We are very excited to have two new volunteers working with us to advance the OLPC project in Nepal. They come from very different backgrounds but share a common goal: to improve education for the world's poorest children. And, of course, they are also excited to work with cutting-edge technology.

While fascinated by the technical aspects of this project, Ties is motivated by a larger social concern. "I have always been concerned with the problem of inequality. OLPC has an exciting opportunity to address the problem of inequality in education, and I am here in Nepal to contribute as best I can."

Dev Mohanty is originally from Bangalore but has lived for many years in France, Singapore, and Bangkok. With an extensive background in mobile communications, primarily with Ericsson Corporation, he is particularly interested in using WiMax technologies to connect rural communities to the Internet. Recently, he participated in a WiMax installation project in Cambodia.

Our Director of Networking, Mahabir Pun, has been working with Dev over the last several months to connect rural villages in Nepal to the Internet as part of the Nepal Wireless Project. For the next several months, Dev will be working with our team to connect the pilot school to the Internet, strengthen the mesh network, and improve the School Server. Having seen firsthand how Internet access can improve the quality of life in rural communities, Dev is excited about his work in Nepal. "I hope that the work I do here will help similar efforts in India."

We are always looking for talented contributors to join us in Nepal. However, you don’t have to be physically present to make a big impact on the OLPC project. Tony Pearson of IBM has been extremely helpful in developing our school server configuration, and Greg Smith has also provided valuable contributions to the project.