately 28,000 thousand people or Lubanguenos. It is also the birthplace of something special - the first OLPC and eKindling deployment in the Philippines. In partnership with former employees of the National Computer Center, the municipality of Lubang and OLPC Friends, eKindling is working towards bringing the transformative benefits of XO laptops and innovative learning practices to the children of Lubang Integrated School and Maligaya Elementary School.
The answer is YES! Ask Harv Viray, a faculty member of the University of the Philippines Diliman. His home in Pasig was flooded as Typhoon Ondoy battered Luzon. Although he made an attempt to save the XO laptop from the rising, murky waters, he was unsuccessful. A month later, the XO laptop still works - a testament to the ruggedness of the XO laptop.
