Dear intrepid OLPCorps volunteers,

Today you start OLPCorps Africa training amidst the sights and sounds of Rwanda. The jet lag and moped fumes may mix with the 11 hills of Kigali to form the sensation that you are forging ahead into uncharted territory, all alone.

We are all here for you!

Before you have illusions of grader or grand failure, I'm here to remind you that there is a huge support network you can call on, anytime: the whole OLPC News community.

Over the last three years of discussion and commentary on OLPC News and Forum, we've developed deep resources in many of the issues you'll be facing. In educating with the XO laptop, we've looked into activities like games and music with the Sugar OS. We've also hacked the XO to run Firefox and Ubuntu, and explored a touchscreen mod.

We've studied the related OLPC technology too, like power supplies and school servers. We've even dreamed up a $50 eBook reader.

So before you think you're the first to encounter the shocking cost of electricity or fear repairing a keyboard, rest assured that OLPC News is there for you. And we want to help.

You can ask questions in the Forum where people like Teapot, Gabey8, AuntiMame, and Mavrothal will be quick to help out, and you're always welcome to write a Guest Post to elevate your conversation to the whole community.

Just email us today!