One Laptop per Child (OLPC) is launching their second annual Give 1, Get 1 campaign. Starting today, Americans and Europeans can buy an XO for themselves for $399 on Amazon.com, while at the same time giving a child of the developing world an XO of their own. Those who just want to give a laptop can do so by donating $199.

Last year’s Give 1 Get 1 helped raise more than $35 million to fund the delivery of over 150,000 laptops to children in countries such as Afghanistan, Iraq, Lebanon, Cambodia, Ethiopia, Haiti, Mongolia and Rwanda.

At LAPTOP Magazine the kick off of OLPC’s global campaign allows us to show off our first-hand reporting of the impact that giving an XO can have on a child. During last year’s Give 1, Get 1 program we sent one laptop to a former colleague in Mali. She gave that durable, green laptop to a fourth grade girl and we watched how she used the little notebook.

Taken with the experience, we went further this year and donated 30 laptops through OLPC’s Give Many program to the village of Ouéléssébougou in Mali. With those laptops we launched an eight week program where 30 third and fourth graders were able to use and keep the laptops. We have reported on the progress of the students and how they used the XOs as well as some of the obstacles with the laptops themselves.

We encourage those whom are considering participating in Give 1, Get 1 to read our coverage of our program in Mali. In these tough economic times, reading about how children can be impacted by one laptop may help you rethink what you buy your child this holiday season.

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