One <your favorite cause here> Per Child

The BBC is reporting that Libya has agreed to provide its 1.2 million school children with the $100 laptop. Note that it says school children. So I guess children not going to school are not counted. I wonder how close that is to One Laptop per Child in Libya.

Everytime I think about the One Laptop per Child project, I can't help it but wonder what good does a laptop do to a child who is lacking life's basic necessities. I am talking about the really basic stuff, like pottable water, food, and basic health care. According to the FAQ on OLPC's web site, laptops are:

are a wonderful way for all children to learn learning through independent interaction and exploration.

But what about children who are too thirsty, hungry, or sick to learn? Wouldn't it be better to channel our effort into projects like:

Pottable Water per Child

Food per Child

Basic Health Care per Child

Actually someone is working on pottable water, check out PlayPumps. Bringing clean water to 10 million people over the next three years is a pretty good start to pottable water per child.