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Gigapan Robot class in Soweto South Africa

Clean Water Not Cameras

There is a refrain that schools in conditions of true poverty need clean water, and that technology such as Gigapan is, simply put, the wrong application of resources. Now I can say with confidence that this is utter nonsense. The school, Lavela High School, is in a poor part of the township, Soweto. But that does not mean that there is any difference between the attitudes, desires and enthusiasm of the learners as compared to our “priveleged” students in a private school in the U.S. Lavela is down an unmarked road and consists of fifteen dust-colored buildings. The facilities are modest but well-kept, and wait until you approach the large, steel, blue-painted door. Behind that door is a computer lab, nine months old, that contains 30 Intel workstations and a large server. Imagine the feeling when you fly for 24 hours then drive into Soweto, which both feels like a foreign land because of all the prior stereotypes you hold in your head and also has shopping malls that are newer and prettier than what Pittsburgh possesses. Now you turn down a road, drive through a section on dirt paths next to the actual torn-up road, take two more turns, then walk in on that computer laboratory. Gigapan signs have been printed and posted on the walls. An arrow to the left, with the word Gigapan printed above. Where the direction is right, the sign is posted upside-down.

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