Elizabeth Dourley-April 28, 2011-Projector Central
http://www.projectorcentral.com/education_blog.cfm?2011-04-28-Pico-Projectors-and–Rural-Health-Education&entry_id=405
There is nothing as satisfying as when multiple interests converge to create something new and exciting. As our resident pico projector cheerleader, my passion for the potential use scenarios of these handhelp projectors led me to offer one as a solution to obstacles faced by an organization near and dear to my heart, Pre-vent, as their co-founder surveyed programs in Africa and Guatemala.
A woman dies every minute of every day mostly in developing countries during unattended or complicated childbirth. Pre-vent.org is a non-profit maternal child health organization committed to reducing morbidity and mortality at the community level in rural areas of developing countries. The organization does this by improving patient education and access to quality services.
21st Century learning is quite the undertaking in areas where running water and electricity and even cellular telephone coverage are a novelty. This translates to no laptops, no visuals, no outreach and hence a perpetuation of the status quo which is a cycle of disease and death. Robin Jafari, MD, co-founder of Pre-vent, equipped with an Optoma PK 301 and a memory card loaded with USAID e-learning courses was able to project easily to five community health workers who in turn can create a multiplier effect for the education of the region.
An exciting and evolving innovative new technology in the field of rural health education, pico projectors allow effective communication and modern training in the most undeveloped conditions. The word is that Robin is seeking the assistance of the Gates Foundation to distribute pico projectors to all of their programs. With prices for pico projectors starting at $199, this is a cost-effective component that facilitates the goal of providing women and children in developing countries access to preventive healthcare and information.
